The Paranormal Database

A phantom German pilot in Surrey.

Pilot

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Area around New Addington, and Queen Elizabeth's Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a German pilot shot down over the area during the Second World War is said to remain in the neighbourhood. One story says that a man looking for his lost wallet along Queen Elizabeth's Drive had the object handed back to him by the pilot, who appeared quite solid.

Boy in an Orange Jumper

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Council House on New Addington estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A garden attached to a house once owned by a convicted paedophile was dug up after police were tipped off that the bodies of two children were buried there. Though nothing was discovered, another family which once lived there reported they moved out after their daughter saw a ghostly boy in an orange jumper and a girl who would stand at the bottom of the garden.

Young Pilot

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Council house on site of old Croydon airport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1979
Further Comments: A married couple in this house reported encountering a phantom pilot. He appeared young and wore a helmet, mask, and leather jacket. The entity was also blamed for mild poltergeist activity on the site.

Coach

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Exact area unknown, Riddlesdown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This coach pulled by a team of four horses is driven over a piece of private land, where a county lane once ran.

Highwayman

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Farthing Down
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2017
Further Comments: A highwayman was spotted on the downs at dusk.

John Carver

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Former cafe in Brighton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 May (reoccurring), last encountered 1940s?
Further Comments: John Carver was found not guilty of the murder of his wife, though most of the community believed he was guilty. After leaving court, Carver found himself hounded by a crowd who wanted him dead. Eventually Carver moved far away to escape. Sixty years after the crime, the owner of a cafe reported seeing the ghost of a tall man in grey, minus head and legs, climb the staircase and hover on the landing. In addition, on each 26 May (the date of the wife's death), the breaking of glass could be heard. The cafe was thought to be one of the locations Carver tried to hide before leaving the area.

Pilots

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Forte Posthouse, Purley Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: post-1945
Further Comments: It was said a chambermaid working at this hotel quit after spotting a phantom RAF pilot. A guest also reported seeing a group of pilots sitting and singing around a fireplace in the restaurant.

German Pilot

Location: Outer London: Croydon - General area, Addington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed when his aircraft crashed nearby, the Second World War pilot is still occasionally seen walking around the former village.

Toast Smell

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Lion Inn, Pawsons Road, Thornton Heath
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twenty-first century, during winter months
Further Comments: Said to work in the older part of the pub, this poltergeist is blamed for a toast-like smell, as well as creating voices and other noises. The winter-born spirit is just one of the ghosts at home here, with a phantom child, a former serving girl and an old pub regular cited as the others.

Walking Mother

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Old Croydon Palace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once an orphanage, it is thought the ghost of a woman who walks the corridors is a mother searching for her lost child. It is unclear whether the same entity is to blame for the wailing and screaming also reported onsite.

Archbishop Sheldon

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Parish Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The grey figure which haunts this church has been variously named as either Archbishop Sheldon or a grey nun. One story says the ghost's visitations ceased once Sheldon's tomb was repaired. A wailing Elizabeth Finch is also said to frequent the site.

Mirror Cleaner

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Private house along Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Alma Fielding claimed the house that she lived in as a child had a poltergeist which cleaned the windows and mirrors every night, even when smeared with ash.

The tiger that came for a bite.

Vampire

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Private house, Beverstone Road, Thornton Heath
Type: Vampire
Date / Time: 1938, 1970s
Further Comments: One piece of source material states that at three separate times over three months in 1938, a woman reported being attacked by a winged creature which bit her neck and drew blood. However, it is likely that the 'vampire' attacks occurred during the 1970s, and the 1938 incidents were more poltergeist in nature (contemporary newspaper reports support this). Even so, the 1970s incidents also involved poltergeist activity, and the woman at the centre of the claims alleged she endured a tiger attack.

George

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Purley Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: George, killed in 1830 by a rogue beer barrel, was 'released' in 1992 by spiritualists. George was said to have been responsible when the beer pumps failed to work.

Fifty Pence

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Purley Way
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1970s, 07:30h
Further Comments: A witness walking to the nearby college suddenly realised there was no traffic on the roads. Something made him look up only to see a large fifty pence (heptagon) shaped craft hovering silently in the sky. It had a red underbelly, bright silver sides and moved from left to right. The witness looked down briefly, during which time the craft started to move away at incredible speed. The witness chased it across the road (traffic had appeared again) but it had disappeared. The witness later found out that he had lost an hour of time.

Woman in Lace

Location: Outer London: Croydon - The King's Cellars public house, 48 Park Street (no longer a public house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The ghost of a young woman has appeared several times at the King's Cellars. Glowing blue, she scared the staff when she spoke the words 'help me'. The pub is said to have been built over an old fire station where a gruesome murder was carried out, and the ghost of a former fireman also haunts the site.

Elizabethan Handmaiden

Location: Outer London: Croydon - The Old Palace (currently a school)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghost is said to date back at least two hundred years and is followed by an aura of sadness whenever seen or felt.

Eric Toombe

Location: Outer London: Croydon - The Welcomes farmhouse, Hayes Lane, Kenley
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1923
Further Comments: Eric's mother dreamed that she saw her son's body hidden down a well. The vision was so vivid that word was sent to the police, who were investigating Eric's old friend and business partner for fraud. The police discovered a well on farmland and a body was pulled from the site; the body was identified as Eric, murdered by his former friend.

Moving Bottles

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Wheatsheaf public house, Thornton Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: One landlady reported bottles which relocated themselves in the bar area and a permanently cold boiler room. A local legend says that the ghost is that of an old landlord's daughter murdered on the site.

Digger Harry

Location: Outer London: Croydon - Wooded area near Courtwood Lane, Addington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1932
Further Comments: Harry was so upset when his wife died that he buried her close to his cottage without telling anyone. The authorities, believing Harry had killed her, locked him up for several months before releasing him because of his age. During his incarceration, Harry forgot where his wife was buried, and spent the remainder of his days trying to find her. His tragic phantom was said to continue to roam the area carrying a shovel.

Large Black Cat

Location: Outer London: Ealing - Central Line Railway between Northolt & Greenford
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1995 onwards?
Further Comments: It was claimed that this alien big cat used the local rail tracks to move around without attracting too much attention.

Church Goer

Location: Outer London: Ealing - Greenford Methodist Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A mysterious figure was seen several times sitting in the pews, vanishing if approached. Strange laughter was also reported in the church. The entity appears to have vacated the premises after an exorcism.

Pacing

Location: Outer London: Ealing - Greenford Police Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Footsteps 1960s onwards, figure spotted summer 1984
Further Comments: Heard from time to time walking along the upper floor, these phantom footsteps start at midnight and continue until dawn. One night duty station officer reported seeing a figure in an old fashioned police uniform sitting in the tearoom. When the sighting was mentioned the following morning, the witness was told the ghost was probably that of an inspector who hanged himself upstairs in the 1930s.

Footsteps

Location: Outer London: Ealing - King's Head public house, Acton
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: December 1966
Further Comments: Father Finear Buckley from the nearby church blessed the pub after the landlady reported ghostly footsteps and a door which opened unaided.

White Lady

Location: Outer London: Ealing - Litten Tree public house (demolished circa 2009), Greenford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former set of three cottages before its conversion, the pub was home to a ghostly white lady.