The Paranormal Database

A nineteenth century illustration of Spring Heeled Jack.

Vomited Flames

Location: E3 - House along Bearhind Lane and/or in Old Ford (area since redeveloped)
Type: Other
Date / Time: 20 February 1838
Further Comments: Jane Alsop is believed to have become one of Spring Heeled Jack's first victims when she opened her front door at night to whom she believed to be a policeman. Instead, she found a figure wearing a helmet and tight-fitting white clothing. The figure's eyes burnt with fire and he had claw-like hands. The figure attacked Alsop, but her screams alerted her sister who ran to the rescue. Jack leapt away into the darkness.

Nurse?

Location: E3 - New property on the site of the old St. Andrews Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: One property owner reported an entity which liked quiet at night - it would turn the TV volume down and once woke someone who was snoring with a loud 'shhh!'. The occupant speculated the presence to be a former nurse.

George

Location: E3 - St Andrews Hospital (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1976
Further Comments: Three workers installing two new lifts on the site watched as a shimmering white shape appeared next to them, resembling a heat haze, before it disappeared a couple of seconds later. Mentioning it to the nurses, they said it may have been 'George', a poltergeist-like entity who moved things around unless they said hello to him as they started their shift.

A Problem like Maria

Location: E5 - Congress Hall, Clapton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: The hall was a training base for Salvation Army officers, many of whom reported seeing a phantom woman dressed in a grey nurse's uniform. She was believed to have been Maria, a lady who killed her child and concealed the body within the building.

Basement Lurker

Location: E7 - Traveller's Rest public house, Cemetery Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A cloaked figure is reported to haunt the shadows of the cellar.

Bear Hunt

Location: E8 - Hackney marshes
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 27 December 1981, and May 2012
Further Comments: Four children reported seeing a bear in the marshland at Hackney in 1981- investigators discovered large paw prints in the snow but failed to find the animal. In 2012, student Helen Murray took two photographs of a large black-haired creature in the area.

Sleeping Nurse

Location: E8 - Mothers Hospital (no longer operational), Hackney
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Nurses on the verge of falling asleep would feel a light tap on the shoulder. Legends stated a nurse was responsible for the death of an infant due to dozing on duty; she killed herself and her ghost ensured no one made the same mistake.

Croc

Location: E8 - River Lea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: After witnesses watched a Canada goose pulled under the water never to reappear, several people declared the attack must have been by a crocodile. However, experts said the attacker was much more likely to have been a large pike.

Man in Red

Location: E8 - St Barnabas church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: At least twice in the twentieth century, thirty years separating the two sightings, a figure wearing a red cassock has been spotted walking down the church passageway. The second time he was spotted, the phantom walked through a wall.

Too Many Ghosthunters

Location: E9 - Hackney Churchyard, Mare Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 1895
Further Comments: A crowd of around two thousand people descended on this churchyard after a rumour started that it was haunted. At least one man was arrested for being drunk and disorderly, and gravestones were damaged by the crowd. A piece of folklore said three boys once played cards in the churchyard, with one proclaiming 'God may strike me down if I win this game'; the boy promptly fell dead and reputedly took to haunting the spot.

Footfalls

Location: SE4 - 85 Breakspear Road, Brockley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1935-1955
Further Comments: The phantom footsteps once reported at this property would ascend and descend the staircase several times in succession. Towards the end of the haunting, the invisible entity would knock down ornaments and shake windows.

Scared to Death

Location: SE4 - Brockley Cemetery (aka Deptford Cemetery)
Type: Other
Date / Time: 21 March 1888
Further Comments: The British Medical Journal reported that an eighteen-year-old girl had been 'frightened to death' by a man dressed as a ghost.

Singing Lady

Location: SE4 - Brockley Jack public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The building appeared on the television programme 'Whines and Spirits', where it was said the pub ghosts included a small child on the back stairs, a singing lady in the attic, and a figure in the cellar. Objects moved and a front door reportedly locked and bolted itself.

Man on Horseback

Location: SE4 - Brockley Road, near the Brockley Jack pub
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa March 1894
Further Comments: Walking along the road heading to Wickham Terrace, this witness spotted the motionless figure of a man sitting upon a horse. They were described as 'shadowy forms', not real, but with enough detail for the witness to discern the man's leather pistol pouches and the sweat on the horse. The apparitions vanished while the witness watched.

Percy

Location: SE4 - Private residence, Brockley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1900
Further Comments: The occupants of this property claimed to have seen a figure wearing a chimneypot hat behind the front door - he vanished as they opened it. Disembodied footsteps that ran up the staircase were also reported. Elliot O'Donnell identified the ghost as Percy Stephens.

Grabbing

Location: SE4 - Private residence, Endwell Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Situated in an area hit by a V1 rocket during the Second World War, residents and visitors at this property had the feeling of something grabbing for their feet on the staircase. Another person reported an eerie 'trapped' sensation around the cellar entrance.

Boy

Location: SE4 - Rivoli Ballroom
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Staff have reported footsteps in an empty bar after closing, and the shadow of a young boy against a projection screen.

Floating Face

Location: SE4 - Unidentified house, Brockley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer evening, nineteenth century
Further Comments: A woman encountered a floating green/yellow face with matted hair in an upstairs corridor, which vanished when she exclaimed 'In the name of Christ, be gone!'

Suffocation

Location: SE4 - Unknown residence, Brockley
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: December 1920
Further Comments: A few weeks after moving in, the Trent family experienced shaking beds, flashing light bulbs, and an invisible entity which tried to suffocate Mrs Trent with a pillow. After several more nights of smashing mirrors and ornaments, and the manifestation of a figure made of black smoke, the family moved out.

Lion Tamer

Location: SE5 - The Palace music hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Torn apart when his act went slightly wrong, the failed lion tamer often returned to the stage where the accident occurred.

Alice Grant

Location: SE6 - Bromley Road & Southend Lane, Bellingham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Knocked from her bike and killed at this junction, Grant has since been seen at the location, dressed in black Victorian clothing.

Footsteps

Location: SE6 - Private residence, Farley Road, Lewisham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s - 1960s
Further Comments: Former residents reported footsteps, nighttime noises, and the apparition of a man in a bedroom.

Maid Carrying Dead Baby

Location: SE7 - Charlton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The maid was watched as she drifted down a corridor, a dead child cradled in her arms. Another spook, Sir William Langhorne, also haunts the building - he is said to be waiting for the perfect woman to discover him!

Smashing

Location: SE7 - Unidentified property on the riverside, Charlton area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: September 1949 - 1950
Further Comments: Mrs Jordan suffered a nervous breakdown after almost every breakable item in her house was broken over a ten-month period. Documents were also removed from drawers and torn up. While the activities centred on Mrs Jordan when she was alone in the house, her husband witnessed items breaking as if 'smashed by invisible hands'. An exorcism was performed while the family were away, and the activity ceased (although the Jordans still moved away).

Woman in Hat

Location: SE8 - 34 Albury Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa September 1950
Further Comments: A phantom woman wearing a wide brimmed hat and a cloak was seen several times in this property. Footsteps would also be heard travelling up and down the staircase, and sash windows would open themselves.