The Paranormal Database

Lost Bell

Location: Shrewsbury (Shropshire) - Bomere Pool
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Several stories surround this pool. In one, a village once stood here, but the villagers mocked God, He sent forth a storm that flooded the area. The church bell can now be heard peeling once a year. Another story says the pool is home to a massive fish - it was caught only once, but escaped, taking the sword of the fisherman (or knight) with him. He now uses the sword to cut any net which falls near him. The final story says the pool is bottomless, and that when any attempt to drain the pool is made, the waters always return overnight.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-07-16   Last updated: 2002-07-16   ID: #1760

Coach

Location: Holford (Somerset) - Normansland driveway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Appearing on the stroke of midnight, this coach pulled by a team of black horses circles the driveway before mysteriously vanishing again.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-02-13   Last updated: 2003-02-13   ID: #3828

Old Blunderhazard

Location: Barsham (Suffolk) - Between Barsham and Norwich
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Once per year, just before Christmas, a ghostly member of the Blennerhassett family leaves the village in a coach pulled by headless horses. The phantom would travel to Hassett's Tower in Norwich before returning home before sunrise.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-08-07   Last updated: 2007-08-07   ID: #7728

Roos Hall, Beccles, Suffolk.

Headless Horseman

Location: Beccles (Suffolk) - Roos Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Christmas Eve is marked by the arrival of a coach driven by a headless horseman and pulled by headless horses, which travel down the driveway and vanish as they arrive by the front door. Close by, an oak known as Nelson's Tree is reputed to have been used as gallows and is haunted by a woman in white, although it is not clear whether she was one of the tree's victims or mourns the loss of a loved one. In the hall itself, on a wall within a bedroom cupboard, there is the imprint of the Devil's hoof branded into solid brick. Finally, another tale says there is a window at the hall which always opens itself, even if locked shut.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17   Last updated: 2000-08-17   ID: #777

Black Tom of Scothill

Location: Dewsbury (West Yorkshire) - Dewsbury Parish Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Black Tom is the name of the bell in the church and is tolled the number of the year (ie, in 2007 it was tolled 2007 times) to ensure Old Nick does not visit the village during the following twelve months. The last peal must occur on the stroke of midnight to ensure success.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2004-02-08   Last updated: 2004-02-08   ID: #4991

Red Eared Pigs

Location: Calcutt (Wiltshire) - A419?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Several small white swine with red ears cross the road once a year on Christmas Eve.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-06-07   Last updated: 2009-06-07   ID: #9400

A ghostly coach for Christmas.

Coach

Location: Calcutt (Wiltshire) - Bridge in the area (A419?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: This coach, pulled by a team of four horses, crosses a bridge close to Calcutt.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-06-07   Last updated: 2009-06-07   ID: #9433

Sound of Silver

Location: Evesham (Worcestershire) - River
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Hidden in the river when the local abbey was closed for business in 1539, the silver bells still ring their song around Christmas.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-02-07   Last updated: 2003-02-07   ID: #3768

Screaming Horses

Location: Wythall (Worcestershire) - Black Greve Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Locals say that the horses belonged to a Roman chariot; the driver lost control in the ice and snow, and the entire team fell into a deep ditch and died.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-10-13   Last updated: 2026-09-05   ID: #2609

Swerving Coach

Location: Brockley (Somerset) - Road leading to Brockley Combe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring) (coach)
Further Comments: One dramatic version of the story has this phantom coach and four charging at oncoming traffic, causing accidents and chaos. Another says it appears at midnight on Christmas Eve and is silently driven by an eighteenth century coachman who cracks a whip that makes no sound. Some have also reported a headless huntsman in the same area. A phantom horseman is also said to appear on moonless nights, and finally the area is home to a 'bounding' ghost, a figure that runs ahead of people, only to vanish without trace.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-02-14   Last updated: 2026-04-05   ID: #3859

Flaming Woman

Location: Pluckley (Kent) - Surrenden House (original house burnt down 1952)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring) (Dering), circa 1904 (fiery figure)
Further Comments: Tradition has it that a former Lady Dering would manifest as a white lady on Christmas Eve. In 1904, newspapers reported that a visitor to the house spotted a burning woman holding a baby running along the driveway. The witness fainted, and by the time she had recovered, the figure had vanished. Another entity, later the same day, was said to have tried to strangle another woman in her bed (although the newspaper speculated this event occurred because of the day's excitement).

