Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum, with its vast collection of decorative arts spanning 5,000 years, has accumulated ghostly inhabitants to match its historical treasures. Staff members working evening shifts have reported encounters with apparitions dressed in elaborate Victorian clothing, wandering through the galleries as if still admiring the collections. These spectral visitors appear most frequently in the older wings of the museum, particularly near the British Galleries and the Cast Courts.

The most documented phenomena involve a mysterious woman in a black Victorian dress who has been seen gliding through the ceramics galleries. Witnesses describe her as solid and real until she suddenly vanishes, often passing through locked doors or simply fading from view. Security guards have also reported hearing the rustling of period clothing and catching glimpses of figures in mirrors and glass display cases, only to turn and find no one there.

In the museum’s extensive basement storage areas and conservation workshops, staff report even more frequent paranormal activity. Conservators working alone have described feeling unseen hands touching their shoulders, hearing whispered conversations in empty rooms, and witnessing tools moving on their own. Some believe the spirits are former curators or donors still attached to their beloved collections. The museum’s policy of staying open late into the evening means that visitors occasionally report their own encounters, adding to the growing collection of supernatural testimonies from this venerable institution.