St John's Hospital
Victorian asylum with phantom nurses, patient spirits, and unexplained activity in abandoned psychiatric wards and treatment rooms.
St John’s Hospital was established in 1852 as the Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, one of the earliest purpose-built psychiatric facilities in England. The imposing Gothic Revival structure housed thousands of patients over its 140 years of operation before closing in 1989. The hospital’s long history includes the era of harsh Victorian psychiatric treatments, lobotomies, and electroshock therapy. Many areas of the complex remain standing, and the site has developed a reputation as one of Lincolnshire’s most actively haunted locations.
The most frequently reported phenomena involve sightings of phantom nurses in vintage uniforms, conducting their rounds through corridors that have been empty for decades. Witnesses describe seeing these apparitions pushing medication carts, checking empty rooms, and walking through walls where doorways once existed. Patient spirits have also been encountered, often appearing confused or distressed. The sound of anguished crying, screaming, and moaning has been reported throughout the complex, particularly in areas that once housed the most disturbed patients.
The hospital’s chapel, mortuary, and the buildings that contained isolation cells are considered paranormal hotspots. Investigators have documented unexplained footsteps, doors opening and closing by themselves, and sudden cold spots. Many report feeling an oppressive atmosphere and experiencing anxiety or sadness in certain areas. Electronic voice phenomena recordings have captured what appear to be patients asking for help or calling out names. The underground tunnels that connected various buildings are said to be particularly active, with reports of shadow figures and the sensation of being followed.