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Mother Shipton's Cave named among UK's spookiest Halloween spots

Tuesday, 21 October 2025 11:30

Mother Shipton's Cave.

Halloween is just around the corner — and one of Knaresborough's most famous landmarks has earned a haunting new title.

Mother Shipton’s Cave has been named among the UK’s spookiest attractions, according to new research analysing thousands of visitor reviews.

The study, carried out by Betway, examined nearly 180,000 TripAdvisor reviews across 30 famously haunted sites in the UK.

Reviews were searched for words such as “haunted”, “ghosts”, “eerie” and “sinister” to determine which places left visitors feeling most unnerved.

Mother Shipton’s Cave ranked 12th overall, placing it among some of the country’s most legendary haunted locations, including Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, Bodmin Jail in Cornwall and Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh.

Perched beside the River Nidd in Knaresborough, the cave is said to have been home to the 16th-century prophetess Mother Shipton, whose mysterious predictions and connection to the nearby petrifying well have long fuelled tales of witchcraft and folklore.

Objects hung in the well gradually turn to stone, adding to the site’s eerie reputation.

At the top of the list, Chillingham Castle in Northumberland was named the UK’s most haunted site, with more than 60% of visitor reviews referencing its scariness.

Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon and Bodmin Jail in Cornwall completed the top three.

The full top 15 spookiest sites were:

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland
Berry Pomeroy Castle, Devon
Bodmin Jail, Cornwall
Ballygally Castle, County Antrim
Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh
Clink Prison Museum, London
Glamis Castle, Angus
St Leonards Church, Hampshire
The Dark Hedges, County Antrim
Gwrych Castle, Abergele, North Wales
Shrewsbury Prison, Shropshire
Mother Shipton’s Cave, Knaresborough
Culloden Battlefield, Inverness
Shepton Mallet Prison, Somerset
Highgate Cemetery, London

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