The Ten Bells Pub is a true survivor from the age of Jack the Ripper.

Its interior, resplendent with a magnificent tiled wall panel depicting Spitalfields in olden times, has changed very little since the late 19th century, and it comes as little surprise to discover that the place is haunted.

THE GHOSTS OF THE TEN BELLS

In the late 1990’s live-in staff whose bedrooms were on the upper floors of the Ten Bells, were complaining of alarming encounters with a ghostly old man dressed in Victorian clothing.

They would often be awoken by an uneasy feeling in the dead of night, and turning over, would find his phantom form lying beside them on the bed!

No sooner would they cry out in shock than the figure would disappear.

Staff with no previous knowledge of his ghost would often report seeing him, and their descriptions would always be the same.

Nobody had any idea who he was why he should haunt the pub, and those who had occasion to live on the premises, learnt to just accept him as the oldest resident.

THE PHANTOM FOOTSTEPS

A tenant who lived on the premises in 2001 would often hear footsteps followed by a faint peal of laughter outside his door, even when he was the only person on the premises.

Whenever he went to investigate he would find the corridor outside empty. Going down into the bar to investigate further he would often be pushed hard on the back by an invisible hand.

WHAT MEDIUMS PICK UP ON

Psychics visiting the pub have picked up on all manner of otherworldly residents, from the aforementioned old man, to the ghost of a baby who is said to have died at the pub under tragic circumstances.

Since the pub is also reputed to have been the local for several of Jack the Ripper’s victims, visiting mediums have also sensed the spirits of Annie Chapman and Mary Kelly here.

MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I can also claim my own inexplicable experience within the walls of the Ten Bells.

In November 2016 I was filming a documentary on Jack the Ripper for an American Channel, and we used an upstairs room at the pub as our HQ. The crew set up a pin board on which they displayed documents and evidence, that included the mortuary photographs of the victims.

Once the day’s filming was finished, the room would be locked until the next morning.

One morning we arrived to find that the pin board, despite its being stable, solid and sturdy, had fallen over during the night, and the documents that had been pinned to it were scattered around the room.

ALL STACKED NEATLY

The strange thing was that, despite the fact the papers and maps were randomly dispersed, the photographs of the five victims were stacked relatively neatly at the centre of the room, one on top of the other, and were in chronological order.

Whether there was anything paranormal about it, no one could say.

The door to the room had certainly been locked overnight, and as far as could be ascertained no one had entered the room since a crew member had locked it the previous evening, but it certainly led to some interesting discussion when we broke for lunch that day.