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2021-09-28   Last updated: 2026-03-21   ID: #14275

Heavy Trampling

Location: Saffron Walden (Essex) - Cross Keys public house, corner of King Street and High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring), 23:00h-Midnight
Further Comments: Any listener here is said to hear footsteps marching up and down a passageway. They are rumoured to belong to a soldier of Cromwell. A ghostly woman is said to haunt one of the bedrooms, and it is alleged she was Cromwell's mistress.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17   Last updated: 2000-08-17   ID: #459

White lady

Location: Worstead (Norfolk) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (recurring), photographed 1975
Further Comments: Legend says this lady has scared to death at least one young bell ringer, although she is now said to have a healing effect. Poltergeist activity has also been reported, around the 1950's. A photograph taken in 1975 by Peter Berthelot appears to show a misty white lady sitting behind his wife on a pew.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17   Last updated: 2000-08-17   ID: #53

Sir Geoffrey de Mandeville

Location: Outer London: Barnet (Greater London) - Oak Hill Park, East Barnet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December 2026, 23:30h or 00:00h next due, then every sixth year (recurring)
Further Comments: Sir Geoffrey, complete with red cloak and jangling spurs, appears here on horseback and heads towards the church to disappear through its wall. Even though the ghost is said to appear on Christmas Eve, the last verified sighting of Sir Geoffrey was on 17 December 1932.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-08-17   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #2207

Phantom Horseman

Location: Warmington (Warwickshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December and 31 December (recurring)
Further Comments: A phantom horseman, perhaps connected to the nearby battle site of Edge Hill, visits this area twice a year. One local man claimed to have seen a lantern being swung along a road, although no one held it.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2024-07-16   Last updated: 2024-08-04   ID: #15517

Horse and Carriage

Location: Camborne (Cornwall) - Polstrong House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December, midnight (recurring) every ten years, last seen 1912
Further Comments: A spectral horse and carriage are said to pull up in front of this house. A phantom couple exit the vehicle then disappear upon reaching the doorstep.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2017-05-10   Last updated: 2017-05-10   ID: #12438

Betsy Jane

Location: Solway Firth (Dumfries and Galloway) - Waters of the Solway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December - Betsy Jane appears, and the Rotterdam prior to a maritime disaster
Further Comments: Laden with a golden profit made from selling slaves, God extracted revenge on this heinous practice by sinking the ship and killing all the crew on Christmas Day, just prior to the vessel docking. The passenger ship Rotterdam, which sank in the nineteenth century with the loss of all hands, is still seen, normally as a warning prior to a major disaster at sea. A hearty mix of other spectral vessels has also been reported.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-04-12   Last updated: 2003-04-12   ID: #4093

The sea between Cornwall and Scilly Isles.

Lyonesse

Location: Land's End (Cornwall) - Between Cornwall and Scilly Isles
Type: Other
Date / Time: 25 December (bells) (recurring)
Further Comments: This mythical land was once said to connect Cornwall to the Scilly Isles - as recently as the early twentieth century, people claimed to be able to see flooded woodland between the two land masses. Some legends say that Merlin sank Lyonesse as Mordred's men tried to escape across it, while others say it sank after a judgement from Heaven. On Christmas day, 149 submerged bells are said to ring and in days gone by, Cornish fishermen would sail out and listen to the undersea music.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-12-12   Last updated: 2023-05-21   ID: #3297

Theatre Royal, Bath.

Grey Lady

Location: Bath (Somerset) - Theatre Royal & Garrick's Head Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (butterfly) (recurring), Grey Lady last seen 1975
Further Comments: An actress killed herself in the hotel in the 1880s after discovering her husband had murdered her secret lover. The actress's last performance at the theatre occurred a few hours before her death, a role which required her to wear a grey feather dress - the same clothing her ghost still wears as it patrols the theatre and hotel. Her phantom may have last been seen in 1975. A dainty butterfly is also reported to haunt the theatre, manifesting briefly once a year on Christmas Day.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-25   Last updated: 2002-06-25   ID: #1474

Sunken Church

Location: Kirksanton (Cumbria) - Village Green
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: The church of the village sunk beneath the ground - whether God's hand or earthquake is unknown. One is said to be able to hear the bells if an ear is placed on the earth, while another version of the story says the ringing only occurs on Christmas Day.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-10-14   Last updated: 2007-10-14   ID: #8049

The Fish

Location: Bradwell (Derbyshire) - Lumley Pool and nearby wells
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: A local wiseman by the name of Master John transformed the spirit of a murdered girl who had taken to haunting the neighbourhood into a fish. This ghostly fish would appear in nearby waters on Christmas Day.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2007-05-07   Last updated: 2021-05-20   ID: #7433

Little Girl with Rag Doll

Location: Exeter (Devon) - Prospect Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: This young child only appears once a year in the upper part of the building. She is said to smile sweetly at any witnesses, before quickly fading away.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-25   Last updated: 2003-12-25   ID: #4857

Monk

Location: Pontrhydfendigaid (Dyfed) - Strata Florida - former site of abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: This phantom devotee of God returns to his old home once a year and tries to rebuild the altar. At other times of the year, legends say that one may observe candles and hear music from the ruins.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2004-08-22   Last updated: 2004-08-22   ID: #5363

Discarded Bells

Location: Firth of Forth (Fife) - Under the estuary
Type: Other
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: After the bells were looted from churches across Edinburgh and tossed into the estuary, they continued to ring at Christmas.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2023-05-21   Last updated: 2023-05-21   ID: #14908

Chained Monk

Location: SW1 (Greater London) - Buckingham Palace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (recurring)
Further Comments: Said to predate the construction of the palace, this monk appears bound in chains once a year on Christmas Day. The sound of a suicide (the single shot of a pistol) is occasionally heard on the first floor - the private secretary to King Edward VII ended his life here.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-02   Last updated: 2002-07-02   ID: #1535