Mitre Square is now surrounded on three sides by modern office blocks and bordered on its south side by the Sir John Cass Foundation school. Nothing remains of the Victorian square except a few cobblestones, across which people hurry to and from work, unaware they are walking over the site of one of London's most infamous crimes.
Catherine Eddowes was the second victim on the night of Sunday, 30 September 1888, a night which had already seen the killing of Elizabeth Stride less than an hour earlier. These two murders are commonly referred to as the "double event" and have been attributed to the serial killer Jack the Ripper.
It was in the south-west corner of Mitre Square that the horribly mutilated body of Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper's fourth victim, was found at 1:45 a.m. on 30 September 1888. Local tradition maintains that on the anniversary of the killing, people have occasionally glimpsed Catherine's ghostly figure lying upon the spot where her life came to such a tragic and gruesome end.
In the days when a brewery occupied the area, a strange chill was often noted drifting through the boardroom at 6 a.m. on the murder's anniversary. It was also reported that the headless ghost of Annie Chapman was sometimes seen standing by the wall of the storeroom built on the spot where she died.