Essex Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Headless Airman wanting Lift
Location: Hadstock - The B1052 leading into Hadstock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After losing his head in a flying accident, the apparition of an American pilot has been seen thumbing a lift on the roadside.
Red Light & Blue Man
Location: Hainault Forest Country Park - Lake and Cabin Hill
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 05 and 08 May 1977
Further Comments: Two police officers watched a large red light moving by the lake - as they approached it vanished suddenly. The officers then spotted a strange white object; this also vanished. Three days later, two men walking their dogs encountered a blue figure that stood around 2.5 metres tall and 1.25 metres wide. Like the UFOs, this figure also vanished.
Grey ABC
Location: Halstead - Fields near town centre
Type: ABC
Date / Time: June 1996
Further Comments: Seen at a reasonably close distance, this cat was charcoal grey in colour.
Unknown
Location: Harlow - Canons Brook Golf Club
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A brief mention on the Camra website says the clubhouse may have a ghost.
Cat
Location: Harlow - Northbrook House, near Harlow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Northbrooke House is reportedly haunted by a cat, the reincarnation of a woman murdered by her lover.
Poltergeist & Voices
Location: Harwich - The Duke of Edinburgh
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The poltergeist in this public house has been known to move full bottles of spirits around on the shelves and, on the odd occasion, throw them to the floor. Voices have also been heard emanating from the empty bar.
Lady Hamilton
Location: Harwich - Three Cups Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once haunted by Nelson's wife, when the pub had a wall knocked down, the spirit disappeared forever.
Spontaneously Combusting Dog
Location: Hatfield Peverel - Gates of Crix, house on Chelmsford side of village
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1900s
Further Comments: Quite harmless unless antagonised, a ghost taking the form of a dog once patrolled the gates of a house in the town. However, when the town's first motorcar arrived, the ghost was so shocked it burst into flame, and disappeared without trace.
Silas
Location: Hatfield Peverel - Vinehurst house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This property was said to be haunted by two ghosts. Silas was said to be friendly, while the other entity was accompanied by a feeling of cold which upset the family dog.
Pusher
Location: Hatfield Peverel - William Boosey public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Three phantoms reputedly haunt this pub, one of which pushes staff behind the bar.
Footsteps
Location: Hawkwell - Clements Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: This ghost is said to have been so friendly that the family dog would run up to the sounds wagging its tail. Another tale states that the ghost of Anne Boleyn has been seen without her head walking the corridors of the house.
Glowing Woman
Location: Hawkwell / Hockley - Belchamps (camping area)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: It is reported that this glowing entity floats through the wooded area here, vanishing soon after being seen.
Basking Dragon
Location: Henham - Field near Henham
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: May 1669 (or 1699)
Further Comments: The nine foot long dragon with 'eyes as big as a sheep's' once spent a few days basking in a field in this area, before taking leave (chased away by concerned villagers). The creature caused no damage and remained a popular local character until quite recently. Another version of the tale is not so dragon-friendly; the creature lived in a cave and would venture out at night to eat cattle and sheep - it only stopped when the cave roof collapsed, trapping the creature within.
Elizabethan Lady
Location: Henham - Henham Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The figure of this woman is said to appear whenever her painting is moved from its place in the house.
Footsteps
Location: Herongate - Private residence, Blind Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Numerous strange occurrences, including footsteps, opening doors, voices and smells, have resulted in the occupants believing their property may be haunted.
Gravity Hill
Location: High Beach - Hangman's Hill, Epping Forest
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A local legend says that cars are pushed uphill by the ghost of a person who committed suicide by hanging, or by a phantom hangman who went on a killing spree. Either way, the anti-gravity effect is caused by an environmental optical illusion...
Abigail in her Carriage
Location: High Laver - Main road through village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Abigail Masham spent her remaining years in the village. Her residence is now gone, and Abigail passes through the village in a carriage once a year to have a quick, sad look at where her house once stood before disappearing.
Jumper
Location: Hockley - Railway Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A former worker at the station is said to have witnessed a young girl in a skirt with a cardigan over her shoulders run to the top of the bridge crying. As he shouted out to her, she jumped off the bridge and vanished before she hit the ground. When the worker told his colleagues what had happened, they said the tragedy occurs every year - the girl committed suicide on a New Year's Eve in the 1960s after finding her boyfriend with another girl.
Loping Phantom Dog
Location: Hockley - Road between Hockley and parish church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Misty nights
Further Comments: Appearing on misty nights, those who see the dog are said to die before the end of the year. One witness walking home on a dark night fainted after a large black dog appeared by her side, disappearing into thin air several minutes later. It is not known if she suffered the fate that legend dictates.
Waving White Lady in a Coach
Location: Hockley - Road outside the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August (possibly) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: After losing control of the horses, a coach driver and his female passenger died. Now, the phantom vehicle is seen outside the church; the white woman in the carriage waves at witnesses before the coach pulls away and the accident is repeated.
Matilda
Location: Hockley - The Old School House, currently a private residence.
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1957 onwards?
Further Comments: The opening of doors and ringing of bells resulted in the owners of this house calling the 'ghost' Matilda, suspecting the spirit to be that of a child.
Aeroplane Crash
Location: Hockley - Woods
Type: Other
Date / Time: Summer 1973
Further Comments: A person called police after hearing a loud crash and screams for help in the woods, which they thought to be an aircraft crash. On investigation, nothing could be found.
Monks
Location: Holland-on-Sea - Ancient burial ground near Little Holland Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The wispy grey figures which have been seen drifting around the area are said to be either phantom monks or ghostly smugglers.
Scented Woman
Location: Holland-on-Sea - Footpath between Oakwood Inn and Aylesbury Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: People have occasionally caught a hint of perfume as they pass this way - the scent is thought to belong to a phantom woman who walks the area.
Old Man
Location: Hornchurch - Copse near river close to St George's Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom old man emerges from the copse and is said to beckon people, trying to lure them across the river.
Records 251 - 275 of 535
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