The Paranormal Database

An old woodcut of a man and the Devil on horseback.

Sir Rowland

Location: Odell - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Every hundred years (next expected 2044)
Further Comments: Sir Rowland Alston made a deal with the Devil, though when Old Nick came for Alston's soul, the man fled to the nearby church for help. It proved futile, and Alston was dragged to hell. Scratch marks can be seen in the church porch where Alston tried to hold on as the Devil dragged him away. The scene is re-enacted once a century.

Gentle Woman with Flowing Hair

Location: Old Warden - Swiss Garden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The former mistress of Baron Ongley haunts this garden where she once lived. Another ghost, this time the Baron's son, haunted the same area for a short period of time after his headstone was removed by a gardener. Once replaced, the haunting halted.

Sounds

Location: Potton - Potton Fire Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-1974
Further Comments: Built in 1974 on the site of an old tannery, it is unsure whether the strange noises and other odd events are connected to events from the previous building or the current one.

Man with Pointed Beard

Location: Pulloxhill - Cross Keys public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: Several entities reputedly haunt this pub, including a cavalier with a pointed beard and large plumed hat, a woman in grey, and a landlord who worked here during the 1930s.

Old Woman

Location: Ravensden - Lane north of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in long black clothing, this elderly woman's face is said to pure evil - it is considered unlucky to meet her. Some say during her lifetime she was falsely accused of witchcraft and died after being forced out of her home.

Horse

Location: Riseley - Eastfield's Corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer heard a galloping horse rapidly approaching him, even though he could not see the creature. Moments later, there was a crashing sound, and a large gust of wind passed the man, even though the creature remained invisible.

Nurse

Location: Riseley - Fox and Hounds public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A nurse knocked over and killed by a coach near to the pub was taken here after the accident. Her spirit is thought to remain and is held accountable for phantom footsteps and flicking of light switches.

Trotting

Location: Riseley - High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, said to occur at 02:00h
Further Comments: The sound of a horse can sometimes be heard trotting down the High Street in the early hours of the morning.

The spirit of the pond.

Tom

Location: Riseley - Tom Knocker's Pond
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: This pond is reputedly haunted by Tom who drowned in its waters. The Luton Paranormal Society carried out a few vigils on the site and experienced strange sounds and smells.

Mabel

Location: Roxton - Chequers Inn (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: A former maid on the site, Mabel was blamed when a member of the bar staff felt a hand on their shoulder when they were alone. Footsteps would also be heard in the cellar, and a white shape was spotted disappearing through a wall. Another entity was described as a man who held his cap in his hand.

Legless Man

Location: Salford - Road between Marston Moretaine and Milton Keynes
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2009, around 23:00h
Further Comments: A driver retuning his girlfriend home had to brake sharply after turning a corner and finding a figure standing in the road. The figure had a featureless face and no legs. It wore a scarlet jacket and a white/cream bloodstained tunic and black Cavalier-like hair. The entity moved across the road and vanished into bushes.

Black Cat

Location: Sandy - Close to the site of Morgan Matroc
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 01 August 1999
Further Comments: Three witnesses spotted a large black cat, described as five feet (150 centimetres) long with a two foot (sixty-one centimetre) long tail.

Nineteenth Century Man

Location: Sandy - The Lodge Gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 2022
Further Comments: One witness was followed by a man wearing nineteenth century clothing, and reported strange noises after the building had closed for the day.

A ghostly figure checking his gold.

Knocking Man

Location: Shillington - Knocking (or Money) Knoll
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The tapping sounds that are said to emerge from this mound come from a man hidden inside, rapping on his treasure chest to ensure it is still full. Other reports say that the ghostly figure walks up to the knoll and taps on the grass before vanishing.

Elizabeth Grey

Location: Silsoe - Old George public house, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s?
Further Comments: Lady Elizabeth Grey was drowned in a coaching accident down the road from this public house. She had been using the building as a hideout while escaping her father who had prevented her marriage to the man she loved. Her grey form was reported several times by the landlady.

Pale Hitchhiker

Location: Stanbridge - Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1979
Further Comments: Mr Fulton, returning from a darts match, stopped and picked up a young man dressed in shirt and trousers who was thumbing a lift here. A few miles down the road the driver turned to offer his passenger a cigarette, only to find that he had vanished.

Cloaked Figure

Location: Stevington - Church of St Mary the Virgin
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This church is home to a spectre that wears a cloak and old fashioned hat. The site also possesses a holy well that is reputed never to freeze over.

Green Man

Location: Stotfold - Fairfield Hospital (was The Three Counties Asylum), now private flats
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: A member of staff reported seeing a man wearing a green staff uniform walking towards the hospital who vanished without trace. Footsteps would also be heard from empty rooms, wheelchairs moved unaided, door handles turned without human hand nearby and locked windows would be found open.

Blue Man

Location: Studham - Studham Common
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: This bearded figure, short in stature and wearing a tall hat, vanished into a strange yellow mist while watched by seven boys.

Time for Breakfast

Location: Thurleigh - Thurleigh Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: One man reported smelling a full English breakfast being cooked, though he was in the middle of an empty car park. He was later told that the location where he stood was once the site of mess tents. Other places on the airfield have their own ghosts. The Officer's Mess is home to ghostly footsteps, while policemen patrolling the airfield once peered into an empty hut, only to see a group of wartime airmen playing cards!

The Captain

Location: Toddington - Bedford Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: More often heard walking in the upper parts of the building than seen, the few witnesses who have spotted 'The Captain' say he is a large man with a beard who wears a seafaring uniform.

Even witches love pancakes.

Witch

Location: Toddington - Conger Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Shrove Tuesday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The church bell is rung between 11:00h and 11:15h every Shrove Tuesday. During this time, if one places their ear to the ground on Conger Hill, a witch can be heard boiling her cauldron and preparing her pancakes.

The Landlord's Daughter

Location: Toddington - The Bell public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Poltergeist activity in the kitchen is blamed on a former landlord's daughter who died in the room after a fit. It is reported that one landlord left in 1995 after being repeatedly woken at night by an unseen presence, and his replacement actually spotted the girl's apparition.

Kings

Location: Totternhoe - Five Knolls (barrows)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Barrows still present
Further Comments: There are seven barrows at Five Knolls and legend has them contain former kings. During a seventeenth century witch trial, local woman Elizabeth Pratt claimed to have met the Devil at the site.

Phantom woman in black.

Former Witch

Location: Wilden (sometimes incorrectly called Willesden) - Road between Wilden and Ravensden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1873
Further Comments: This phantom old woman, dressed in black clothing, haunts the road between her former village and the neighbouring one. Her face is said to be pure malevolence. The entity may have been last seen gliding along a grass verge by a mother and daughter.