The Ragged School London 21/1/12

Originally a home for poor or 'ragged' children, this haunted building is an imposing piece of Victorian Architecture. Between 1867 and 1908 it housed some of London's poorest children and was their only hope of being clothed and fed and given a basic education.


After the Government began to look after the poor, the building was used as a warehouse until the 1980's when it was threatened with demolition.


It was then that a group of local people joined together to save them and reclaim their unique heritage. The Ragged School Museum Trust was set up and the museum opened in 1990.


Michael and I have been here once before and we were looking forward to returning. On our mediumship walk we picked up on children playing in the basement and dark hooded figure, skulking in the shadows. The classroom seemed to hold the energy of a very strict school-mistress and also an older man who brought the smell of pipe tobacco with him.  On the guests investigation one couple told us that on the top floor a cupboard door seemed to be opening on request. They had checked for loose floorboards and faulty clips and hinges and found everything to be in order.


The vigils began and Jess and I took the basement area with Michael in the classrooms. We heard whistling and saw the dark shadow clearly. We heard knocks and taps on the large table and one group even felt the table move, which was amazing as the table was huge and heavy. The second group heard a plastic chair being scratched and also heard it move.


The ouija boards worked well in the classrooms with two separate groups producing the names Gertrude and Fred and some private family messages.


The whole group then investigated the top floor... where the cupboard once again opened on demand. Although this happened only once, there was no one near the cupboard when this happened so this was very interesting.


Finally we did some transfiguration work in the schoolroom and some interesting characters came through including a couple of people who looked like they had burns or scars.


All in all an interesting night at the Ragged School.