Explore England's Horrible Histories

England is a country world-renowned for its history. Our ancient lineage of Kings and Queens, revered historic architecture and deep-seated traditions bring visitors from near and far. But the country’s history is also peppered with tales of smuggling and witchcraft, piracy and ghostly hauntings, which lend a more sinister side to many of England’s popular destinations.

Have a look at some of the country’s darker tourist attractions:

On the trail of witches
2012 marks the 400th anniversary of the Lancashire Witch trials.In August 1612 ten people were executed on the moors above Lancaster, having been found guilty of witchcraft at Lancaster Castle. Today, visitors can take a guided tour of the imposing castle, the setting for the imprisonment and the trial. See the dungeons and the grand Jury Room and Courts and learn of the witches’ plight before making up your own mind. Were the Pendle Witches malevolent people possessed by supernatural powers, or innocent victims of a time obsessed with the pursuit and punishment of witchcraft?

Legend has it that during the Dark Ages, an old woman lived alone deep in the caverns of the Wookey caves in Somerset. She was branded a witch and all local mishaps and problems were blamed on her. Eventually, a Holy Clerk of Glastonbury exorcised the witch and turned her to stone. Her frozen figure remains in this cavern – known as The Witch’s Kitchen – to this day. Visit the Witch’s Castle and Kitchen in the Wookey Hole Caves and take your chances in the Magical Mirror Maze. You can also visit Wookey witch’s original skeleton, on display at Somerset’s Wells & Mendip Museum.

Down in the dungeons
The newly-opened Blackpool Tower Dungeons bring an interactive experience that tells some of the more gruesome tales from 1,000 years of Blackpool history. Discover the torture instruments of forgotten times, escape the mirror maze of horrors and get sentenced to death on the Extremis drop ride. The Blackpool Tower Dungeons are the latest to open of a dungeons series that includes York, Warwick Castle and London.

Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice tell some of the sinister stories behind the city’s own outlaws, which are brought to life in the very building where they were judged, imprisoned and executed. The setting for this historic visitor attraction is Nottingham’s old courthouse and gaol, voted ‘the most haunted building in the UK’ by paranormal investigators Fright Nights. Take a Ghost Tour to hear tales of the Shire Hall’s dark and sinister past and be led around the haunted corridors, cells and dungeons.

Who dunnit?
2013 marks 125 years since the streets of East London were at the mercy of Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer whose legend remains a subject of fascination. Visitors with a brave disposition can try a Jack the Ripper walking tour of Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane in East London. Inspect the murder sites, sift through the gory evidence and get to grips with the main suspects. After the tour, you can steady your nerves in The Ten Bells, the pub where the victims themselves - perhaps under the threatening gaze of the Ripper himself – sought solace from the waking nightmare.

Step back in time on a journey from London on a Murder Mystery tour aboard the impeccably restored carriages of the British Pullman. The year is 1933 and there has been a murder on the train. Love and intrigue are in the air as you meet a series of suspicious characters all embroiled in the plot. Travel through the beautiful Kent countryside and indulge in a five course lunch as you pull together clues to solve the murder.

Do you believe in ghosts?
The historic city of Chester is a ghosthunter's heaven. Join a night-time ghost hunt around the eerie haunts of the city’s mysterious and murky past. Tour the ancient, walled city after dark, visit well-known spooky and scary places, and hear spine-chilling tales of ghosts, spectres, and things that go bump in the night.

The renowned York Ghost Walk Experience tour winds through the city’s honeycomb maze of ancient buildings, narrow cobbled streets and dark alleyways. The after-dark experience combines storytelling from those in the know with authentic re-enactments of characters such as York’s Headless Earl and The Gray Lady. The latter is the much-seen ghost of a nun buried alive in the old Hospital of St Leonard – now part of the Georgian Theatre Royal. But beware – the city of York is a ghostly one. Even if you don’t meet the city’s spectres, they will almost certainly be watching you.

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British adults fail the national geography test

BRITONS may know all about the beaches of St Kitts and the lavish nightlife of Monte Carlo but they have little idea about the geography of their home nation, new national research has shown.

• ONE IN FIVE BRITISH ADULTS DON’T KNOW WHICH COUNTRIES MAKE UP THE UK

• SIX OUT OF 10 NAMED MOUNT EVEREST, BEN NEVIS AND SNOWDON AS ENGLAND’S BIGGEST MOUNTAIN

• A QUARTER OF THE NATION BELIEVES AYERS ROCK IS IN THE UK

BRITONS may know all about the beaches of St Kitts and the lavish nightlife of Monte Carlo but they have little idea about the geography of their home nation, new national research has shown.

 

While their children are busy leafing through revision notes in order to sit their geography GCSE exams this Spring, more than one in five British adults (20.6%) admit they do not know how many countries are actually in the UK.

 

In a year of national pride, which sees London play host to the Olympic Games and the Queen launch nationwide celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee, more than half of British adults (58.6%) confessed they believe Mount Everest, Ben Nevis and Snowdon are actually in England, according to the research* by luxury tour specialists Journeys of Distinction.

 

Staggeringly, more than a third of the nation (33.8%) believes the Home Counties circle Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow, according to the research.

 

Ten per cent of those polled have no idea that the huge Angel of the North is even in the UK, let alone in the north-east of England.

 

And almost a quarter of Brits think Australia’s iconic Ayers Rock is actually in Britain, while one in 20 confessed they had absolutely no clue that Stonehenge is also based here in Britain.

 

Astonishingly, one in five Brits confessed they don’t know where in the UK Britain’s legendary seaside resort, Blackpool, is located. And the majority (53%) have no clue where Balmoral Castle is based.

 

Almost a third of the nation (32.3%) don’t know that Canterbury, home to the world famous Canterbury Cathedral, is based in the county of Kent.

 

Many experts believe that advances in technology and the easy availability of online search engines which provide instant answers to any question anywhere, any time, means that people now don’t need to store geographical information like they did in the last century.

 

*Research based on a poll of 2,000 British citizens, carried out by OnePoll on behalf of Journeys of Distinction in February 2012.

 

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