The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Kent Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Black Shape

Location: Gravesend - Rochester Road near Chalk Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 19 April 2006, 15:00h, 2009
Further Comments: In 2006, a large black shape was seen by at least one driver as it crossed the road over a small traffic island prior to disappearing into the field opposite. A similar shape was spotted in 2009, with the witness stating that the movement was like that of a deer, although it vanished in front of the path of the car.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2007-01-23 | Last updated: 2007-01-23 | ID #7099

Presence

Location: Gravesend - Three Daws inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2025
Further Comments: The inn is used by ghost hunters who have detected presences, although the finer points of the haunting are not detailed. The inn also has a reputation as a former smugglers' haunt, complete with secret tunnels.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2025-11-09 | Last updated: 2025-11-09 | ID #16159

Child

Location: Great Buckland - Lost village of Dode
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Black Death decimated the village of Dode's population, and now only the church remains. One piece of more modern folklore says the church and surrounding area is haunted by a child.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2024-10-19 | Last updated: 2024-10-19 | ID #15674


An old woodcut of a bull's head.

Great Bull

Location: Great Chart - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1600s?
Further Comments: A large phantom bull appeared within the building during a thunderstorm, stampeding and killing or injuring several people. As the creature left, it knocked down a part of a wall.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-04-13 | Last updated: 2003-04-13 | ID #4112

White Lady

Location: Great Chart - Godinton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The white lady is said to have been locked in her room and left to starve to death. A woman in a black silk dress also haunts the house; she was murdered by a priest with whom she had an affair.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16587

Beast of Bluewater

Location: Greenhithe - Bluewater area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A black leopard was reported in the area over a ten-year period. A witness in 2009 initially thought the creature was a large dog, before realising it was a black cat with an exceptionally long tail. When the cat began to head towards the witness, she left.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2026-05-24 | Last updated: 2026-05-24 | ID #16597

The Ostler

Location: Groombridge - Groombridge Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having drowned in 1808, the Ostler has been spotted since wearing a rusty coloured smock. The phantom has been reported standing by the doorway of a cottage near the moat.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-03-18 | Last updated: 2008-03-18 | ID #8330

Stable Hand

Location: Hadlow - Parker's Green (private house), Cuckoo Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This young boy was killed in a blaze that once engulfed parts of the building - he is now seen running from the site.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-10-28 | Last updated: 2002-10-28 | ID #2905

Something Terrifying

Location: Halling - Quarry in the area
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A few weeks after a driver lost his life in the quarry, another lorry driver working late encountered something that terrified him to such a degree that he refused to work at the site again.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2024-10-12 | Last updated: 2024-10-12 | ID #15660

Stomping Boot

Location: Harreitsham - Ringlestone Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: Summer & Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sounds of someone stomping on the cellar steps have been heard, stopping just prior to reaching the top.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-17 | Last updated: 2002-06-17 | ID #1298

Stretcher

Location: Harrietsham - Railway ticket office
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Post-Second World War
Further Comments: Removing the wartime stretcher from the wall is said to result in unseen hands vandalising the office.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-12-30 | Last updated: 2009-12-30 | ID #9763

Tall Man glowing Blue

Location: Hartley - A229, heading towards Maidstone
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 June 1999
Further Comments: This ghostly man with blonde hair and a blue tint stood in the road; an incoming vehicle had to violently swerve to avoid the figure. When the driver realised the man had vanished, he quickly drove off. There has also been a report of a phantom woman with long blonde hair along the A229, said to have been a bride killed one day prior to her wedding day.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-09-24 | Last updated: 2002-09-24 | ID #2467

Elderly Man

Location: Hawkhurst - Wish Stream
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May 2013
Further Comments: Walking a short distance behind an older man with long white hair, this witness briefly looked down, during which time the old man vanished. Barbed wire fencing on either side of the path suggested the figure had not turned off.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2013-06-16 | Last updated: 2013-06-16 | ID #11359

Engine

Location: Hawkinge - Skies over the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sounding like it belongs to a Second World War aircraft, the engine has been heard in the skies, but nothing ever seen. One witness claimed it sounded like a doodlebug - a Second World War German rocket.

