The Paranormal Database

Grey Lady with Basket

Location: Stuntney - A142 - near Stuntney, where the old and new roads cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards
Further Comments: Appearing towards dusk, the woman is believed to be the wife of Robert Cromwell, father of Oliver. Oliver's mother once lived in a long gone hall in the village.

Pilot in the Fog

Location: Sutton - RAF Mepel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1960
Further Comments: An RAF police officer encountered the apparition of an RAF pilot in full flying gear in the fog. The phantom dissolved before him. The witness tried to report it as an incident and was told not to bother as it had been seen before. Others on site had heard an aircraft flying low as if to land, though no aircraft would touch down.

Woman

Location: Thorney - Dog in a Doublet public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom woman is said to walk past just outside the pub. The building is also home to the traditional poltergeist which moves small items around.

White Creature?

Location: Thorney - Green Drove
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two men watched a large white object walking on four legs pass by, the entity towering above the witnesses. Other than the legs, the rest of the creature was too indistinct to identify, and it appeared to enter a nearby dyke and sink into the water. A local story said that many years previous, a horse and rider had fallen into the dyke at that spot and drowned.

House Shaker

Location: Thorney - Unidentified farmhouse
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1896
Further Comments: A married couple were disturbed by knocks and bangs which would escalate into crashes which shook the house. Many people visited the house, but none could find the source of the sounds. The farming couple eventually moved out. It is not clear whether this is the same Thorney farmhouse haunted by the lady in red.

Lady in Red

Location: Thorney - Unidentified farmhouse on the Duke of Bedford's estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1907
Further Comments: A phantom lady in a red chintz dress was said to haunt a bedroom in this farmhouse and would be seen pointing up to the ceiling. When the beams above the area were (eventually) searched, a will was discovered which belonged to a farmer who had died one hundred years previous.

Footsteps

Location: Thorney - Unidentified house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman took to haunting one house after her death. She had a reputation as having concealed a great deal of wealth, although it remained undiscovered. The woman's ghost could normally be heard walking around after dark, although one occupier did briefly spot a woman wearing a dark dress standing on the staircase before abruptly vanishing.

Horse sized Dog

Location: Thorney - Woods in the area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Summer only (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This great dog is said to be the size of a small horse, also sharing a few other equestrian characteristics.

Moved Again

Location: Thriplow - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The village folk wanted their church in a hollow by their homes, but the Devil had other plans, and moved it to the hill.

Jospeth Hannath's Wife

Location: Tydd St Giles - Hannath Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1850s onwards
Further Comments: Devastated by the death of his wife, Hannath refused to let anybody touch the corpse. For nearly two months it lay in a room in Hannath Hall, until Jospeth finally gave up the body. A spirit has been seen in the area where the body lay. A maid connected with the Joseph Hannath incident committed suicide soon after it was over, and her spirit also walks the corridors of the hall. Finally, a young boy is also said to haunt the building.

Hound

Location: Upware - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The creature known as the Upware Hound would walk the lanes at night.

Return of the Father

Location: Upwood - Upwood House
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1757
Further Comments: The daughter of Thomas Hussey wanted to marry a captain, but as the officer had no money, Thomas refused. A short time past and Thomas went to London on business. His daughter, and a maid sharing the room, awoke late one night to see Thomas opening a curtain and smiling. The following day news reached the house that the man had died the previous night, his last words asking his daughter to marry the captain.

Open Doors

Location: Wansford - Nene Valley Railway Depot
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The depot is said to be home to a ghostly passenger who has been seen on the platform and by the toilets. Some figures have been picked up on CCTV, and doors have opened unaided by human hand.

Snowy the Cat

Location: Wansford - Yarwell tunnel, Nene Valley Railway (13m west of Peterborough)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Snowy's owner, the stationmaster, was killed by a train while out looking for his pet. The cat is doomed to haunt the area in which it disappeared until found by the stationmaster.

Old woodcut of a strange creature in the upper part of a building.

Poltergeist

Location: Warboys - Tick Fen
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 26 April - 8 May 1897
Further Comments: A cottage belonging to a beekeeper was subjected to raps which manifested from the bed of a sick girl. The sounds became so loud that they could be heard in the neighbour's home, some 450 metres away. An article in the Cardiff Times said that 'hundreds' of people had visited the site to find the source of the raps, but all failed.

Small Boy

Location: Waresley - Vicarage Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: This child is said to have died in 1921, and although the SPR investigated the case with tangible results in 1965, the entity has been quiet of late.

Denny Abbey, Waterbeach.

Animals Feel 'It' Each Evening

Location: Waterbeach - Denny Abbey, A10 north from Waterbeach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20:20h (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Noticed by people who live near the Abbey, animals are supposed to act defensively at evening, as if a stranger were walking past. Years before this was noticed, a local tale stated that the sounds of somebody using a non-existent well could be heard on the site - this was long before two old wells were discovered and excavated.

Old Man

Location: Waterbeach - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980-1990s
Further Comments: A witness recalled staying at this home on several occasions, during which he would wake up during the night and see an old man standing in the corner of a bedroom. The upstairs was reported to have an oppressive atmosphere and a strong smell of pipe tobacco, even though no one in the house smoked.

Mist

Location: Wendy - Bridge over stream between Wendy and Shingay
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 1976, circa 23:30h
Further Comments: Travelling home on motorbike during a clear, hot summer's night, a man passed through a dense mist which had gathered just before reaching the bridge. Upon entering the mist, the rider became instantly aware of an evil presence - he quickly accelerated away, although felt something was following him.

Elderly Lady

Location: West Wratting - Weston Colville Hall (divided into apartments)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973-1976
Further Comments: This phantom old lady, with greying red hair and wearing a black dress was seen several times by the tenants of one of the homes. She is thought to be one of the two elderly women who lived at the hall during the Second World War.

Charlie Presence

Location: Whittlesey - The Black Bull public house, Market Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about the ghost affectionately known as Charlie Presence.

An optical illusion from the nineteenth century book Spectropia.

Skeleton

Location: Whittlesford - Barrows (no longer present)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: These prehistoric barrows were destroyed to make room for farmland, though one story states that one farmhand found and removed a human skull from the site, only to have the rest of the skeleton visit him during the following night, demanding the return of its head.

The Not Quite Dead

Location: Whittlesford - Churchyard
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 24 April (St Mark's Eve) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: All those who will be buried in the churchyard over the next twelve months appear here and lay in the correct place, before being absorbed into the ground.

Victorian Road Crossers

Location: Whittlesford - Whittlesford Road to Cambridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1980s, 04 January 2005
Further Comments: In 2005, a driver reported three male figures dressed in Victorian clothing which walked across the road in front of his car. The vehicle went straight through them, leaving the witness cold, sick, and very shaken. A few years prior to this, a man was thrown from his horse after he briefly spotted three Victorian men on the road. After the rider picked himself up, the men had vanished, although the horse refused to walk in the direction they were heading.

Marshland around Wicken Fen.

Shuck

Location: Wicken - Wicken Fen
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A calf-sized dog bringing death to all that see it runs this area of the Fen, which is currently a nature reserve.