The Paranormal Database

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.

Horse

Location: Motherwell (Lanarkshire) - Raceway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While actual sightings of the ghostly horse reputedly to haunt this racetrack are scant, a local newspaper reported an exorcist had been scheduled to record the ghost for an American TV crew in July 1974.

Prince Rupert's Horse

Location: Kineton (Warwickshire) - Marlborough Farm Camp (Second World War PoW camp, exact location not known), and Graveyard Spinney
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1953?
Further Comments: Two sentries reported seeing something white, resembling a horse, jump a hedge and disappear close to their camp. A police officer who patrolled the area encountered the ghost so frequently that he ignored the entity. Local folklore claimed a phantom horse foaming at the mouth, thought to have belonged to Prince Rupert, haunted the area.

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.

Tapping

Location: Gerrards Cross (Buckinghamshire) - French Horn public house (demolished 2010)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Pre 1965
Further Comments: On one occasion the landlord, while changing barrels in the cellar, felt a tap on his shoulder. Assuming it to be his wife, he turned around but found no one there. The poltergeist was considered not particularly vicious but quite memorable.

Young Woman

Location: Coleford (Devon) - Coombe House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1940s - 1990s
Further Comments: A family moved to this house during the Second World War would encounter a phantom young woman wearing a long dress who would appear by a fireplace in a bedroom. After the family moved away, they would later learn that the subsequent owners had continued to experience the woman. Secret tunnels also ran under the house.

Crying baby

Location: Brancaster (Norfolk) - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 1985
Further Comments: A visitor to the property awoke to the sound of a baby crying, although no young children were in the house. The visitor turned over and spotted a floating white lady in the room. Other visitors dismissed the witness's claims, although said the house had a strange atmosphere.

Dancing Milk Bottles

Location: Over Norton (Oxfordshire) - Private residence off Choicehill Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1964 - 1965
Further Comments: A poltergeist made milk bottles dance on the windowsill, moved an iron from the living room into the loft, and tossed stones at one of the occupants.

Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk.

CEII

Location: Rendlesham (Suffolk) - Rendlesham Forest - near former USAF Base
Type: UFO
Date / Time: December 1981 (UFO), circa 1995 (big cats)
Further Comments: Once only famous in ufological circles, the story of the landing of an unknown craft at Rendlesham during the early 1980s still causes controversy today. Unrelated to the UFO sighting, the Big Cats of Suffolk website reported there had been a string of big cat sightings in the forest prior to 1995, with occasional sightings still reported.

Black Puma

Location: Rougham (Suffolk) - General area, and on the A14 turning
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Circa 2005 - 2020
Further Comments: Big Cats of Suffolk website reported three sightings of black cats in this area, two spotted by motorcyclists. The most recent sighting in 2020 described the creature as muscular and square jawed.

Drone-Like UFO

Location: Bridlington (Yorkshire) - Off South Beach
Type: UFO
Date / Time: September 2017
Further Comments: A witness watched a small drone-like UFO above the ocean before it vanished without trace.

Orange Energy

Location: Flamborough (Yorkshire) - Area close to lighthouse
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 20/21 June 2019
Further Comments: One witness spotted two red lights hovering silently hovering over the cliff before they descended and vanished. Sheep in a nearby field appeared destressed. The following night, the same witness spotted a small drone-like craft which transformed into a rectangular orange object, like a ball of energy, which crackled and buzzed. The object remained visible for a few minutes. Two people nearby were able to hear the crackling of the object but could not see it.

Rectangular Block

Location: Flamborough (Yorkshire) - Thornwick Bay
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 4 or 5 October 2023
Further Comments: One witness heard a quiet mechanical sound and could make out the faint shape of dark rectangular shape pass their caravan.

Glowing Light

Location: Mirfield (Yorkshire) - Northorpe Home for Boys
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: September 1965
Further Comments: Footsteps could be heard walking around in the early hours of the morning, while the director of the hall witnessed a strange light, the source of which could not be found, illuminated a chair. The press reported the hall was considered haunted by locals, although the housekeeper was quoted as saying the phantom 'added character'.

