The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Berkshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Tap Turning

Location: Aldermaston - Butt Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The resident poltergeist here turns on the beer taps and closes doors with a bang.

John Euerafriad

Location: Aldworth - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: John Euerafriad sold his soul to the Devil (for what we do not know), whether he was buried within the church or not. As normal, with this type of deal, he was buried under the church wall (neither in nor out of the church) which denied the Devil his due.


The ghost in the pond managed to upset locals.

Farmer's Wife

Location: Arbourfield - Pond near White's Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: The farmer's wife returned as a ghost soon after her death, moaning as she walked the area before vanishing into a pond. This upset the locals, who summoned seven preachers who performed an exorcism, ending with a heavy stone being placed at the bottom of the pond to prevent the woman's return.

Woman

Location: Arbourfield (aka Arborfield) - Site of Arbourfield Hall, aka Arborfield Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site where the hall once stood is haunted by a woman jilted by the building's owner. She slit her own throat under a nearby oak (or yew) tree. Another version of the story says she and the gardener were due to be married, but the girl was murdered by a jealous butler.

Eliza Kleininger

Location: Ascot - Berystede Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, post-1886
Further Comments: Eliza, aka the blue lady, was a French maid who died in a fire which consumed the original house that stood on the site. She was said to have run back into the burning building to save precious jewellery belonging to her mistress.

Eliza Kleininger

Location: Ascot - Berystede Hotel, Bagshot Road - Rooms 306, 361, 362
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Killed in the 1886 fire that destroyed most of the building, Eliza has returned to hunt for the jewellery lost in the blaze.

Lady in Black

Location: Ascot - Huntingdon House (no longer standing, Windsor Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom elderly lady dressed in black would stand silently on the top of the staircase. It was thought that she awaited the return of her husband from the First World War, from which he did not come back. The house was destroyed by fire in 1977, and the ghost has not been seen since.

Shaggy Dog

Location: Ascot - Old Huntsman's House
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It has been reported that this house is haunted by a sheepdog-looking entity, which has also been heard barking. Folklore said a man in a red coat also haunted the site.

Horseman

Location: Ascot - Old road system (now changed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1967
Further Comments: No longer seen since extensive roadwork, a ghostly horseman once ran around the area.

Flashing Lights

Location: Ascot - Private residence, Fernbank Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Christmas 1974 to early 1976
Further Comments: Flashing lights began outside this property, though they moved inside shortly after. Poltergeist-like activities then proceeded to grow more intense over the months, with larger and larger items being moved, until a visitor recited a prayer on the site and the events ceased.


Ghostly horse near a demolition site.

Pale Horse

Location: Ascot - Royal Ascot Hotel (no longer standing - site now a roundabout along the Bracknell Road)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1964
Further Comments: In the process of demolishing the hotel, workmen reported encountering a phantom pale horse and hearing disembodied footsteps walking along empty corridors.

Admiral Sullivan

Location: Ascot - Tall Trees house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the admiral looks out from his old library's window, though there are no witnesses to this.

Carriage

Location: Ascot - Woodlands Ride, heading into the forest
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa late twentieth century
Further Comments: A mother and daughter encountered a carriage being drawn by two white horses. A woman in a crinoline dress sat within the vehicle, while the driver wore an old fashioned cravat.

Furrow

Location: Ashampstead Green - Grim's Ditch
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Between five and six miles long, this ancient ditch is said to have been created by the Devil and two inhuman helpers in a single night.

Shadowy Creature

Location: Bagley Wood - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: May 2015
Further Comments: Walking through the woods after dusk, a couple found themselves chased by a large shadowy quadruped that stood just over a metre tall. One of the witnesses said it did not move like a deer or a dog. The woods is also reputedly home to a phantom highwayman.

Landlord

Location: Basildon - Blewbury Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, post-1950s
Further Comments: A former landlord is said to be heard walking down the staircase and into the bar late at night.

Lady Fane

Location: Basildon - The Grotto (house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s?
Further Comments: Local stories said that Lady Fane haunted her former home, though no recent witnesses exist. While a woman staying here did encounter a phantom young girl during the Second World War, the entity wore a raggedy green dress - surely unsuitable attire for a lady? Another legend places the Mistletoe Bough tale as occurring on the site.


An old woodcut showing a tiny fairy riding a small horse.

Helpful Fairies

Location: Beedon - Burrow Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The little people here are traditionally helpful in nature, and once fixed a plough for a farmer. When archaeologists tried to dig up the barrow in 1850, a storm blew up and drove them away. A golden coffin is said to be buried in the area.

Chimes without Wind

Location: Beenham - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October and November (reoccurring)
Further Comments: One resident reported that around this time of year strange things would happen - wind chimes in the bathroom would be vigorously shaken, lights flick on, and a young man has been spotted in a former bedroom.

Lady

Location: Binfield - Billingbear House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1924
Further Comments: A ghostly white lady haunted this house before it burnt down. One room was transported to Pace College, Manhattan, and is said to contain a ghost (whether it is the white lady is unknown).

Horse and Rider

Location: Binfield - Forest Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2007
Further Comments: A witness travelling along this road had just driven past the Warren pub towards the A321 when they spotted a fast moving horse and rider in woodland on the right hand side of the road. The rider appeared to be topless and looked as if they were sitting where the horse's head should have been, the witness speculating that the entity could have been a centaur. The phantom rode into heavier woodland and the witness lost sight.

Women in White

Location: Binfield Heath - Crowsley Park House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987
Further Comments: This BBC owned property featured in the press when four people appeared in court charged with offenses relating to breaking into the site. It was claimed that the four had visited the site after hearing stories of how rooms glowed in the dark and phantom women in white walked the grounds.

Dame Hoby

Location: Bisham - Bisham Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1609 onwards
Further Comments: Dame Hoby, being a great academic, was disappointed that only son was not so gifted. She would constantly push him to study harder, and if he failed then a sound beating would follow. During one punishment, he died, and now Dame Hoby walks the abbey grounds weeping and washing the blood from her hands from a basin that follows her around.

Footsteps

Location: Bracknell - Caesar's Camp (hillfort)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Second World War (marching), 2010s (footsteps)
Further Comments: Two women who lived near the camp (in a house no longer standing) heard disembodied marching and voices, though nothing could be seen. A phantom man with red hair was also seen by one of these witnesses, though this was a separate experience to the first. More recently, a witness recalled being followed by things falling from trees, always slightly behind but never ahead, and hearing something moving up and down the path, although nothing could be seen.

Murderous Landlord

Location: Bracknell - Hind's Head Inn (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: The landlord would kill wealthy travellers in their sleep, until one man escaped and summoned help. The landlord was executed for his crimes, and his angry ghost haunted the inn until it was pulled down.

Records 1 - 25 of 147

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