The Paranormal Database

Revolving Lights

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Sky over the Cathedral
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 29 November 2008, 22:30h
Further Comments: Several people, including a member of staff at the Cathedral, reported observing a luminous grey UFO over the area. One witness contacted the police.

St Mary's Churchyard, Bury St Edmunds.

Maude Carew

Location: Bury St Edmunds - St Mary's Churchyard
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 24 February, 23:00h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Cursed by a monk after Maude murdered the Duke of Gloucester in 1447, her shade is now said to appear once a year. The alleged ghost often brings dozens of people to the area in the hope of seeing her.

The ruins of St Saviour's Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.

Grey Lady

Location: Bury St Edmunds - St Saviour's Hospital (ruins), and Tesco store, Fornham Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1954 (hospital), and early to mid 2000s (Tesco)
Further Comments: This grey lady was seen within the ruined hospital several times during the mid-twentieth century. More recently, poltergeist-like activity has been reported at the adjoining Tesco store's canteen, with some people speculating that the Grey Lady may have returned.

Grey Lady

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The theatre is home to the Grey Lady, who may be the same entity seen in various other places over the town.

Monk

Location: Bury St Edmunds - 38 Buttermarket, currently a bookshop (was the Suffolk Hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid to late twentieth century
Further Comments: Reportedly connected via underground tunnel to a long gone priory, monks have been reported creeping around the sight.

Bury St Edmunds Abbey and Cathedral, Suffolk.

Monks

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Abbey and Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1980s (monks), Cardinal in summer 1975 or 1976
Further Comments: Spectral monks have been seen gliding around the ruins of the abbey, also in the shops along Abbeygate Street. One witness encountered a Cardinal while walking around the ruins with her husband - he gave her a warning before vanishing. Despite the reported sightings, it was claimed the story was first created by a police sergeant during the 1960s and planted in the local press.

Monk

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Anabel's Togs shop (no longer operating) along Abbeygate Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1975
Further Comments: A member of staff in this shop watched as an average sized monk with a pointed hood walked through the wall. Footsteps were also reported within the building.

Pharmacist

Location: Bury St Edmunds - British Gas Showroom (was next door to Cupola House)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Phantom music could be heard coming from the basement where a pharmacist had taken his own life in 1913. A broom had also been spotted moving unaided. The showroom briefly opened the basement to the public in 1993 to raise money for Comic Relief.

Grey Woman

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Buildings on the Angel Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While it is unclear whether the Grey Lady reported all over Bury is of the same entity, more sightings are said to have occurred of a grey female form in buildings on this hill.

Cathedral Cottages, Bury St Edmunds.

Figure on Bed

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Cathedral Cottages
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1960s
Further Comments: The spinster Enid Crossley told her friends at work that the figure of a monk had crossed her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed. This occurred several times while she lived there. Witnesses from other cottages have also reported the figure.

Faceless Man

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Coppice running alongside Horringer Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Two children playing in the coppice spotted a man approaching them. The figure wore a black suit with a bowler hat and carried a walking stick. He could have been mistaken for a regular man, other than his face was completely devoid of features. The children hid up a tree until the figure passed.

Cupola House, Bury St Edmunds.

Grey Lady Waiting

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Cupola House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lonely figure has been seen sitting in the front bar, shying away in a corner.

Butley Priory, Suffolk.

Robert Brommer

Location: Butley - Butley Priory - gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1509 (?) onwards
Further Comments: Robert Brommer committed suicide in Ipswich after falling heavily in debt to the king. After a couple of burials and removals, his remains were finally laid to rest at a crossroads along the nearby Hausen Street. His spirit took exception to the movement and has since been reported in the gatehouse.

Figure on Stairs

Location: Butley - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This building is home to a former owner who shot his wife (she feigned death, avoiding a second and more fatal shot) before turning the gun on himself while standing at the top of the stairs. It is at this spot that he is seen standing. The nearby pig farm is also reportedly haunted by a figure dressed in green, wearing a mask - he was a worker killed in farm machinery.

Man in Long Coat

Location: Buxhall - Rattlesden Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: frosty nights or when snow is on the ground in February
Further Comments: The silhouette of a man in a long coat has been spotted walking around this road, carrying a lantern at waist height. The same witness reports his dog behaves strangely when taken past the woods close to Cockerells Hall Drive.

Cold Spots and Damp Patches

Location: Buxhall - 'Rawmarsh' House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Considered by locals to be an unlucky house, occupants have reported incredibly cold spots located in the building which are unaffected by any amount of heating. Damp patches have also appeared on the ceilings of the rooms, disappearing with incredible speed.

Children Singing

Location: Capel St Mary - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: A witness staying nearby heard children singing 'Ring a Ring of Roses' at half past midnight, though could not find anyone when she investigated further.

Little People

Location: Capel St Mary - Old house on edge of woods
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fairies were once said to frequent this locale.

St Peters Church, Carlton Colville.

Voice calling 'John'

Location: Carlton Colville - St Peters Church, the area of
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Over the period of a week, the residents of the neighbourhood could hear a female voice calling out 'John! John!' The voice was slowly heard less, until it was heard no more.

Richard Howarth

Location: Chelmondiston - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: After the death of Reverend Richard Howarth, the vicar was said to have been heard walking around his former abode, appearing on one occasion in 1890.

Toppling Tower

Location: Chelmondiston - St. Andrew's church
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Varies (see below)
Further Comments: St. Andrew's church tower was cursed by a local witch. First it burned down, and when rebuild was struck by lightning and burned down again. To prevent this from happening a third time, a large square tower was built, only to be hit by a bomb during the Second World War.

Rumoured Polt

Location: Clare - Half Moon public house (no longer operational)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late 1950s?
Further Comments: The Bury Free Press newspaper mentioned that this pub had a poltergeist prior to closing in the late 1950s.

Switching Lights

Location: Clare - Stone Hall (Council building)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 21 November 1961
Further Comments: People arriving at the site found lights turned on, even though the caretaker had switched them off. Previously, lights had switched themselves on and chairs moved apparently unaided.

Wealthy Farmer

Location: Clopton - Farm next to Clopton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a farmer whose wealth was never discovered is said to still be around the area, waiting for a person willing to follow him to the hidden money.

Corton beach, Suffolk.

Fog Bank with Flag

Location: Corton - Beach
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 29 March 1890
Further Comments: In what could be an early UFO sighting, a man walking along the beach watched a localised 'fog bank' sitting on the sand, with a huge flagpole sticking out. After ten minutes, the object rose and faded from view.