👻 HAUNTED PLACE · EXP. Nº0482
ACTIVE
50 Berkeley Square
50 Berkeley Square is a location reputed to be haunted in London, GB. Its reputation comes from reported apparitions, unexplained phenomena and eyewitness accounts gathered over time.
Where is 50 Berkeley Square?
- Location
- London, GB
- Type
- House / mansion
- Coordinates
- 51.509, -0.146
- Testimonies
- 0
- Last updated
LOCATION
Why is 50 Berkeley Square said to be haunted?
Number 50 Berkeley Square is a townhouse on the Mayfair square of the same name, in central London. By the end of the 19th century it had acquired the reputation of being one of the most haunted houses in the city. The stories centred on an attic room, said to be occupied by the spirit of a young woman who had taken her own life there, and the address became a fixture of Victorian ghost writing. Later researchers have offered more prosaic readings of the legend. One points to Thomas Myers, an occupant of the house who slept through the day and moved about the building at night making unusual noises — behaviour that neighbours may well have transformed into ghost stories. It has also been documented that many of the tales attached to the address were exaggerated, or simply invented, by later writers on London hauntings. Even so, the house keeps its place in the city's ghost lore, and its plain brick façade still draws curious passers-by to the square.
What is the history of 50 Berkeley Square?
Number 50 Berkeley Square is a four-storey Grade II listed townhouse in Mayfair, and for a period in the late nineteenth century it was **the** most haunted house in London — a title it held in the popular press with far more conviction than any evidence ever supported.
The core legend concerns the attic. A young woman, the story goes, threw herself from the top-floor window to escape an abusive uncle, and her spirit remains in that room. She is usually described as a **brown mist**, sometimes as a white figure, and — this is the crucial escalation — as **capable of frightening people to death**.
Around that grew the two stories that made the house famous. In one, a maidservant is left to sleep in the attic and is found in the morning insane or dead. In the other, a sceptical young man volunteers to spend a night in the room, arranges a signal to be given if he needs help, and is discovered dead or mad when it comes. Both are told with the certainty of reportage and no names anyone can check.
The house does have a documented eccentric, however. Between **1859 and the early 1870s**, number 50 was occupied by **Thomas Myers**, a man who had recently been rejected by his fiancée and who, by all accounts, withdrew completely. He stopped going out, barely slept, and roamed the house night and day muttering to himself, spending most of his time in the attic.
The stories began appearing in books on the ghosts of London in the **1870s** — precisely as Myers's tenancy ended.
Since the **late 1930s** the house has belonged to **Maggs Bros.**, the antiquarian booksellers, and in all that time no phenomena have been reported.
Timeline: the documented record of 50 Berkeley Square
- 1859 Thomas Myers, recently rejected by his fiancée, takes number 50. He stops going out, barely sleeps and spends most of his time in the attic, roaming the house at night.
- Early 1870s Myers's tenancy ends. It is precisely when stories about the house begin appearing in books on the ghosts of London.
- Late 19th century Number 50 is established in the popular press as the most haunted house in London, with the stories of the maidservant driven mad and the young man who dies when he gives the signal.
- Late 1930s Maggs Bros., antiquarian booksellers, buy the house. No phenomena have been reported since: nearly ninety years of people working there daily with nothing to report.
- Modern research The maidservant and bold young man stories are traced to a short story by the Victorian novelist Rhoda Broughton. Researchers also point to Myers's documented behaviour as the source of the reputation.
Is there a rational explanation for 50 Berkeley Square?
This is one of the very few cases where the **specific literary source** of a ghost legend can be identified, which makes it a valuable specimen.
The two stories that sustain number 50's fame — the maidservant who goes mad in the attic and the bold young man who dies when he gives the signal — **have been traced to a short story by the Victorian novelist Rhoda Broughton**. They are not testimonies that somebody later fictionalised: they are fiction that somebody later told as testimony. The accounts appear in books on the ghosts of London from the 1870s onward, and when subjected to serious historical scrutiny they **do not stand up**.
It also fits what is documented. Thomas Myers occupied the house between 1859 and the early 1870s, slept by day, made unusual sounds at night and spent most of his time in the attic. A Mayfair townhouse with the shutters closed, lights at strange hours and unexplained nocturnal noises, occupied by a man nobody ever saw go out, generates a neighbourhood reputation entirely on its own. **Researchers have suggested exactly that: that the stories derive from Myers's behaviour.** The legend was built on a real man who was suffering, and then a fictional young woman and a Broughton short story were added on top.
And there is a final fact usually omitted because it spoils the story: **since Maggs Bros. bought the house in the late 1930s, not a single phenomenon has been reported**. Nearly ninety years of people working there daily, upper floors included, with nothing to tell.
A house stops being haunted exactly when it stops having anyone with an interest in its being so.
Can you visit 50 Berkeley Square?
Number 50 Berkeley Square is a **private building in use** and cannot be visited. For decades it housed **Maggs Bros.**, the antiquarian booksellers who bought it in the late 1930s, and it is worth checking its current occupancy before turning up at the door: the firm moved its premises some years ago and the building has changed hands.
It can be seen from outside without any difficulty, because it stands on a public square. And it is worth a proper look: a four-storey Georgian townhouse with a listed façade, on one of the best-preserved squares in Mayfair.
**Berkeley Square** itself is the reason to come. Its **plane trees**, planted in the eighteenth century, are among the oldest in central London, and the square is open public space, free and pleasant at any hour. Several first-rate Georgian houses survive around it.
An obvious but necessary reminder: the attic of the legend is the top floor of private property. Photographing the façade from the square is entirely normal; ringing the bell, peering into windows or attempting to get in is not.
If what you want is haunted London with actual access, **Highgate** is a short distance away and can be visited on a guided tour, as can many of the City's vaults and cellars. Berkeley Square is, at best, a façade to look at while telling the story of Rhoda Broughton.
Sources consulted
- Wikipedia, «50 Berkeley Square — historia del edificio, ocupantes y análisis de las leyendas» — Recopilación documental, 2026 web
- Astonishing Legends, «Is 50 Berkeley Square the most haunted house in London? — rastreo de las fuentes» — Astonishing Legends, 2018 report
- Jack the Ripper Tour, «The most haunted house in London — contexto histórico de Mayfair» — Divulgación histórica de Londres, 2022 web
- CityDays, «50 Berkeley Square — ficha del edificio catalogado y sus usos» — CityDays London, 2024 archive
Reviewed by V. Serrano on 2026-07-28 · How we verify our content
📎 Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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