Aldwych Underground Station

Aldwych Underground Station, originally called Strand Station, is located in Central London, England. The station first opened in 1907, and despite only being open until 1994, it has quite an active history ranging from being used as air raid shelter to being used multiple times as a film set. In the paranormal community, the station is best known as being investigated by the Most Haunted team back in 2002. The station is referred to as a 'ghost station', but that simply refers to the fact it is no longer in active use.

History

During the July of 1902, construction of Strand Station officially begun. The location was completed by late 1606, but it wasn't until the 30th of November 1907 that the station officially opened to the general public. The station was designed by Leslie Green, and it is instantly recognisable from it's oxblood red tiled exterior. There are two entrances for the station, one which says the original name 'Strand Station' on it, and then another located a couple of doors down around the corner of the same building which is much wider.

The station originally had two platforms, and operated as a one station back and forth service which connected to Holborn Station. It was introduced to ease congestion of other lines, however was never popular to the public as only 450 passengers used the station each day, likely because Holborn Station was only a six minute walk away from Strand. By comparison, busy stations tend to have 100,000 passengers a day. In 2015, Victoria Station was operating with roughly 234,000 passengers a day.

Due to the lack of passengers using the station; during March 1908, only a few months after the station opened, the service between Strand and Holborn was reduced to a single train and a few months later the late night theatre service stopped. This was definitely the beginning of the end for the station. Strand Station was renamed to Aldwych Station during 1915. This was done, not because of the popularity issues, but because there was a second station at the time known as Strand Station. This second station also ended up changing its name in 1979, changing from Strand Station to Charing Cross Station.

The newly named 'Aldwych' Station did not enjoy any increase of popularity after its name changed, and so during 1917 Sunday service stopped and the second platform closed. During this time period, with World War I occuring, it did find an alternative use though as a shelter for various artworks during the first blitz. Given it's location, Aldwych was close to the British Museum and National Gallery and so was a convenient underground location for protecting artwork from the bombings.

During 1919, the station did gain a little bit of popularity. During this year, London was hit with a heatwave, and this prompted newspapers, such as the Leeds Mercury, to write that Aldwych was 'London's coolest spot' and a 'refreshing oasis'. This benefit did not help the station though as further decline occured during 1922 as the booking office closed, leaving the lift operators as having to both operate the lifts along with selling and issuing tickets from within the lifts. On the 9th of August 1927, a homemade bomb exploded in the men's cloakroom. The explosion caused damage and panic, but no injuries. It also prompted speculation as to if the bomb was a result of a practical joke or communists.

On the 22nd of September 1940, train service at Aldwych Station stopped entirely in order for the station to be used as an air raid shelter for the duration of World War II. It was also used once more for protecting the artwork and artifacts from the local galleries and museums, with all items being kept protected by armed guard. It was one of the largest dedicated civilian air raid shelters in Central London as it could hold roughly 1500 people. Although, I have seen this number said to be around 2500 people.

During May 1945, the air raid shelter closed, and the train service once again resumed during July 1946. However, this only led to further decline in the station's offerings as during 1962, the service only ran during week-day peak times. Finally, on the 4th of January 1993, it was announced that Aldwych Station would close. At the time, the stationw as running at a £150,000 annual loss. The final nail in the coffin for the station was it's old lifts. They needed replacing, and it would have cost £3 million to do so. Given how little the station was used, how great the loss was, and how much the lifts cost, it was deemed not worth the investment. After only 87 years of use, part of which was purely as air raid shelters, Aldwych Station closed on the 30th of September 1994.

The closure, however, was not the end for Aldwych Station. Although the train services had stopped, the station found other uses. It's used to test out new tile designs, along with being a training space for the police, fire brigade, and underground emergency response unit. More famously, it has been used in both films and music videos. The station features in the 'Firestarter' music video by The Prodigy, and has even been used by both The Kinks and Madness. A number of films and TV series it's featured in are: V For Vendetta (2005), Atonement (2007), 28 Weeks Later (2007), Fast and Furious 6 (2013), Sherlock (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), and The ABC Murders (2018).

The London Transport Museum does offer tours of the station which last for roughly 75 minutes, and cost roughly £44. There are 160 stairs connecting the ground level to the platform level, so the tour isn't particularly suitable for those with mobility issues. Finally, in 2011 the building was issued a grade II listing.

