The Paranormal Database

Moving Woman

Location: Fetcham (Surrey) - Private residence off The Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998 - 2014
Further Comments: Many people would witness a smoothly moving woman pass quickly through this property. Taps would turn off and on of their own accord, the bin lid would flap unaided all night, and one person watched a door handle turn and the door pushed open by an unseen force. Local research found a young girl had drowned in either a pool or pond close to the property and it was believed the ghostly figure to be her mother rushing to the scene.

Blanche

Location: Disley (Cheshire) - Lyme Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights. Last seen circa 2004?
Further Comments: A mistress of Sir Piers Leigh who died 1422, Blanche pined away after hearing news about his death. Pier's funeral procession is now seen advancing towards the house, with Blanche wailing a short distance behind it. Another group of ghosts, this time children, have been seen playing on a bed in the Knight's Bedroom. Blanche may have last been seen by three people arrested for trespassing nearby, with their three descriptions of the ghostly figure given to the police marrying up perfectly.

Lady in a Long Dress

Location: Ballybrittas (County Laois) - Old Dublin Road close to Delaneys Roadhouse Bed and Breakfast
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20 May 2024, 23:30h
Further Comments: A driver swerved and suffered whiplash to avoid a woman in a long dress as she crossed the road, The driver tried looking for the woman but could not find her.

Woman in Padded Coat

Location: Drewsteignton (Devon) - Prestonbury Hillfort
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 06 March 2016
Further Comments: A woman walking to the hillfort with her family and two dogs spotted a lady wearing glasses, a long black padded coat and knee length boots. The lady briefly moved out of sight, during which she seemed to have descended the debris covered hill at an impossible speed. As the lady passed the family, she looked scared and started to run toward the nearby river while looking over her shoulder at the woman and her family. The family's dogs tugged at their leads towards the lady, but did not bark (like they normally would have). The woman asked her family if they had considered the lady's behaviour strange, only to be told they had not seen her, even though they had walked past moments before. The family walked quickly down the hill to see if they could find the lady, but she had vanished.

Crown Hotel, Market Street, Poole.

Screaming Children

Location: Poole (Dorset) - Crown Hotel, Market Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Piano and young woman circa 1989, other sightings unknown
Further Comments: Two children were once locked up in this building by a parent too embarrassed to let them run around and play in front of other people. The ghostly children now let their protests be heard in the form of crying and yelling. The tinkling of a piano has also been heard in the hotel, as has the sound of a body being dragged around in the upper part of the structure. The daughter of the landlord spotted a young woman, wearing a shawl and skirt with hair tied in a bun, sitting in a chair; although the room was dark, a very bright light surrounded the figure.

Laugh

Location: E14 (Greater London) - Northern end of Church Street (now Newell Street), Limehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1827
Further Comments: A Mr and Mrs Dickenson were repeatedly troubled by a loud chuckling laugh emanating from their bedroom wall.

Footsteps

Location: Chatham (Kent) - Fort Horsted
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: The tunnels beneath this Victorian fort are claimed to be home to unidentified figures and untraceable footsteps. A photograph taken of a ghostly child's face is likely to be pareidolia.

Shower

Location: Old Hunstanton (Norfolk) - Guesthouse - name withheld
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 08 August 2024, around midnight.
Further Comments: Around midnight, a witness in bed heard the shower activate itself. The witness climbed out of bed but the shower stopped as they reached the door. Checking the shower, the witness realised the shower head and floor were dry. A few minutes past before the event played out again, and then ten minutes later the door handle to the shower room moved rapidly up and down. The witness left their bedroom and slept elsewhere. When the witness returned to work, they discovered one of their colleagues had received four phone calls from their phone on the night of the incident, even though the phone had been turned off.

Pilot

Location: Sunderland (Tyne and Wear) - Manufacturing Plant (name withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Underground tunnels at this plant are said to be haunted by a Second World War pilot, while a pale man wearing a British Coal Board jacket has been seen by a crane driver.

