The Tower of London: London, England
The Tower of London is perhaps one of the most famous castles in all the world, and for several centuries of English history, there was not a more blood-drenched battlement in all of England. As testament to the Tower’s violent past, several spectral personalities have walked it’s ramparts for nearly 800 years.
One of the earliest recorded sightings occurred in 1241, when 71 years after his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, St. Thomas Becket was seen by priests at the Tower. It is recorded by the priests witnessing the apparition that the Archbishop’s spirit apparently objected to expansion work being carried out on the grounds and struck the new walls with a cross, causing them to crumble to the ground.
One of the most frequently reported spectral sightings is of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII’s wives. Anne Boleyn was one of several of the wives that Henry had beheaded. She has been seen many times over the years by the guardsmen patrolling the grounds. One of the sentries even faced court-martial charges over the spirit. It seems one early morning while on guard duty, he saw a figure in a brown velvet gown emerge from the mist and move toward him. He challenged the figure several times and received no reply. The guard approached with bayonet fixed, and as he did, he noticed that the figure’s bonnet appeared completely empty. The figure did not stop advancing, and the soldier ran it through with his bayonet. Bolts of white fire shot back down his rifle knocking him unconscious. Later that morning, his superiors found him and accused him of sleeping on duty; a very serious offense in the military. In his court-martial hearing however, the court had learned that Anne Boleyn’s spirit had again been seen just outside the little chapel where she spent her last night before execution.
While there are many more reported specters that inhabit the infamous Tower, one of the most frightening is that of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury. At Margaret’s beheading, she managed to get free of her guards and ran screaming through the yard. The ominous masked executioners chased her and when she tripped, dragged her screaming and kicking back to the executioner’s block. Margaret screamed and struggled as the men tried to hold her down, causing the executioner’s axe to miss three times. By now Margaret had gone completely insane, and fought all the harder. On his fourth try, his axe tore into only half of her throat. Her screams turned into bloody gurgles. On the fifth drop of the axe the executioner found the mark and Margaret’s head rolled silently into the basket. Margaret reportedly reenacts her horrific execution every year, on it’s anniversary.