Most Haunted House in London? Virtual Cache
Most Haunted House in London?
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[To claim this wheelchair friendly virtual cache, you are required to attach a photo to your log – see below for details]
50 Berkeley Square
50 Berkeley Square is a Grade II listed mid terraced townhouse which began construction in 1750. The four-storey building (with basement) is internally interlinked at basement level with its mews, No. 50 Hay’s Mews. The building is thought to be the oldest unaltered building in London. In the late 19th century, it became known as one of the most haunted houses in London.
History and occupants
Until 1827 it was the home of the British Prime Minister George Canning, who is commemorated by a plaque on the house today. The house was later occupied by Miss Elizabeth Curzon, who died in 1859, aged 90.
An eccentric known as Mr Myers acquired the house in 1859. He was a recluse who never went outside and answered the door only to receive food from his servant. It is suspected that he was Thomas Myers, the son of a Member of Parliament.
The house was later bought by BP. From 1937 to 2015 it was occupied by Maggs Bros, a firm of antiquarian book dealers.
The Legend
The legend about the house varies, but most versions state that the attic room of the house is haunted by the spirit of a young woman who committed suicide there. She apparently threw herself from a top-floor window after being abused by her uncle and is said to be capable of frightening people to death. The spirit is said to take the form of a brown mist, though sometimes it is also reported as a white figure.
A rarer version of the tale is that a young man was locked in the attic room, fed only through a hole in the door, until he eventually went mad and died. Another story is that the attic room is haunted by the ghost of a little girl who was killed there by a sadistic servant.
From 1859 until the early 1870s Mr Myers, who had been rejected by his fiancée, lived in the house. It was said that he locked himself inside and slowly went mad. During his residence in the house it fell into gross disrepair and its reputation began to develop. Myers died in 1874.
It is alleged that in 1872, on a bet, Lord Lyttleton stayed a night in the building's attic. He brought his shotgun with him and fired at an apparition. In the morning he attempted to find the apparition, but could only find shotgun cartridges. The following year the local council issued a summons to the house's owners for failure to pay taxes, but it is claimed that they were not prosecuted because of the house's reputation for being haunted.
In 1879 a report in the Mayfair Magazine alleged that a maid who stayed in the attic room had been found mad and had died in an asylum the day after. It was also alleged that after a nobleman spent the night in the attic room he was so paralysed with fear that he could not speak.
In 1887 it was alleged that two sailors from HMS Penelope stayed a night in the house. By morning one was found dead, having tripped as he ran from the house. The other reported having seen the ghost of Mr Myers approaching them aggressively.
Modern interest in the site was spurred by its inclusion in Peter Underwood's book, Haunted London (1975).
To Claim This Virtual Cache
You have a couple of options to claim this cache; all involve taking a picture and attaching to your log. You only need to choose one of them.
• Take a selfie with the building in the background
• Take a selfie with the blue plaque in the background
• Take a selfie with the door and house number in the background.
If you don’t want your face in the picture it’s not a problem, just take a piece of paper and write your geocaching name on it. Hold it up while you take one of the pictures above.
Please note - Logs without photo evidence of you being there will be deleted 2 weeks after being posted. Please contact me if you have issues with uploading or taking the picture.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache.
Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)