Source: Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-19 | Last updated: 2002-06-19 | ID #1313

Sitting Woman

Location: Herne Bay - Bun Penny public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom lady reputedly sits on a staircase in the building, though she does like to walk around the building and the garden.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-07-16 | Last updated: 2008-07-16 | ID #8664


Off the coast of Herne Bay, Kent.

Monster Pursuit

Location: Herne Bay - Coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Summer 1935
Further Comments: Crowds of holiday makers watched several boats chase a sea serpent across the bay. The creature was said to be brown and yellow in colour, and about twenty feet (six metres) long. It managed to evade and escape the pursuers.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-09-16 | Last updated: 2004-09-16 | ID #5442

Alfred Potter

Location: Herne Bay - Divers Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: The Ghost Search UK team reported four entities located here; Alfred Potter (a former banker), a short Victorian woman, and two children.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-07-16 | Last updated: 2008-07-16 | ID #8663

Shuffling Figure

Location: Herne Bay - Pier
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: A shuffling figure is said to haunt the part of the pier which has been cut off from the main section after a storm in 1979. In 2012 a video was released on YouTube purporting to show this entity, although it is more likely that the figure is a real person who used a boat to land on the isolated section.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-03-18 | Last updated: 2012-03-18 | ID #10767

Men Talking

Location: Herne Bay - Private cottage, near Bullockstone Road (area redeveloped, may no longer stand)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa February 1968
Further Comments: This haunting restricted itself to the sounds of men talking, with the occasional burst of song. The occupant reported the voices could be heard day or night and sounded to be in high spirits.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2024-12-08 | Last updated: 2024-12-08 | ID #15726

Bedroom Entity

Location: Herne Bay - Private residence at Margaret Court
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November 2011
Further Comments: This is Kent website reported that a retired nursing home assistant was being haunted by an entity which groped her at night and would shake the mattress. The Herne Bay Times arranged a visit from a couple of ghost hunters to banish the spirit.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2011-11-27 | Last updated: 2011-11-27 | ID #10644

Jesus

Location: Herne Bay - Private residence, Greenhill Gardens
Type: Other
Date / Time: October 2012
Further Comments: Reported in the local press, after Kenny Iddenden moved his fridge he found an image of Jesus on the wall, formed out of mould. After photographing the find, he wiped it away.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-10-20 | Last updated: 2012-10-20 | ID #11138

Misty Figure

Location: Herne Bay - Thornden Wood Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1986
Further Comments: A motorcyclist riding along the road experienced their lights failing, quickly followed by the engine cutting out and the breaks of their bike jamming. The rider managed to keep her balance, and then watched as a misty human shape crossed the road. The figure moved from left to right and was followed by the sound of large dogs. As the sound of the dogs faded, the motorcyclist started to push the bike and managed a bump start.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2012-10-14 | Last updated: 2012-10-14 | ID #11131

Woman with Burnt Hands

Location: Herne Common - Fox and Hounds public house, Canterbury Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This horrid looking woman has had the skin burnt off her face and hands. She is accompanied by the smell of dead burning flowers, and a drop in temperature.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-17 | Last updated: 2002-06-17 | ID #1299

Anne Boleyn

Location: Hever - Bridge over the Eden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Boleyn's spirit crosses the bridge once a year. The area is also haunted by a farmer, robbed and murdered nearby.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-16 | Last updated: 2002-06-16 | ID #1266

Pilot?

Location: Higham - Canal Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Several times in 2010s, between 19:00h - 20:00h
Further Comments: Several dog walkers had seen a man dressed in black with a white stripe on his outfit along this road, his silence when spoken to a topic of discussion between the pet owners. One dog owner then reported that the man had disappeared in front of their eyes and refused to walk his dog in the same area. One person researched the area and found that a German aircraft had crashed here, speculating that the man in black was a pilot.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2013-02-03 | Last updated: 2013-02-03 | ID #11267

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