Hauntings

Aldwych Station was built on the site of the old Royal Strand Theatre, so it is believed the most well known haunting is connected to the theatre which used to be there. The theatre opened on the 5th of April 1858, and was a reconstruction of the Strand Theatre which existed prior. The Victoria actress in question who is believed to haunt Aldwych Station is Francis Maria Kelly. She was the star of a one woman show at the theatre in the late 1800s, and it's thought that she refused to accept her final final role call. 'Fluffers', the workers responsible for cleaning the station, have reported seeing her stand on the tracks alone at night. It is also believed she floats around in traditional theatre garments.

It's also believed hauntings could be a result of a mass grave. During the 1830's, a man charged people for him to bury their dead relatives at a local church. Instead of doing this, the man dumped the bodies in a 6tf deep, 60ft wide pit which is said to be located above one of Aldwych's platforms. 12,000 bodies have apparently been found in this pit.

One other distinct haunting is that of a man in uniform. It's speculated that he could be a staff member who died on the tracks. Various phenomena has also been said to occur within the station. Apparently loud operatic singing can be heard, as can general chatter. The smell of cigarette smoke and perfume is also said to occur. I've also found one source that says footsteps happen, as do cold spots, and that a spirit called Margaret lost her life in a tragic accident that occured during the time the station was being used as air raid shelters.

Most Haunted

Before I talk about my thoughts on the hauntings, it is very important for me to discuss the fact that the Most Haunted team investigated this location in 2002. Their psychic medium at the time, Derek Acorah, made contact with a spirit called Margaret. I've briefly skimmed through the episode during this point of me writing this post, and although he identifies Margaret as the spirit of an actress who haunts the station, the team highlight that they can't find any record of her having existed. This is also the case with a number of other spirits, including that of an old woman, who Derek mentions. Due to this, plus Derek being heavily accused of faking what he was psychically picking up on, I've chosen to not treat this episode of Most Haunted as fact. Any information I've written about, I've found from written sources who have not mentioned Most Haunted.

Summary of Activity

1. Female apparition - theatre garments

2. Male apparition - uniform

3. Singing

4. Chatter

5. Smell of cigarette smoke

6. Smell of perfume

7. Footsteps

8. Cold spots

My Thoughts

I don't think this location will be very haunted at all. It's an underground location with very little history, so that lack of information regarding hauntings isn't surprising to me. I think the big question here is 'can spirits who may be connected to the ground level descend if a lower level is created?' Some people would answer that with 'no' as it would explain why spirits seem to float. The argument to floating spirits is that from their point of view, they are walking along a floor which once existed. This logic argues the spirit sees things as they saw them back then, and so if we were to make adjustments to where the spirit resides, then the spirit would not adjust its movements accordingly. It also explains why they are said to walk through walls.

Going from this, any spirit attached to the theatre would not be able to descend to the underground section of the station, unless the theatre had a basement which extended that far underground. I've tried finding information on 'Francis Maria Kelly', and can find nothing. There is also no mention in any of my history sources about a man who died on the tracks at Aldwych Station. Both the actress and the man are only mentioned in sources which discuss the hauntings, and not anything purely focused on history.

As for the burial pit, there is a very similar story regarding Aldgate Station. Aldgate Station is apparently built where there are plague pits which have held at least 1000 bodies. So, I could be wrong, but from my research there doesn't seem to be any reason at all for Aldwych to be legitimately haunted unless spirits can indeed travel of their own will in accordance with modern architecture. The only haunting I am definitely ruling out is there being a Margaret haunting the location.

I think the singing and chatter is definitely possible, and I think actors and actresses could very well reside where the old theatre once stood. I also think the smell of cigarette smoke and perfume is possible in this location. The reason I think all this is possible here is because of it's use as air raid shelters. Although no one died in the shelter, it was a time of very high emotion, and as a result I think people will have dispersed significant amounts of energy in this location. I believe, as a result, even if they didn't die here, then those who stayed here would be able to return after death to this location for a period of time.

Thank you very much for reading to the end of this post! I really enjoyed writing this post as it had a fairly simple history and opened an avenue of good speculation regarding the hauntings. I've added it to the 'Locations Of Interest' category due to this speculation. I also want to say thank you to Damain and everyone who follows and supports The True Paranormal. If you want to follow, you can do so on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, or Tumblr. You can also subscribe to the blog directly to recieve email notifications, and you can subscribe on youtube if you want to watch any of the reviews I record live.

The Sources I have Used:

1. London Transport Museum

2. Lookup London

3. Strandlines

4. Living London History

5. London X London

6. Ian Visits

7. Where's The Next Adventure?

8. The Sun

9. Subterranea Britannica

10. The Time Chamber

11. Atlas Obscura