The resting place of kings, Westminster Abbey is one of the largest churches in England and, over the years, has acquired a reputation for being haunted. Standing in central London next to the Houses of Parliament, the Abbey is the venue for coronations, Royal weddings and burials; its origins dating back to the 10th century.
A number of ghosts allegedly haunt the Abbey. These include a spectral soldier who is said to manifest next to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, as well as John Bradshaw, the 17th century judge who passed the death sentence on the deposed King Charles I, and now supposedly haunts the Deanery. Other reported phenomena include a particular door that opens on its own accord, and also lights which suddenly switch themselves off.
However the most famous ghost at Westminster Abbey is that of a monk known as ‘Father Benedictus’. Where this spirit acquired his name is unclear, although he is thought to have been a Benedictine monk on account of the habit he is wearing. The monk is said to be friendly, and his story has become one of the enduring legends of this most venerable of London landmarks.
There were several sightings of this ghostly monk back in the 20th century. The earliest dates to 1900, when two young ladies noticed a tall and lean figure in a monk’s habit with a prominent forehead, standing near the cloisters, leisurely observing them and the congregation. They watched the mysterious figure for several minutes before it stepped back and disappeared directly into a wall.
Westminster Abbey has played host to many Royal weddings over the years, including that of Prince Albert and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future King George VI and the Queen Mother) on 26 April 1923. Father Benedictus was apparently observed on the night before the wedding.
The monk was also witnessed on two separate occasions in the 1930s. The first of these, in 1932, was particularly dramatic. Two American tourists related how they had encountered a monk, describing the apparition as appearing life-like. It also spoke to them. The somewhat bemused tourists had assumed this was an actual person, describing him as rather entertaining. The monk went on to recount how he had lived in the time of Henry VIII and had been stabbed to death by robbers. Although there was a particularly gruesome murder at the Abbey in 1378, there is no record of a monk being killed there in the 16th century.