Flying CDs

Location: Hardraw (Yorkshire) - Green Dragon public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2001-2023
Further Comments: Owner Mark Thompson witnessed a pile of compact discs fly into the air and move in different directions. The entity would also push a small glass ball around and may have been responsible for removing a glass of Guinness from a dismissive patron's hand before smashing it to the floor.

Child

Location: Great Buckland (Kent) - 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.

Lost Count

Location: Trottiscliffe (Kent) - Coldrum Long Barrow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Barrow still present (sans capstone)
Further Comments: The stones of the barrow, said to be the site of a great battle and cover the remains of a Black Prince, are impossible to count (according to folklore).

Figures in Green

Location: Trottiscliffe (Kent) - Road near Coldrum Long Barrow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1 May 2001, 04.30h
Further Comments: A pair of witnesses reported seeing a smiling man and woman dressed in ornate green clothing approaching them down this road. The figures in green disappeared on a bend of the road just before both parties should have met.

Saxon Battle

Location: Aylesford (Kent) - Kit's Coty, aka Kit's Coty House, (Megalithic Burial Chamber)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: A battle fought here between Saxons and Britons is said to have spawned the occasional ghost which manifests in this area. Folklore says the stones were placed over the grave of Catigern, a British prince who died in the battle (although they predate the fight by a few thousand years), or erected by three witches who lived on Blue Bell Hill. Another story says if an object is placed on the capstone during a full moon, and the monument is walked around five times, the object shall vanish.

Horse

Location: Aylesford (Kent) - White Horse Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown, but stone still present
Further Comments: There are a few pieces of scattered stories associated with this stone. One tale says that the stone takes its name from a battle standard left by Saxons draped over it. Another claims the stone once cast a horse-like shadow when the sun hit it right. The area may be home to a phantom hound.

Flying Veg

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Food Glorious Food (shop)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 2021
Further Comments: Local media reported the site to be haunted after owners witnessed vegetables flying across the shop, and experiencing power cuts and a radio which would start playing classical music. One piece of local folklore claimed the entity may relate to a man who had his figures cut off after sexually assaulting a woman.

Soldier

Location: Chatham (Kent) - Fort Amherst
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Although the site is reputedly haunted by a former soldier, people on site have also reported a wailing woman and crying children. One witness became frightened after seeing something white in one of the tunnels.

Footsteps

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Minor Canon Row
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps have been heard following people along this street.

Lion?

Location: Darsham (Suffolk) - Near Little Chef restaurant (currently Two Magpies Bakery)
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2003
Further Comments: Reported by Big Cats of Suffolk, two witnesses spotted a sandy coloured cat, similar to a lion or Puma, which could be seen sunning itself in the early morning light.

Heartbroken Man

Location: Dunwich (Suffolk) - Woodland in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Helena Walk sighting 18 November 2011, big cat sighting 1998
Further Comments: The brother of the lord of the manor fell in love with a serving girl who worked at Grey Friars. Prevented from ever seeing her again, the man died of a broken heart; his phantom now walks through the woodland paths. A couple walking along the Helena's Walk Trail in 2011 spotted a pair of disembodied legs following them a short distance behind. The legs were covered by dark trousers and boots and vanished behind a tree. Unrelated to the ghostly encounter, Big Cats of Suffolk reported that a couple walking through the woods heard the sounds of a big cat and took a photograph of a large paw print.

Shadowy Man

Location: Keswick (Cumbria) - Moot Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa March 2001
Further Comments: A construction worker spotted a dark, shadowy apparition as it disappeared through the tower wall. His colleague, descending the tower stairs, reported a ghostly touch on his back.

Martha Drower

Location: Lyme Regis (Devon) - Timber Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2023
Further Comments: The phantom ghost here manifests as a teenage girl with burning eyes and glowing skin, walking along and singing. Lyme Regis Haunts identified the entity as Martha Drower, who was killed by lightning along with her nurse on Timber Hill in 1800. Her presence may have last been felt by a workman on the hill who reported a persistent burning smell and a cold temperature.

