The resting place of kings, Westminster Abbey is one of the largest churches in England, and over the years it has earned a reputation for being haunted. Located in central London, next to the Houses of Parliament, the Abbey is the venue for coronations, royal weddings and funerals; its origins date back to the 10th century.
Several ghosts supposedly haunt the Abbey. These include a spectral soldier who is said to be manifesting next to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, as well as John Bradshaw, the 17th-century judge who handed down the death sentence to the deposed King Charles I, and is now supposedly persecuting the decan. Other reported phenomena include a particular door that opens by itself, and also lights that suddenly turn off.
However, the most famous ghost in Westminster Abbey is that of a monk known as “Father Benedictus”. It is not clear where this spirit got its name, although it is believed that he was a Benedictine monk due to the habit he wears. The monk is said to be friendly, and his story has become one of the enduring legends of this most venerable monument in London.
There were several sightings of this ghostly monk in the 20th century. The oldest dates from 1900, when two young ladies noticed a tall, slim figure in a monk’s habit with a prominent forehead, standing near the cloisters, calmly observing them and the congregation. They watched the mysterious figure for several minutes before it recoiled and disappeared directly into a wall.
Westminster Abbey has hosted many royal weddings over the years, including that of Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future King George VI and the Queen Mother) on April 26, 1923. Apparently , Father Benedictus was observed the night before the wedding. .
The monk was also witnessed on two separate occasions in the 1930s. The first, in 1932, was particularly dramatic. Two American tourists recounted how they had encountered a monk and described the apparition as real. He also spoke to them. The somewhat bewildered tourists had assumed it was a real person, and described it as quite entertaining. The monk went on to tell how he had lived in the time of Henry VIII and had been stabbed by robbers. Although there was a particularly gruesome murder at the Abbey in 1378, there is no record of a monk being murdered there in the 16th century.