The Paranormal Database

Footfalls

Location: Barsham (Suffolk) - Holy Trinity church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps have been heard in the church and are thought to belong to a phantom Georgian woman who is very occasionally seen in the area.

Phantom lady in white.

White Woman

Location: Barthomley (Cheshire) - Church field
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A lady in white haunts this field, while the road nearby is home to a phantom dog.

Sunken Stones

Location: Baschurch (Shropshire) - Church and Berth Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The original Baschurch church was going to be constructed on Berth Hill, but after each day's work, the stones were pulled down and thrown into a nearby pool. When the construction site was changed, no further delays were experienced.

Crimson Monk Floating without Legs

Location: Basildon (Essex) - Vicinity of Holy Cross Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Workers at a nearby factory complained that this figure was appearing as they travelled to work early in the mornings, moving across the road on which they travelled into the grounds of Holy Cross church. Footsteps have also been heard into the church after hours, and the same figure has also been seen crossing the highway heading towards Laindon church. One report sent to the Paranormal Database alleges that the haunting was faked by a couple of friends who used a projector on the mist in the area to create the illusion of the red monk.

Leaping Devil

Location: Batcombe (Dorset) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: For many years, the church tower only had three pinnacles - the loss of the fourth was blamed on the Devil who tried to jump over the tower while giving chase to a local wizard named Minterne.

Abbey Church, Bath.

Naked Roman

Location: Bath (Somerset) - Area around Abbey Church, and other areas within the town centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The figure of a naked Roman soldier (how do you tell without a uniform to assist you?) has apparently been seen running around the centre of the town. On one occasion, a police officer gave chase, but the pursuit abruptly ended when the figure faded into the air.

An old postcard showing St Mary's church in Battle, Sussex.

Curate

Location: Battle (Sussex) - St Mary's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: After a Sunday service, several members of the congregation asked the Reverend who the new curate who they had seen standing in the sanctuary. In fact, the old curate had left, but had yet to be replaced, leading several to speculate they had seen a ghost.

Monk

Location: Battlesden (Bedfordshire) - Battlesden Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s or 1960s
Further Comments: This church was said to be home to a phantom monk or lay friar and was spotted a couple of times during the mid-twentieth century.

Blue Lights Dance

Location: Bawburgh (Norfolk) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 30 May (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Blue lights are said to appear and dance over the church well.

John Daniel

Location: Beaminster (Dorset) - Beaminster School, now part of St Mary's Church
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1728
Further Comments: Thought to have died from a fit, John Daniel was buried after being found dead in a field near his home. Soon after, his ghost was seen in the school, a coffin by his side as he sat at his former desk. A new examination of the body revealed John had been strangled, though his killer was never found.

Moving Stone

Location: Beauchamp Roding (Essex) - Church on top of hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: When the church was being constructed in the village, building materials were in short supply, so a large stone from the top of the hill was dragged down ready to be used. The following day, the stone had moved itself back to the top of the hill. The stone was brought down, only to relocate itself again the following day. The villagers took this as a sign the church should be built at the top of the hill, and that is why the church is not in the village itself.

Grey Monks

Location: Bebington (Lancashire) - Church and graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These robed figures float above the ground, 'walking' where the path was once much higher.

Creeping Man

Location: Bedford (Bedfordshire) - Methodist Church, along Newnham Avenue
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A witness reported seeing a well-dressed man creeping along the back of the church. This figure walked through a wall, leaving a thin veil of smoke in his wake. A few years prior to this, another entity had been seen around the same place, though the witness said the ghost had worn tweed clothing.

Nun

Location: Bedford (Bedfordshire) - Sister's House (former nunnery adjacent to St Luke's church), owned by Pilgrim's Housing Association
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: A male member of staff was woken as someone sat on the end of their bed. Raising their head to see who had entered the room, the man saw a nun sitting at the end of his bedcovers. The nun then stood up and walked through the bedroom wall.

Woman in White

Location: Berwick upon Tweed (Northumberland) - Churchyard, Tweedmouth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1904
Further Comments: Several locals reported seeing a phantom woman with ginger hair, dressed in white or grey, in the early hours of the morning. It was said to have followed people as they left the area, while one other witness observed it reading headstones.

Footsteps

Location: Bicknor (Kent) - Bicknor Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Echoing footfalls have been reported around the church and a large, strange animal seen that vanished when approached.

Hooded Figures

Location: Bidborough (Kent) - St Lawrence Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1998
Further Comments: Two visitors to the churchyard were alarmed by the appearance of three hooded figures floating down the path reasonably quickly. The figures possessed a faint glow, and there was also a pale hue under the hoods where their faces should have been. The witnesses ran from the churchyard but stayed outside the grounds for several minutes to see whether the figures would reappear. They did not.

Hanged

Location: Biddestone (Wiltshire) - Church graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The graveyard was once said to be haunted by a person hanged on the site.

Headless Hound

Location: Bishops Cannings (Wiltshire) - Churchyard
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dragging a chain, this decapitated dog crosses the churchyard.

Fast Moving Man

Location: Bishops Cannings (Wiltshire) - Lane behind churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century? Said to appear at dusk.
Further Comments: This phantom figure moves at speed and is said to have a bag thrown over one shoulder.

Green Mist

Location: Bishops Waltham (Hampshire) - St Peters' Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1992, around 23:00h
Further Comments: Walking home through the churchyard, a witness heard movement behind them. Turning around, they watched as a misty green shape fall to the ground and vanish with a thud.

Moved Church

Location: Bisley (Gloucestershire) - Church Piece
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The church once stood at Church Piece until someone (Devil or angel) moved the building to where it now stands. As a side note, a Roman structure was found at Church Piece, and parts of a Roman altar found in the church walls.

Financial Conversation

Location: Bitton (Gloucestershire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: A witness recalled how he stood outside the vestry door, listening to two men talking about money. When he knocked and walked in, the conversation stopped, and the room was empty.

Illuminated Woman

Location: Blackburn (Lancashire) - Trinity Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 30 January 1887
Further Comments: A strange light surrounded the young, ghostly woman spotted in the churchyard. A young man who witnessed the apparition lobbed a bottle in her direction; she chased him away.

White Mary

Location: Blaenporth (Dyfed) - Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known as White Mary, this ghost once manifested to a local man and instructed him to find the thief who had stolen the church's communion cup. She gave her champion exact details on where to find the item and the criminal, so it was not long before the missing goblet was returned.