The Paranormal Database

Giant's Home

Location: Treen (Cornwall) - Treryn Dinas Cliff Fort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Fort still present
Further Comments: The exact details vary from story to story, but most agree that three giants lived at the fort, a husband, wife, and younger giant; the latter eventually murdered the husband. Folklore also places fairies in the area, and witches would use the edge of the rock as a launching point.

Maidens

Location: Tregeseal (Cornwall) - Dancing Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: Folklore says these stones were once maidens who were transformed to stone.

Floating Dog

Location: St Andrews (Fife) - Deans Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Dark and moonless nights
Further Comments: A phantom black dog in the courtyard hovers seven inches above the ground, the floor being that height when the creature died.

Tall Man.

Location: Elphin (Highland) - Altanacealgach Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 1977
Further Comments: One worker at the hotel spotted the same ghost, a tall man in old fashioned clothing, three nights in succession. The entity would vanish as it walked through a knitting machine.

Brick Tosser

Location: Tonbridge (Kent) - Bradley House (demolished), outskirts of town?
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late 1959
Further Comments: Men working on the demolition of the property had bricks thrown at them by unseen hands, resulting in hospitalisations. Workers also reported being attacked by a thrown door and covered in water after a pipe was wrenched from a wall. Accompanying the events were periodic sightings of a phantom young man with blonde hair, a photograph of whom would later be discovered under floorboards.

Eggshell

Location: Grimsby (Lincolnshire) - Private residence, Nunsthorpe
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1975 - 1977
Further Comments: The activity here started with bedcoverings being found rumpled when the house was empty, even after the dog (the first suspect) was shut in the kitchen. Soon after, knocks and bangs would be heard, ornaments broken, and clothing rehung in the wardrobe. After one occupant spotted an eggshell floating in the air, the story featured in the local press with the family stating they wanted someone to look at the phenomenon.

Flying Fish

Location: Ringmer (Sussex) - Sky above area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 31 July 1977, 23:40h
Further Comments: A witness watched a fish-shaped orange glow with a black line where the mouth would be. A white dome could be seen on the top, and a fin at the back. The fast object moved westwards and was more than half a mile above ground level.

On Demand

Location: Cambridge (Cambridgeshire) - Private residence, Highworth Avenue
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1994
Further Comments: An unseen entity unlocked and turned a door handle on polite request.

Something

Location: Harlyn (Cornwall) - Road to Padstow passing Iron Age Cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This route would be avoided after dark as it was considered haunted.

Huge Figure

Location: Lesnewth (Cornwall) - Round Barrow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: Local tradition said a huge figure would occasionally be seen sitting on top of the barrow. When opened in the late nineteenth century, the barrow revealed the remains of a tall skeleton.

Fast Builder

Location: Mevagissey (Cornwall) - Dodman Fort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: While in reality an Iron Age promontory fort, folklore has the building as being constructed overnight by a giant.

Horses

Location: Paul (Cornwall) - Earthwork (no longer standing, exact location unknown)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One story says all the horses involved in removing the earthworks died before the task was complete.

Alter

Location: Pawton (Cornwall) - Quoit
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The Giant's Quoit has also been called the Devil's Quoit, leaving folklore concerning its creation a little fuzzy.

Stone Hat

Location: St Austell (Cornwall) - Long stone NW of town
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Saint Austell (or Saint Roach) lost his hat and staff during a storm. When he returned to look for them the following day, he realised the Devil had turned the items to stone. Only the staff remains, in the form of a long stone.

Hares

Location: St Buryan (Cornwall) - Boleigh Fogou
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil would play his pipes at the Fogou during sabbats, with witches transforming into hares and disappearing into the structure.

Protector

Location: Abertillery (Gwent) - Mountain path, exact area not known
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1920s
Further Comments: A miner walking home at dusk found himself in the company of a huge black dog which started walking alongside him. After a few moments, the miner became aware of a shady looking group of men loitering on the path ahead, instinctively realising they would rob him. However, the dog walked between the miner and the men, deterring the group from action. As the miner reached the town, the dog trotted off, never to be seen again.

