St Mary's Hospital, Newport

St Mary’s Hospital in Newport operated from 1896 to 1992, originally serving as an isolation hospital for infectious diseases before transitioning to geriatric care. The Victorian building stands abandoned on the Isle of Wight, its empty wards and corridors haunted by numerous spirits—most famously the “Grey Lady,” an apparition of a nurse in old-fashioned uniform who has been witnessed by dozens of visitors, security guards, and urban explorers over the decades.

The Grey Lady appears most frequently in the former isolation wards, where patients with scarlet fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis were quarantined. Witnesses describe a solid-looking woman in a grey nurse’s uniform walking purposefully down corridors before vanishing through walls or simply fading away. Unlike many hospital ghosts, she appears aware of witnesses and has been seen tending to beds that no longer exist, forever repeating her nursing duties from decades past. Some witnesses report feeling a compassionate presence when encountering her, as if she’s still watching over patients.

Beyond the Grey Lady, St Mary’s experiences widespread paranormal activity. The former children’s ward echoes with the sound of crying and laughter, and shadow figures of small children have been seen playing in empty rooms. The mortuary and autopsy areas trigger intense feelings of dread and malevolence, with investigators reporting being touched, pushed, and experiencing equipment failures. The hospital’s chapel hosts phantom hymns and the scent of incense. Urban explorers consistently rank St Mary’s among the Isle of Wight’s most haunted locations, with some refusing to return after experiencing aggressive paranormal encounters in the isolation wards and basement areas.