The Paranormal Database

Monk

Location: Pebmarsh - Well (location of which is unknown)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every ten years (but exact date not known)
Further Comments: A ghostly monk would manifest and fetch water from the well every ten years (or so).

Large ABC Footprints in Snow

Location: Peldon - Exact area not known
Type: ABC
Date / Time: January 1996
Further Comments: While no animal was seen, a large cat left footprints in the snow here in early 1996.

Black Dog with Drooping Ears

Location: Peldon - Wigborough Road between Guisnes Court and Sacott crossroads
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1930s?
Further Comments: While with a friend driving a horse and trap, a man reported being followed by a dog the size of a calf, with drooping ears and eyes that glowed like bicycle lamps.

Cold Spots

Location: Pentlow - The Pentlow Folly
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Strange phantom laughter has been heard coming from the folly, which also suffers from strange cold spots on the warmest of days.

Black Cat

Location: Pitsea - Exact location not known
Type: ABC
Date / Time: May 1976
Further Comments: A typical large cat was seen in the area, black in colour.

Nun

Location: Pleshey - Pleshey Mount Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: True history unknown, a nun has been observed outside the farm.

Samuel Trying to Escape

Location: Prittlewell - Churchyard
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1827/28
Further Comments: After being buried, witnesses reported hearing Samuel Brown trying to escape his coffin underground. Knowing how common being buried alive once was, this may not be a ghostly event...

Lovesick Monk

Location: Prittlewell - One time Cluniac Priory, Fishponds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1800s onwards
Further Comments: Now a museum, this site is haunted by a monk who is said to have been involved in black magic. Another story is that the monk was murdered after falling in love with a local woman. Either way, his presence is said to drive the local bird life insane whenever he appears. To lend credence to the story, an archaeological dig during the 1960's found a grave which displayed markings indicating it was that of a disgraced monk. Staff have also reported hearing children coming from a first floor room - when investigated, it is found to be empty.

Murderer and Murdered

Location: Purfleet - Royal Hotel (Room 31)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: In Room 31, an argument over gambling resulted in a young man murdering his girlfriend before committing suicide. Both are said to haunt the room, and also appear in the kitchen and the upper restaurant balcony. Poltergeist activity has also been reported in the Longbridge Bar.

Rugby Ball

Location: Ramsden Heath - Skies over Hanningfield Reservoir
Type: UFO
Date / Time: February (?) 1985
Further Comments: A zigzagging rugby ball shaped object, larger than an aircraft, was reported by a witness. The ufo was surrounded by red and orange lights.

Hitchhiking Cyclist

Location: Rayleigh - Blinking Owl cafe, Lychgate Industrial Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards
Further Comments: The requested end destination for this female vanishing hitchhiker; the story is that she and her boyfriend set off from the cafe on their motorbike, but it crashed on the A127 and both were killed. Now this woman flags down cars along the A127, tells them she is looking for her boyfriend, and asks to be taken to the cafe. She always disappears just prior to the Blinking Owl being reached.

Burning Hand

Location: Rayleigh - Private residence
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2022
Further Comments: Something unseen grabbed an occupant's shoulder and they felt a sudden burst of heat on their neck. The occupant turned round and, in the darkness, could see something even darker in the corner of the room. A few hours later, while at work, the occupant's neck started to hurt; looking into a mirror, they could see a burn where they had been touched.

Landing Activity

Location: Rayleigh - Private residence, Rawreth area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980-2009
Further Comments: Over almost two decades, the residents at this property reported a figure by an upstairs window, the sound of people running on the landing, and poltergeist activity.

Pregnant Girl in Dark Dress

Location: Rayleigh - Rayleigh Lodge public house and nearby pond
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A local girl had an affair with the Lord of the Manor. After falling pregnant, the girl drowned herself in a pond opposite the pub. Her ghost, wearing a dark dress, may have last been seen in the 1970s. Other reports from the pub include a pink mist, a phantom dog, and a former customer,

Lady in White

Location: Rayleigh - Unknown toy shop
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1974
Further Comments: This ghostly woman in white could be heard moving things around the shop and was said to have touched the back of the neck of one witness. It is thought that the woman died in a house fire.

Woman with Long Hair

Location: Rayne - Shalford Road, near The Swan Public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 18 September 2014
Further Comments: Three people in a car spotted a woman with long black hair and a pale face standing by the roadside. She wore purple trousers and a ragged yellow shirt. One of the witnesses speculated that the figure was that of the ghost said to haunt the nearby public house.

Weaving Woman

Location: Rayne - The Swan public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A suicide victim, this woman hanged herself in the back of this pub.

Horse with Trap

Location: Rettendon - Road leading to East Hannington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost haunting this road is said to be that of a farmer riding his horse and cart.

Empty huts at the former Ridgewell airfield, Essex.

Crashing Aircraft

Location: Ridgewell - Second World War Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Now little more than a collection of old huts, the area is haunted by the sounds of crashing Second World War aircraft, shouting airmen, and other wartime noises.

Big Cat

Location: Rochford - General area of Rochford and Hawkwell
Type: ABC
Date / Time: April 1978
Further Comments: A large out of place cat was observed several times in this area.

Relocation

Location: Rochford - New houses along Rectory Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Activity more intense during winter (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: A group of residential buildings erected on the site of a demolished mansion are reputed to be paranormally active, mainly by poltergeist disruption, though manifestations occasionally happen.

Matilda

Location: Rochford - Poor Law Infirmary (would later become Rochford Hospital, but no longer standing)
Type: Other
Date / Time: January 1923
Further Comments: A traditional looking ghost in a sheet reportedly upset people in the infirmary for several weeks, ringing bells and blowing out lights. A rumour started that the ghost belonged to a former nurse named Matilda. After workers threatened to leave, local spiritualists offered to help, and a fifty pound reward was offered, a nurse lay in wait for the entity, revealing it to be nothing more than Edwin Gell, a male attendant, making mischief. Gell was dismissed from his job and took the matter to court, although the judge ruled his joke was 'grave misconduct' and the dismissal justified.

Headless Anne Boleyn

Location: Rochford - Rochford Hall, and roads in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twelve days following Christmas (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: At the family home of Anne Boleyn, the former queen's decapitated ghost walks briefly around the building after Christmas.

Rainaldus the Chaplain

Location: Runwell - Our Lady of the Running Well parish church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January - April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Rainaldus is said to have practiced black magic, and that the Devil came for him (with the north door of the church still showing the scorch marks created by the Devil's hands). Now the ghost of a monk with a scarred face, dressed in black, haunts the area; and the old Chaplain is blamed.

Sister Lucy

Location: Runwell - Our Lady's Well
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sister Lucy ran away from her chapel, but realising she had made a mistake, tried to return. She slipped as she passed the well and drowned in its waters. Her ghost is now said to haunt the area. The same location is also said to be home to a phantom horse.