Onion

Location: Gravesend (Kent) - Off coast
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 06 July 1948, 00:40h
Further Comments: A man in a rowing boat watched a reddish object pass quickly overhead, from north to south, scattering particles as it travelled. The witness said it reminded him of the 'flying onions' he had seen during the Second World War.

Gargoyle

Location: Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire) - Car park
Type: Other
Date / Time: October 2019
Further Comments: Two witnesses crossing the carpark spotted a short creature, slightly taller than the cars' rear lights, with a menacing face not dissimilar to gargoyles on Notre-Dame. After a few seconds, the creature vanished, and despite the witnesses searching the area, could not be found.

Hoard

Location: Garsington (Oxfordshire) - Location now lost, was known as Drakenhorde
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Thirteenth century
Further Comments: A field had been named Drakenhorde, suggesting an area containing treasure protected by a dragon.

Giant's Grave

Location: Penmaen (West Glamorgan) - Parc le Breos Chambered Tomb (aka Parc Cwm long cairn)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Although nicknamed a giant's grave, other details of the story are sadly forgotten.

Pusher

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Private residence, Throne Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: June 1977
Further Comments: A family left their home after a presence pushed a teenager, and a woman felt herself held down on a chair by an unseen force. Residents said they would feel something clinging to their clothing.

Beast of Bolton

Location: Bolton (Greater Manchester) - Hulton Lane, and throughout area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1990s (police sighting), others 1970s - 2023
Further Comments: A former police officer reported seeing a large black cat cross the road ahead of his vehicle. Sightings of the black panther-like cat exist throughout the town.

Older Man

Location: Bolton (Greater Manchester) - Private residence, Manchester Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A resident spotted an old man standing in the hallway. Concerned why a stranger had entered her home, the resident started to question the man and followed him as he moved away. The man disappeared near the cellar. After searching the house and finding no trace of the man, the resident and her family fled to a neighbour, who told them the man was a former occupier who had died on the site.

Jumping Jack

Location: Watford (Hertfordshire) - Cassiobury Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ironbridge Lock is haunted by a man would be paid to create havoc and prevent canal shipments from reaching their destination. Jack was finally caught, knocked unconscious, and left to drown. The ghost of Lord Capel also walks the park, beheaded in 1649 for his royalist beliefs, while another story says a mill which once stood in the park was haunted by either a murderer or his female victim. Finally, the pathway on the north side is haunted by a couple pushing a 1940s style pram who vanish if anyone is too close; it is speculated they were killed in a Second World War air raid.

Bad Vibrations

Location: Biddenden (Kent) - Dargle Cottage (and surrounding area)
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: After retiring to the cottage, occupants Antony and Doreen Verney heard unusual noises and experienced vibrations from beneath their property, and spotted lights in nearby woodland. It is debated whether the events related to UFOs, military experimentation, or just misinterpreted natural phenomena.

Orange Light

Location: Blackpool (Lancashire) - Coast off central pier
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1979
Further Comments: A security officer felt the pier shake and witnessed a ball of bright orange light. Other lights were later seen over the sea.

Hooded Figure

Location: Salcey Forest (Northamptonshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2023
Further Comments: Traditionally, the hooded figure that darts between the trees was murdered on the king's orders for being a lover of Nell Gwynn. A couple walking through the woods were now about to say hello to a hooded figure on the path ahead which disappeared - the witnesses had mistaken the figure as another walker, albeit one in unusual clothing.

Butley Priory, Suffolk.

Robert Brommer

Location: Butley (Suffolk) - Butley Priory - gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1509 (?) onwards
Further Comments: Robert Brommer committed suicide in Ipswich after falling heavily in debt to the king. After a couple of burials and removals, his remains were finally laid to rest at a crossroads along the nearby Hausen Street. His spirit took exception to the movement and has since been reported in the gatehouse. A piece of local folklore says the third Earl of Suffolk, who died at Agincourt, is buried in a silver coffin somewhere on site.

