The city of London has long been cloaked in intrigue, and our top 10 new roundup shines a fresh light on the capital’s most baffling enigmas—from centuries‑old plagues to phantom sightings and unsolved murders. As modern science and technology peel back layers of history, each revelation sparks even more questions, keeping the mystery alive.
Top 10 New London Mysteries Uncovered
10 What Really Caused The Great Plague?
During the 1660s, the Great Plague of London claimed the lives of more than a quarter of the city’s residents within an eighteen‑month span. For generations, the prevailing story blamed swarms of rats for the rapid spread, yet cutting‑edge DNA work now shows that theory doesn’t hold up.
In 2016, researchers from Museum of London Archaeology teamed up with the Max Planck Institute in Germany to analyse a cache of 3,300 skeletons unearthed near Liverpool Street. Their testing uncovered DNA from the bacterium Yersinia pestis in 42 of those remains, a finding that promises to reshape our understanding of how the disease surged across the capital.
Earlier investigations have already dismissed the long‑held belief that the Great Fire of 1666 halted the plague’s advance. Since the majority of the victims were living in the suburban outskirts at the time of the blaze, the fire could not have been the decisive factor in ending the epidemic.
9 Was Walter Sickert Really Jack The Ripper?
Among London’s most infamous unsolved cases, the legend of Jack the Ripper still dominates. The macabre killer terrorised East London in the late 1800s, spawning a museum in Whitechapel and a host of guided tours that trace his grisly trail.
German‑born painter Walter Sickert has been linked to the murders by “ripperologists” since the 1970s. In recent years, author Patricia Cornwell has become a fervent advocate for Sickert’s guilt, investing more than $7 million and publishing two books that tie him to the crimes. She argues that Sickert’s correspondence was penned on the same 24‑page stationery pack that matches a notorious Ripper letter, even sharing identical watermarks.
Cornwell also claims Sickert would dress up as the Ripper while creating his artworks and once told a confidante he would not mind “killing and eating raw flesh.” Her research places Sickert in Britain during at least three of the murders—contradicting his earlier claim of being in France—and suggests the death toll could be four times higher than traditionally believed.
8 Is There Really A Monster In The River Thames?
Everyone knows Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, but could a comparable creature be lurking beneath London’s River Thames? In 2016, a tourist riding the Emirates Air Line cable car near the O₂ spotted something decidedly “fishy” in the water. He quickly filmed a dark, double‑humped shape surfacing, sharing a 30‑second clip that sent ripple‑effects across social media.
The following day, another video surfaced showing a mysterious object near the Thames Barrier. Marine biologists admit they have no concrete explanation for the sighting, though some speculate it could be a whale or a pod of porpoises. Over the years, more than 2,000 seals and 450 porpoises and dolphins have been recorded in the river, yet Ian Tokelove of the London Wildlife Trust says the organization is “not aware of anything that large and moving in the Thames,” leaving the door wide open for speculation.
7 Why Was A Walrus Buried At St Pancras?
Experts have been puzzling over the discovery of a 4‑meter‑long (13‑ft) walrus skeleton hidden beneath St Pancras Church in 2003. The nine bone fragments were found inside a coffin alongside eight human remains and three skulls, all interred sometime between 1822 and 1854.
Recent scholarship suggests the walrus may have been used for medical research by one of the 40 anatomy schools operating in 19th‑century London, a theory supported by the presence of drilled holes in both the animal and human bones, indicating dissection. An alternative hypothesis posits that the walrus was imported for its valuable ivory tusks, though no definitive record explains how it arrived in Britain.
This isn’t the sole instance of animal remains surfacing in London graves. Excavations at the Royal London Hospital unearthed a menagerie of creatures—rabbit, cat, dog, horse, tortoise, and even two monkeys—interred alongside human skeletons, underscoring the city’s eclectic burial history.
6 Was Richard III Wrongfully Accused Of Murdering The Princes In The Tower?
The drama surrounding Richard III’s alleged murder of his nephews has echoed through Shakespearean verse and even the modern fantasy of Game of Thrones. Yet contemporary scholars increasingly question whether the king truly ordered the princes’ deaths.