Something Terrifying

Location: Halling (Kent) - 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.

Pyewacket

Location: Maidstone (Kent) - Maidstone Museum
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: Staff at the museum's cafe reported hearing banking and the name 'Pyewacket' coming from under the floorboards. One witness in the museum reported a door, propped open with a heavy metal weight, closed itself.

Woman

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Backroom Bookshop (no longer open), High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The owner of this shop spotted a woman dressed in 1960s-era clothing walking between the shelves before she vanished.

Relative

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Private residence, Lower Rochester Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1950s - 1980s
Further Comments: Over four decades, cupboard doors would open and close unaided and objects would be moved. The family believed the site to be haunted by a relative.

Black Oval

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Sky above Carnation Road
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: One witness watched as a black oval shape unnervingly blocked out the night sky as it passed by.

Python?

Location: Strood (Kent) - Carnation Road area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: There were reports of a large snake, presumed to be a python, observed in people's gardens along this road and the nearby wooded area. One witness observed the creature swimming in her pond.

Black Cat

Location: Strood (Kent) - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: One witness observed a large black cat in an alleyway eating something, while a teenage girl camping in a garden peered out after hearing a noise and spotted green eyes looking at her. One theory is that the creature lived in woodland near Higham.

Bottomless Hole

Location: Diss (Norfolk) - Diss Mere
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: According to local tradition, the mere is bottomless and either a meteorite crater or an extinct volcano. Unfortunately, none of the aforementioned beliefs are true.

Something

Location: Cobham Wood (Surrey) - Darnley Mausoleum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mausoleum and the surrounding woodland were rumoured to be haunted, although the exact details are not known.

Livvy

Location: Great Urswick (Cumbria) - General Burgoyne public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2016
Further Comments: The bar manager watched a faceless girl in a white nightgown walk through the closed front door. The ghost is thought to be Livvy, who drowned in the Urswick Tarn. A skull nicknamed 'Jimmy', believed to be bad luck if touched, is kept in a cupboard that sometimes opens on its own.

Smokers

Location: Kendal (Cumbria) - Castle Dairy (currently a restaurant)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2010s-2020s
Further Comments: This building's poltergeist activity includes footsteps on the staircase, falling picture frames, and heavy doors opening unaided. A butter knife was thrown at one customer, while another witness reported being grabbed around the neck by an unseen entity. The Roman Road Room appears to be a focus of activity, with the ghosts of three men seen smoking within.

John Nowell

Location: Kendal (Cumbria) - Prince of Wales Feathers public house (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: Landlady Jen Bowman claimed to have encountered a grey-haired apparition who resembled an old photograph of former John Nowell. The entity passed through locked doors and could be seen near the gambling machine. Mild poltergeist activity was also reported.

Pint Pusher

Location: Kendal (Cumbria) - Ring O'Bells public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: One of the only pubs in England constructed on hallowed ground, the poltergeist at home here can be heard walking or banging and occasionally pushes pints off tables. Voices have been heard, a phantom girl spotted, and the cellar home to a teenage boy who drowned.

Agnes

Location: Kendal (Cumbria) - Romneys public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building is reputedly haunted by Agnes Romney, cousin of the portrait artist George Romney and distant relative of US presidential candidate Mitt Romney (according to the local newspaper). Staff have heard footsteps moving around and spotted an old woman's reflection in a window.

Screaming

Location: Lancaster (Lancashire) - 2 Dalton Square (as of 2024, City Council offices)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site of a 1935 double murder, one story says that screaming can be heard coming from within, while another places a ghostly figure on the top floor.

Jacobite

Location: Lancaster (Lancashire) - Three Mariners public house, and lane outside
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Jacobite man has been observed by the fireplace, and also wandering inside the pub and the lane outside. A blonde woman in a dress haunts the corridor outside the ladies' toilets, while other female forms also haunt the site. Mild poltergeist activity has been reported.