Neighbourhood of St Peters Church.

Voice calling 'John'

Location: Carlton Colville (Suffolk) - St Peters Church, the area of
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Over the period of a week, the residents of the neighbourhood could hear a female voice calling out 'John! John!' The voice was slowly heard less, until it was heard no more. In the churchyard itself, a folktale says running around the 'Pirate's Grave' a set number of times would summon the Devil.

Rotation

Location: Chediston (Suffolk) - Cedd's Stone (aka Chediston Hall stone)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Folklore says this stone acted as an altar to Woden and could rotate unaided.

Stonehenge.

Pendragon's Grave

Location: Stonehenge (Wiltshire) - Stone Circle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Most stories unknown, UFOs 1990, 2009
Further Comments: Many strange properties and stories have been assigned to the most famous stone circle in the world, including rumours that it was built by Merlin the Wizard (or the Devil), and that it is impossible to count the true number of stones. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Uther Pendragon is buried here. UFO sightings are not uncommon in the area, with a couple spotting a glowing orange light as they drove along the road past the monument in 1990, and a photograph purportedly showing 'discoid' craft sent to the MOD in 2009.

Dog Toys

Location: Cwm (Gwent) - Private residence, Stanfield Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2013-2016
Further Comments: This poltergeist's activity started with the throwing of the dog's toy balls around or bouncing them off walls. Chairs soon started to rotate unaided, taps were turned on, and an ornamental cat flung across the room. The foggy apparition of a figure appeared to two members of the family.

Lambs

Location: Ballakilpheric (Isle of Man) - Exact location not known
Type: Other
Date / Time: Early/mid nineteenth century
Further Comments: Twin children died soon after they learned to walk. Following the funeral, there was a knock at the mother's door. She answered and found two white lambs, although it was winter and there should have been no lambs around at the time. The animals were looking under the doorstep. The next day, a pair of scissors was found under the step, thought to have been hidden by the twins.

Flickering Light

Location: Pluckley (Kent) - Church of St Nicholas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sounds of knocking can be heard coming from beneath the church at night, often accompanied by a flickering and fluttering light inside the empty building. Some say the light belongs to Lady Dering, buried within three lead coffins to prevent her decay. The churchyard is reputed to be haunted by a red lady, wandering the area in search of her missing baby, and a ghostly dog. Finally, the inside of the church is also said to be haunted by a woman in mid-twentieth century clothing.

Dog Walkers

Location: Pluckley (Kent) - Station Road, area around Greystones House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Couple unknown, monk reported seen in 1971
Further Comments: Victims of the all-too-common love triangle that ends in suicide, this couple and their little dog can be heard walking and chatting down this area of the road. The road is also the haunt to a ghostly Cavalier, while Greystones itself is reputedly home to a phantom monk.

Fred

Location: Worcester (Worcestershire) - Barley Mow public house (closed 2006)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1970s - 1990s
Further Comments: Nicknamed Fred by the family living here, the entity would be heard walking around an empty clubroom and would move or hide small items.

Jet Black Cat

Location: Bangor-on-Dee (Clwyd) - A525 from Penley towards village
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 20 January 2026, 21:15h
Further Comments: A witness watched a 'ginormous' jet black cat cross the road ahead of his car. The cat ran up an embankment and disappeared into woodland.

Fires

Location: Clones (County Monaghan) - Unidentified property
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: April 1907
Further Comments: Shortly after the death of an occupant, fires with no visible cause started to break out, especially on clothes, in the property. The occupants moved out, but the fires continued. Any outbreak had to be allowed to burn itself out, as they could not be extinguished by 'ordinary methods'.

White Monster

Location: Felinfach (Dyfed) - Private residence, Bro Henllys
Type: Other
Date / Time: 03 June 1955, 02:15h
Further Comments: A large white object with a tentacle which awoke a couple from their sleep made its escape through the bedroom window. A sketch made of the entity apparently resembled an octopus with a black spot. Strange sounds had been heard throughout the house in the months leading up to the encounter, including knocks on doors and windows, and breaking glass.

