The Paranormal Database

Returning Maid

Location: Abbots Langley (Hertfordshire) - Churchyard and Vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This young girl, who died suddenly, rises from the grave once a year and returns to the vicarage. Opinions differ on whether she is a former vicar's daughter, or a maid mistreated by a vicar's wife.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-10-28   Last updated: 2002-10-28   ID: #2903

Monk

Location: Abbots Langley (Hertfordshire) - Private home built on site of Leavesden Hospital, Leavesden High Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: Certain newspapers in the national press reported that Manuel Almunia, goalkeeper for Arsenal, lived in a house haunted by a monk-like figure holding a candle. The building was constructed on the site of a former asylum.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2008-05-03   Last updated: 2008-05-03   ID: #8454

Entrances to Hell take many forms.

Bottomless Pit

Location: Albury (Hertfordshire) - Halls Garden Pond near the church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This small body of water is said to be a one way ticket to Hell for anyone foolish enough to try to swim to the bottom.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-05-30   Last updated: 2004-05-30   ID: #5150

An old woodcut of a flaming figure approaching a man.

Devil's Bang

Location: Aldbury (Hertfordshire) - Former castle (or house)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two slight variations of the story exist. In one, the Devil helped Sir Guy de Gravade, the owner of the building, perform alchemy on the site, before a chemical mishap blew them both to hell. Another says Sir Guy dabbled in black magic, and he, a servant, and the house suddenly vanished, although all return once a year.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-11-07   Last updated: 2026-03-28   ID: #3021

Blind George

Location: Anstey (Hertfordshire) - Fields around the village, and Devil's Hole cave
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to still be playing his fiddle in tunnels under the village, Blind George ventured into the Devil's Hole cave with his trusted dog - the hound ran out, and was found with its hair burnt away, and George was never seen again.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2008-10-05   Last updated: 2008-10-05   ID: #9005

Figure in Black

Location: Ashwell (Hertfordshire) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shadow of a shambling headless person reportedly stalks the churchyard here.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-11-07   Last updated: 2002-11-07   ID: #3025

Woman on the Stairs

Location: Aston (Hertfordshire) - Private house along Bennington Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 2004
Further Comments: One person reported a phantom lady who would appear at the top of the stairs or at the end of a hallway, and open windows and doors.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2004-11-03   Last updated: 2004-11-03   ID: #5517

Monk

Location: Ayot St Lawrence (Hertfordshire) - Brocket Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thought to have hanged himself in the fourteenth century, the monk has made several appearances to staff and visitors.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-02   Last updated: 2002-06-02   ID: #1054

Lawrence of Arabia

Location: Ayot St Lawrence (Hertfordshire) - Shaw's Corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lawrence is thought to have enjoyed some of his time out of the army in this building, though there has been no clear identification made that the haunting entity was him.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-10-03   Last updated: 2002-10-03   ID: #2520

Crying Child

Location: Baldock (Hertfordshire) - Hinxworth Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy autumn nights
Further Comments: Thought to relate to a particularly ironic incident when a maid accidentally killed a child who had dressed up as a ghost to scare her, the infant's screams can now be heard echoing down through the ages.

Source: Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2003-01-02   Last updated: 2003-01-02   ID: #3413

Peter's Mistress

Location: Barkway (Hertfordshire) - Not known
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Peter Saltonstall witnessed the ghostly form of one of his former mistresses.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2026-03-28   Last updated: 2026-03-28   ID: #16436

Old Man

Location: Batford (Hertfordshire) - Lower Luton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March and May 2014
Further Comments: A driver had to swerve to avoid an older man standing in the road. When the driver looked for the figure, he had gone. A couple of months later a similar figure was seen again, this time by two witnesses, who said the man had a bandage on his head and held an old fashioned rifle.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2015-03-08   Last updated: 2015-03-08   ID: #11769

Dragon from a medieval bestiary.

Banished Wyrms

Location: Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire) - General area
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Whilst visiting Britain, St Paul, was supposed to have banished forever all snakes, dragons, and thunderstorms. One out of three is not too bad...

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-09-18   Last updated: 2005-09-18   ID: #6579

Young Girl

Location: Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire) - Railway bridge
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 13 September 2020, 04:45h
Further Comments: A railway worker working on the tracks heard a girl's voice say 'hello' and what sounded like 'can you...'. He peered into the trees next to the track, believing the voice could have come from nearby houses, but when looking back to the tracks a young girl with her back turned stood a few metres ahead. The startled worker stumbled, and when he looked back up, the girl had vanished.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2020-10-06   Last updated: 2020-10-06   ID: #13937

Vanishing Biker

Location: Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire) - Road passing Berkhamsted golf club, before left turn to castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1976, around 23:00h
Further Comments: On a clear night with no other traffic on the road, a driver caught up with a Honda 50 type motorbike. The outline of the bike and rider were visible, and the driver maintained 25 yards (23 metres) between car and bike. Passing Berkhamsted golf club, the bike disappeared, 'as if someone had turned off a light'. The driver thought the biker may have come off into a ditch so stopped to look - there was no ditch nor any turning the bike could have taken.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2013-09-22   Last updated: 2013-09-22   ID: #11414

Grey Lady

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - Boar's Head public house, Water Lane and St Michael's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1922
Further Comments: Locals say that this shade travels through the town, stopping at a couple of watering holes, before continuing to the church. The phantom drifted silently past a mother and child along Water Lane in 1922, heading towards the church. Both witnesses fled.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-11-13   Last updated: 2002-11-13   ID: #3177

Misty Shape

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - George Inn, North Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This spook is said to be a woman stabbed to death in room 27.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-12-31   Last updated: 2002-12-31   ID: #3324

Door Locker

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - Private house along Mary Park Gardens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: A family living along this street reported an unpleasant entity that would lock the bathroom door from the inside and fill the house with an oppressive atmosphere.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2003-07-28   Last updated: 2003-07-28   ID: #4414

Crying Child

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - Saplings Independent Nursery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: It is reported that a young child once burnt to death on the site, and that the shade of the child remains. One witness described the infant as a blonde haired girl.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2003-08-25   Last updated: 2003-08-25   ID: #4508

Screamer

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - Town Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980?
Further Comments: The centre of town is reputed to be haunted by a screaming figure who runs through the area.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2007-04-07   Last updated: 2007-04-07   ID: #7212

Officer

Location: Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire) - Windhill House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The grounds of this home are haunted by an officer accidentally shot and killed on the site.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2006-02-24   Last updated: 2006-02-24   ID: #6736

Monkey

Location: Borehamwood (Hertfordshire) - Elstree, Big Brother House
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A few 'strange' reports have come out of the BB house, including a 'phantom' monkey seen on the ceiling, a moving plate, and a ghost seen by Imogen, which may have been another housemate.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2009-02-08   Last updated: 2009-02-08   ID: #9148

Make Up Artist

Location: Borehamwood (Hertfordshire) - Gate Studio
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This person committed suicide at the studio and has subsequently been observed around the cinema screen. A builder who fell to his death on the site has also been reported. It is unclear which ghost was seen dressed in 1920s clothing by two female witnesses.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-08-25   Last updated: 2003-08-25   ID: #4517

Twilight's Last Gleaming

Location: Bovingdon (Hertfordshire) - Box Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A strange gleaming entity is reputed to haunt Box Lane.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2006-02-24   Last updated: 2006-02-24   ID: #6742

Needless Bloodshed

Location: Bovingdon (Hertfordshire) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Some say that part of the churchyard has been desecrated by a great deal of blood, and the dead are now restless.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2006-02-24   Last updated: 2006-02-24   ID: #6743