Diana Dors

Location: Sunningdale (Berkshire) - Orchard Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1984 (Dors), 1985 (lake)
Further Comments: Shortly after the death of her employer. and talking to the press, housekeeper Honor Webb claimed Diana Dors' ghost tugged at her arm and gestured at the wardrobe. Webb believed Dors wanted her to empty it of the actress's clothing, but she refused to do so. Six months after Alan Lake, Dors' husband, took his own life in the house, Webb spotted him on a CCTV screen.

Grey Lady

Location: Caythorpe (Lincolnshire) - Holy Cross House (demolished October 1966), High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: One witness watched an older lady glide along a corridor and disappear into a bedroom at the former farmhouse. Disembodied footsteps and other strange noises would be heard after dark. One legend claimed the phantom to be Mrs Bowling, discovered murdered in a bedroom during the mid nineteenth century.

Smoky Figures

Location: Capesthorne (Cheshire) - Capesthorne Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1960s
Further Comments: A group of grey shadows have been seen heading towards the vault, while a grey lady walks the building's corridors. One member of the family reported seeing a severed arm floating outside a window, trying to enter.

Figure

Location: Magherally (County Down) - Private residence on the outskirts of parish
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Before October 1965
Further Comments: A contemporary newspaper feature written by Canon G C Johnston mentioned that he had previously visited a woman living in Magherally who had declared her home haunted, and that she had seen the ghost.

Lady in Blue Dress

Location: Tebay (Cumbria) - Cross Keys Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s - 2020s
Further Comments: This ghostly entity has been seen in a bedroom (where they move makeup and toiletries around) and in other parts of the building. Staff have reported being touched by something unseen and heard unexplained knocks and running footsteps. One piece of folklore named her as Mary Baynes, a local witch who died circa 1811, upset with a former landlord after his dog killed the Mary's cat. Dogs bark while looking at an unremarkable corner of the ceiling.

Stout Woman

Location: Torquay (Devon) - Private residence along Queen Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1965 - March 1966
Further Comments: After purchasing a Victorian chair, Irene Howard witnessed a stout older woman in old fashioned clothing sitting in it. Poltergeist activity also broke out in the property and the adjoining house and flat - items would be found strewn around rooms, a plate was snatched from Howard's hand, and on one occasion, potatoes were carefully arranged in a row on the kitchen floor. The previous owner of the chair claimed to have heard footsteps walking around the room where they kept the chair. Howard took an axe and reduced the chair to firewood, although it is not reported whether this ended the haunting.

Footsteps

Location: Outer London: Acton (Greater London) - King's Head public house
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.

Silhouette Figure

Location: Telford (Shropshire) - Private residence in Ketley Bank
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January - July 2006
Further Comments: On two occasions, a tall male silhouetted figure was observed by occupant of this property through the downstairs window. When investigated, no one could be found inside. The occupant would also feel something following them up the staircase.

Clapham Wood in Sussex.

Disappearances

Location: Clapham (Sussex) - Clapham Wood
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1700s-present
Further Comments: The local woods have gained a reputation for containing evil - there have been strange disappearances here, and unidentified lights seen in and over the tree line. Dogs are reported to stay away from the area, reacting badly if forced too close; one TV news story from 1975 discussed the problem of dogs that became confused or vanished in the woodland. The same story had a brief mention of a giant humanoid footprint which had been found by a ufologist.

Smiling Old Man

Location: Rochester (Kent) - George public house, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cellar was once a church crypt and within a small man (sometimes identified as a monk) has been observed.

Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Guildhall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Cloudesley bought the decorated plaster ceilings at the guildhall with his own money - perhaps that is why this phantom wearing uniform has been seen walking the corridors.

Tutor Music

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Old Hall, Boley Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One room was once home to phantom Tudor music, while a ghostly woman would be seen elsewhere.