Thundering Hooves

Location: Rusheen (County Cork) - Field in village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2017
Further Comments: Three witnesses standing outside watching the lunar eclipse heard horses loudly galloping across the field ahead of them, although the field was empty. One of the witnesses kept horses of their own and was familiar with the sound.

Tapping

Location: Exmouth (Devon) - Private residence
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2023
Further Comments: The occupant in this residence would feel a tap on their shoulder or a tug at their shirt, as well as the feeling that they were never truly alone in their room. A plush whale went missing for a few weeks, only to reappear on the bedroom floor.

Playful Barking

Location: Manchester (Greater Manchester) - Highfield country park, Levenshulme
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2021
Further Comments: A dog graveyard, once owned by a farmer and now hidden away in the park, is reputedly home to playful barking which can be heard after dark. Stories say that the haunting sounds began after a local resident buried their dog within the park.

Angry Man

Location: Portsmouth (Hampshire) - Building (since demolished) along Alexandra Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Multiple occupants of this building reported foul smells, scratches, disembodied voices and footsteps, furniture and fixings moving on its own and handprints on walls that would not disappear. Portsmouth City Council are reported to have brought in a medium, although the visit had no effect. Said to have been an angry male, the activity finally ceased when the building was demolished.

Middle Aged Man

Location: Gateshead (Tyne and Wear) - Beeswing public house (no longer open), Felling
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: A middle-aged man in a waistcoat and spats would stand at the bar with an old-fashioned glass containing ale. Newcomers to the bar were said to have engaged the man in conversation, although no one else could see him. It was speculated that the man may have been connected to one of the Felling pit disasters.

Businessman

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) - Manors railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Wearing a smart three-piece suit and bowler hat, and holding an umbrella, this phantom figure stands on the platform as if waiting for a train. The man is said to look concerned and would suddenly disappear.

Grinning Lady

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) - Slug and Lettuce public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: Two women who took a self-portrait in this pub caught a grinning female figure in the shot; the image appeared in several national outlets where the unknown figure was branded a ghost. Although the ghost could have a rational explanation, it is said that a phantom figure has been spotted several times since the image became known.

Pilot

Location: Washington (Tyne and Wear) - Manufacturing Plant (name withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Underground tunnels at this plant are said to be haunted by a Second World War pilot.

Mordrid

Location: Ipswich (Suffolk) - Large retail building, White House estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 2024
Further Comments: A phantom young girl with brown hair who plays in the building has been named 'Mordrid' by staff. One visitor to the site heard footsteps in the empty building and asked Mordrid to close an open door (catching the closing door on video).

Ticking

Location: Cheltenham (Gloucestershire) - House along St James Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: August - September 1965
Further Comments: A ticking could be heard inside the walls of this property, moving from room to room. One of the occupants watched a pram leap into the air, causing the baby inside to start crying. One newspaper said that a 'ticking spider' could be to blame (as a sidenote, ticking spiders were sometimes considered a death omen).

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.

Fred

Location: Cotmanhay (Derbyshire) - Private residence
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1986
Further Comments: The Padgett family appeared in the press and spoke about their poltergeist which they had named Fred. The entity would move items, create thuds on the staircase, and ring the doorbell.

Shaking Headboard

Location: Nottingham (Nottinghamshire) - Hyson Green
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1954 -1966
Further Comments: One occupant of this household would be kept awake by their bed's headboard violently shaking. The activity would cease for the evening when the occupant said they needed to sleep.

Woman

Location: Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire) - Institute of Package (located at Sysonby Lodge)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1989
Further Comments: A workman claimed to have seen a woman enter the reception area before walking through a wall. The phantom, considered benevolent, took a dislike to plastic flowers which would be knocked off surfaces and created the smell of freesias on the staircase.

Man in Black

Location: Grantham (Lincolnshire) - Belton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown (man in black), circa 1930s (woman)
Further Comments: Another location that made it into the National Trust's top ten haunted locations in 2007, the Queen's Bedroom within Belton House is said to be haunted by a tall man dressed in black. A former chambermaid witnessed a female phantom descending the staircase and thought the entity to be Lady Sarah Cust, although other staff named the ghost as Lady Alice Sherard. Postmortem, Lady Alice became known as the Bright Lady and would appear in the main hallway.

