The Paranormal Database

Herbert & Charlie

Location: Chester - Pepper Street garage (no longer operational, was based next to what is now Habitat)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: These two phantom monks were spotted several times by staff working at the garage shortly after it began opening 24 hours a day.

Man in Cellar

Location: Chester - Pied Bull public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The man in the cellar of this pub is said to date from the seventeenth century, while the upper part of the building is haunted by a Victorian-era maid.

Moving Furniture

Location: Chester - Private residence near Northgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 16 November 2024, approximately 00:00h - 03:00h
Further Comments: Two visitors to this property heard unexplained noises, footsteps, and furniture being moved during their stay. A window would also open and close itself.

Lady

Location: Chester - Private residence, Newry Park area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Soon after moving into this property, a phantom woman walked past one occupant, and another witness experienced a cold spot which manifested by the side of a bed. A child who walked through one room returned a few moments later to find a chair had been turned upside down.

Plate Thrower

Location: Chester - Private residence, south-west of city centre
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: Occupants of this property reported plates which flew from cupboards, lights turning on and off unaided, and the sound of banging and running across the landing at night. A strange female figure glimpsed at the top of the staircase which they considered 'sad'.

Little Girl

Location: Chester - Queen Hotel, Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, possibly 2010s
Further Comments: In an area thought to be a former nursery, people are said to have their hair pulled by a phantom female child.

An old postcard showing the River Dee.

Jenny

Location: Chester - River Dee, area known as The Groves
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Jenny is said to wait just beneath the waters of the river, waiting for an unsuspecting man to grab and drown. A Viking warrior is also reputed to haunt the same area.

Legionnaire

Location: Chester - Roman Walls
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This trooper walks along the walls that once protected his garrison. One legend identifies him as an officer who fell in love with a Celtic girl; one fateful day he left his post to meet her, only to let Celtic warriors enter the city and cause chaos. Some have also reported a Cavalier in the same area.

Squeaking Cycle

Location: Chester - Saltney Junction railway station, area of
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early winter mornings (reoccurring), last seen early/mid twentieth century?
Further Comments: The phantom bicycle with a squeaking wheel was encountered by a guard and a child in the early hours of the morning, vanishing before it reached the witnesses. The haunting reputedly began after a suicide in a nearby work area.

Strange Voice

Location: Childer Thornton - Halfway House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A weird voice was picked up on a tape recorder during a ghost watch at this building.

Two ghostly men.

Hanging Around

Location: Christleton - Plough Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two felons hanged along this road are thought to have remained in the area.

Grey Figure

Location: Church Lawton - Liverpool Road West
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 09 September 2011, around 21:30h
Further Comments: A driver reported seeing a figure walking along the pavement, head down, illuminated by the lights on an oncoming car. The driver said the figure was completely grey - no other details could be seen. The figure dropped out of sight as the oncoming car passed, and when the driver reached the same spot along the road, the figure had vanished.

Uneasy Atmosphere

Location: Church Lawton - Woodland near the lake
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 2016
Further Comments: Two friends were walking their dog in the woodland and encountered an increasingly uneasy atmosphere. They heard an iron entry gate screech open then slam shut and a series of footsteps walking towards them. The dog started uncontrollably barking at nothing which could be seen and then bolted straight towards the gate, the two witnesses following close behind. There is a local legend that the lake and surrounding area are haunted by a Grey Lady. She was somnambulant and ended up drowning in the lake during one of her sleepwalking episodes.

Woman in the Red Scarf

Location: Church Minshull - Road to Winsford, near cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 December 2004, 00:30h
Further Comments: A figure of a woman in a red scarf whose pallid face was darkened only by black sunken eyes was seen by two people driving along this road. They reported that the ghostly figure stared right through them, was totally motionless and that her clothing looked like it dated from the 1960 or 1970s. When they drove past again the following day, the whole area seemed very different from previous.

Bell Overboard

Location: Comber Mere - Waters of the lake
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After the nearby abbey fell into ruin, the bells were taken across the lake towards Wrenbury church - one bell fell overboard and can sometimes be heard ringing.

Marbury Lady

Location: Comberbatch - Marbury Park and former hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Exact date unknown, but reported to be around 22:30h (female ghost)
Further Comments: An Egyptian maid was pushed down the staircase of the old manor house, dying in the fall. Her ghost was said to haunt the old hall, though when it was demolished, the spirit changed location and took up residence in the park. A phantom mare named Marbury Dunne is also said to haunt the park. The lady featured in the press in 1978 after a 'ghost' spotted by a driver transpired to be a dummy.

Lord in Chair

Location: Combermere - Combermere Abbey
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Ghost photographed in 1891, child appears prior to a death
Further Comments: An early photograph taken here shows what appears to be a phantom man sitting in a chair in the study. Though the figure was identified as the late Lord Combermere, it is more likely a mortal blurred by a long exposure time. Another entity that takes the form of a small child is said to appear before a death in the Cotton family, while it was believed in the nineteenth century the site to be haunted by cowled monks.

Something Large

Location: Combermere - Combermere Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Something tore a large hole in a pike net, and a diver searching for a drowned body encountered something that frightened him to such an extent that he said he would never return to the lake.

Piano

Location: Congleton - Lion and Bell public house (was renamed Bar Twelve, as of 2011 closed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 2000s
Further Comments: A piano was said to play itself, even though most of the keys were broken. The site was also said to be home to an old woman with her hair tied up in a bun.

An old postcard of Little Moreton Hall.

Face in the Fireplace

Location: Congleton - Little Moreton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: A thirteen year old girl reported seeing a face appear in the fireplace here which gave her 'disapproving' looks.

Crocodile

Location: Congleton - Old quarry (now Astbury Mere Water Park)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1995
Further Comments: A lizard-like creature just under a metre in length was seen by several users of this quarry when it was converted to a water sports centre.

An old woodcut of a black bird standing on a vase.

Raven

Location: Coppenhall - Area around Don Kinson's Oak
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Thought by locals to contain the spirit of a woman who drowned herself in a nearby pool of water, this black bird had to be exorcised by the area's Bishop.

Grace Trigg

Location: Cotton Edmunds - Cotton Farm, the 'Roman Bridges'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Grace is said to have been beheaded by Cromwellian soldiers after trying to protect her master's property from theft and destruction. Some believe her spirit to remain in the area, carrying her severed head under one arm.

Grey Lady

Location: Crewe - Crewe Arms Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly grey lady is said to be seen (and heard) as she moves along a corridor in the hotel.

Ballet Dancer

Location: Crewe - Lyceum Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Actor unknown, dancer seen 01 October 2010
Further Comments: The stage door is reputedly haunted by an actor murdered by a jealous thespian. A ballet dancer who killed herself can sometimes be seen dancing on stage. She was last observed in a full white period dress and is said to leave a lingering smell of perfume.