London (E1 - E20) Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
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.
Man in the Chimneypot Hat
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 behind the front door - he vanished when the door was opened. Disembodied footsteps that ran up the staircase were also reported.
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.
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, 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!
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.
Mouldy Smell
Location: SE8 - Private house, Watergate Street, Deptford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993 / 1994
Further Comments: Footfalls, the horrible smell of decay, and a young blonde haired girl were the components of this haunting, which was ended after the visitation of a London medium.
Victorian Woman
Location: SE9 - Avery Hill area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A phantom woman wearing Victorian clothing is reputed to walk this region of London.
Jane Maria Clousen
Location: SE9 - Kidbrooke Lane, Well Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Jane was found dead along the lane in 1871, killed after someone took a hammer to her head. Since her death, people have reported screams and cries from the area, and the occasional sighting of a nonmaterial girl.
Crypt Dweller
Location: SE9 - MacDonald's restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Built on the site of an old United reformed church, this fast food establishment is said to have a haunted basement which was once a crypt. Some staff have reported encountering an entity, though what it is has not been disclosed.
Records 76 - 93 of 93
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