Older Lady

Location: Calverton (Nottinghamshire) - Georges Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A piece of local folklore says that an older woman sometimes manifests in the back seat of vehicles driving along this accident blackspot and is visible in the rearview mirror.

Lady in Black

Location: Hucknall (Nottinghamshire) - Nottingham Road, area known as Jenny Burton's Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 05 October 1986, 22:45h
Further Comments: After driving his car into a woman dressed in black 1950s clothing, Brian Tweedy stopped, fearing he had killed the pedestrian. Looking around the area, he could find no sign of the woman, and his car suffered no damage. Tweedy claimed that cars ahead and behind him on the road had also hit the figure and they had also stopped at the scene.

Ironing Man

Location: Nottingham (Nottinghamshire) - Perry Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: While her parents looked around a house with the intent to buy, a child spend several minutes talking to a man in the hallway as he did his ironing. When the child mentioned this to her mother, the nearby owner was shocked; the house had been placed on the market after the death of her husband, who would do the ironing in the hallway.

Servant

Location: Ossington (Nottinghamshire) - Ossington Hall (demolished 1962)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1939-1945
Further Comments: Sergeants billeted in the former servants' quarters during the Second World War would encounter a ghostly servant.

Cup Throwing

Location: Newtown (Powys) - House on Garth Estate
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: The Owen household were subjected to an entity whose nighttime activities of rapping and throwing cups ensured no one slept well. The outbreak started after floor in the kitchen had been uplifted.

Bed Fellow

Location: Portrush (County Antrim) - Holiday bungalow on outskirts of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown (but pre-1965)
Further Comments: A woman with her family staying at the holiday home felt something crawl over her bed and lay at a right-angle. The woman reached out and could feel the arm of another woman in the bed - she fled and woke other members of the household who were unable to find anything out of the ordinary. After the event repeated on subsequent nights, the room was left locked and unused for the remainder of the holiday.

White Lady

Location: Totnes (Devon) - Dartington Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, but cloaked figure October 1976 and circa March 1995
Further Comments: This pale figure is said to be one of a handful of ghosts reported here over the years, normally seen in the garden. A woman who starved to death in a bedroom and an old nurse also continue to reside here, while a headless horseman has been reported just outside the grounds of the building. In 1995 a member of staff spotted a glowing man wearing a cloak who faded away, remarkably like an event in 1976 where a young man watched a cloaked figure wearing a tricorn hat glide silently across the road outside the hall before passing effortlessly over the hedgerow.

Thetford Forest, Norfolk.

Black Cat with Glowing Eyes

Location: Thetford (Norfolk) - Wooded areas
Type: ABC
Date / Time: April 1985, 2000s, September 2021
Further Comments: A large cat with eyes that glowed red was reported in the forest in 1985. More recently, Big Cats of Suffolk website reports there have been sightings of large cats in the area for at least thirty years, most recently a large black cat, built like a lynx, in 2021.

Monk

Location: Great Barford (Northamptonshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known as an accident blackspot, roads in the area were considered home to a phantom monk-like figure. Local stories have drivers stopping, concerned they have either hit someone (although nothing is ever found), or they have seen a strange face in their rear-view mirror.

Sally Leeson

Location: Roughgrove (County Cork) - Road between Roughgrove and Coppeen
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1800s onwards?
Further Comments: Murdered at Roughgrove, Leeson took to haunting this stretch of road, although it was said she could not cross the bridge.

Fox-Haired Woman

Location: Coppeen (County Cork) - Cahervagliair Ringfort
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ringfort would be raided for building materials during the construction of the old school, but the theft stopped after a woman with fox-coloured hair appeared. It is unclear whether the woman was fairy, ghost or just a concerned person.

Pot of Gold

Location: Coppeen (County Cork) - Unidentified Farm in the area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One folktale from this area states that a farmer dreamt of the exact location where a pot of gold had been buried on his land. Rather than dig it up, the farmer told a family member who waited until nightfall and dug on the spot without the farmer knowing. Finding the gold, the thief fled. Simultaneously, the farmer had a stroke which left him unable to speak.