Playful Child

Location: Outer London: Brentford (Greater London) - Clitheroe's Lock, Grand Union Canal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young boy with a connection to Boston Manor is said to have drowned here during the 1820s. Always 'felt' but never seen, the entity's demeanour is playful and can assist (or hinder, depending on his mood) with the lock gates as boats pass through. His presence is considered a blessing of good luck.

An old postcard of Arthur's Stone in Dorstone.

The Hummadruz

Location: Dorstone (Herefordshire) - Arthur's Stone
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twentieth century, 1990s
Further Comments: For many years people have reported hearing a strange humming sound around this area, without apparent cause. During the 1990s, one story claimed a woman visiting the stone watched the landscape change around her and strange figures appeared; she later found herself home with no memory of the trip. One legend says King Arthur fought a giant on the site, marks on two of the stones created when the giant fell.

Dog Walker

Location: Higham (Kent) - Former railway line between Higham and Wykin
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman who died on the railway track in 1885 while looking for her lost dog could be heard whistling and calling for the hound for years after the accident. The sounds continued after the line closed and the track dismantled.

Silver Discs

Location: Rhayader (Powys) - Skies over area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 06 November 1950, 08:00h
Further Comments: A fourteen-year-old boy watched two silver discs flying at height and in a southerly direction. The craft did not resemble any aeroplanes that he had seen.

Final Battle

Location: Barnardiston (Suffolk) - Blood Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Hill still present
Further Comments: Folklore names the hill as the location of Boadica's final battle.

Headless Monk

Location: Bentley (Suffolk) - Bridge on road linking Brantham and Bentley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Based at Dodnash Priory that once stood nearby, this decapitated monk now haunts the road between two villages. A single stone remains at the site of the priory, and it is said treasure is concealed underneath. Another piece of folklore says a tunnel ran from the priory to a nunnery in East Bergholt.

The Crown Inn, Bildeston.

Two Children Holding a Music Box

Location: Bildeston (Suffolk) - The Crown Inn, 104 High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1947-1984
Further Comments: The Victorian children who were rumoured to haunt this site have not been reported for a good many years. Sightings of a grey woman who also haunts the building seem to be rare, but the ghost may be responsible for poltergeist activity in the gentleman's toilets, opening cubical doors for customers as they enter the room. Another ghost, that of an old man in a three-cornered hat, has been seen by staff sitting by the front door of the public house, though they believe him to be a teetotaller. Finally, a local tradition says a secret passage runs from the pub to the clock tower in the market.

Cracking Sounds and Footsteps

Location: Blyford (Suffolk) - The Queen's Head
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: As well as loud sounds disturbing the owners and customers, small balls of blue light have also been observed, floating around the first floor and disappearing into the walls. Cracking was heard on the first floor by the landlord and a room full of customers in 1969 - several people dashed upstairs to investigate but found nothing. Folklore says a tunnel runs from the pub to the nearby church.

Blythburgh Church, Suffolk.

Shuck

Location: Blythburgh (Suffolk) - Holy Trinity Church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 04 August 1577, and 1973
Further Comments: During a church service in 1577, a large black dog burst in and created havoc. Blackened scorch marks said to be caused by the creature still exist today on the church door. Many years later, in 1973, a man working in the marshes near the church reported hearing a panting dog standing beside him, though nothing could be seen. A local story says a tunnel runs from the church to the sea.

Flowing

Location: Blythburgh (Suffolk) - Lady's Well (aka Wishing Well, Lady's Fountain, and Queen Anne's Well)
Type: Other
Date / Time: AD 654 onwards
Further Comments: Folklore says this well formed on the spot where East Anglian King Anna (or Onna) died in battle

Bull Inn, Brantham.

Grey Man

Location: Brantham (Suffolk) - Bull Inn
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Members of staff have reported seeing a misty grey man standing behind the bar and hearing the cries of a girl coming from the cellar. Local stories claimed a smuggler's tunnel ran from the building down to the river, and that Matthew Hopkins hanged a woman just outside the inn.