The disappearance of Prince Edward and Prince Richard—collectively dubbed “the Princes in the Tower”—has confounded historians for centuries. In 1674, two skeletons were uncovered in the Tower of London, and for years many believed they belonged to the princes, even placing the bones in an urn at Westminster Abbey. However, the 2012 discovery of Richard III’s remains beneath a Leicester car park, coupled with DNA analysis, revealed no genetic link between the king and the Tower skeletons.
Some propose the remains are of Anglo‑Saxon origin, but the Church of England and the monarch have declined requests from the Richard III Society to examine them further, leaving the matter unresolved. Moreover, critics argue Richard III never publicly announced the princes’ demise nor displayed their bodies, casting doubt on his culpability.
5 Has Winston Churchill’s Ghost Been Spotted In The London Underground?
Ghostly sightings of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill have circulated through London’s tube stations since the 1980s. A 2016 photograph reignited the legend, capturing a spectral figure behind a passer‑by at Queensway station.
Welsh tourist Craig Cooper snapped the image, noting the bald apparition bore a striking resemblance to Churchill. The eerie resemblance has led many to claim the photo depicts the wartime leader’s lingering spirit haunting the underground.
4 Is There Really A Vampire At Highgate Cemetery?
Since the 1970s, rumors of a “Highgate Vampire” have terrified North Londoners. Witnesses report a floating, Victorian‑clad figure wearing a top hat drifting through the cemetery’s locked gates. The first documented sighting came from David Farrant of the British Psychic and Occult Society in 1969.
Adding to the lore, a charred, headless woman’s body was found nearby a year later. In 2016, a man recounted seeing the specter silently glide through a locked gate in 1991 while on his way to work. Declan Walsh described the phantom as over 183 cm tall, draped in a long black coat and a top hat. Legend claims the vampire is a medieval nobleman who practiced black magic in Romania, whose remains were transported to England in the 18th century, only to be awakened by modern‑day Satanists visiting the cemetery.
3 What Really Happened To Lord Lucan?
The 1970s disappearance of Lord Lucan, accused of murdering his children’s nanny and assaulting his wife, captured the nation’s imagination. For decades, his fate remained a mystery—until recent speculation offered fresh clues.
Novelist Peter James posits that Lucan’s aristocratic gambling circle, known as the Clermont Set, arranged his escape via a light aircraft to Montreux, Switzerland. However, when Lucan began hinting at contacting his children to reassure them of his safety, the group allegedly panicked and eliminated him “Mafia‑style,” burying his body in Switzerland to conceal their involvement.
In recent years, some commentators have even suggested Lucan may have been innocent of the murder charge, though this theory remains hotly debated among historians and true‑crime enthusiasts.
2 What Were Anne Boleyn’s Last Words Before She Was Executed?
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, was executed at the Tower of London in 1536 for high treason, adultery, and incest. Over the centuries, historians have debated the exact words she uttered in her final moments.
Some accounts claim she declared, “I have not come here to preach a sermon; I have come here to die.” Others suggest she protested the charges, stating, “Everything they have accused me of is false, and the principal reason I am to die is Jane Seymour.” Yet another tradition records her saying, “Be not sorry to see me die like this.” Contemporary witnesses even reported that her lips continued to move for several seconds after the execution.
1 Who Was Jack The Stripper?
While Jack the Ripper dominates the public’s imagination, the Hammersmith district of London endured its own chilling spree in 1964‑1965, perpetrated by the elusive “Jack the Stripper.” Though officially credited with six victims, many suspect the killer may have claimed as many as eight lives.
All victims were female sex workers, discovered naked and strangled, with their teeth knocked out—a detail suggesting the murderer kept them as macabre trophies. One victim, 30‑year‑old Hannah Tailford, was found with her underwear forced into her mouth, while others bore faint specks of paint on their bodies.
Police interrogated roughly 120,000 witnesses and identified 26 suspects, yet the killer’s identity remains a conundrum. Theories range from a former Metropolitan Police officer to Mungo Ireland, a security guard who took his own life in 1965 after leaving a note reading, “I cannot stand the strain any longer.” The true mastermind may never be revealed.