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Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Animal Ghosts and Folklore

Hound Attack

Location: Darlington (Durham) - Old Darlington and Stockton rail station
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 5 December 1890
Further Comments: A night watchman reported being attacked by a man and his dog as they came out of the coal house - the watchman defended himself and tried to punch his attacker, only for his fist to pass through the figure and hit the wall behind. The pair of entities then went back into the coal house and vanished.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-10-04 | Last updated: 2002-10-04 | ID #2547


The ghostly pigs of Dartmoor.

Sow

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Merripit Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom sow and her litter walk the area looking for food.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-12-27 | Last updated: 2003-12-27 | ID #4891

David Davies

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Misty nights (Davies)
Further Comments: Davies tended to the prison sheep between 1869 and 1929. He died soon after being released, but his ghost returned, walking the prison grounds on misty nights. The prison is also haunted by French PoWs from the Napoleonic wars, while some inmates believe jackdaws which fly around the area contain the souls of dead staff.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2005-06-09 | Last updated: 2005-06-09 | ID #6338

Kitchen Horse

Location: Dirleton (Lothian) - Beadles Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The kitchen was built over the old stables, and the sound of a horse kicking a stable door is said to be occasionally heard. Horseshoes belonging to Shetland ponies have been found in the garden.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2010-04-11 | Last updated: 2010-04-11 | ID #9857


An old postcard of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.

Monk with White Face

Location: Doe Lea (Derbyshire) - Hardwick Hall grounds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1978
Further Comments: Seen by several people, this phantom monk was almost hit by a car before it vanished into the grounds. A light has also been reported floating around the courtyard, containing a strange face, while inside the hall itself a phantom cat and a woman in blue have been reported.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-08-27 | Last updated: 2002-08-27 | ID #2341

Hound

Location: Donohill (County Tipperary) - Road outside rectory
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A black dog haunted this stretch of road, although there have been no sightings for at least one hundred years.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2011-04-30 | Last updated: 2011-04-30 | ID #10405

Coach & Four

Location: Driffield (Wiltshire) - Between Driffield and Harnhill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early or mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom coach drawn by a team of four horses travels around this area. The phantoms are said to look quite solid, though they are illuminated by an unknown source.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-06-07 | Last updated: 2009-06-07 | ID #9467

Man with Dog

Location: Drumcliff (County Clare) - Around the ruins of the round tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was said that this phantom man with his ghostly hound would walk quickly around the area.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2011-04-27 | Last updated: 2011-04-27 | ID #10337


Drumlanrig Castle, from Country Seats by Francis Orpen Morris.

Monkey

Location: Drumlanrig (Dumfries and Galloway) - Drumlanrig Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: World War I
Further Comments: This yellow monkey has been seen several times, though only recognised as being a monkey recently. Two other ghosts have been seen here; Lady Anne Douglas walks carrying her severed head, while a little girl has been seen in a bedroom, floating a few feet off the floor.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-02 | Last updated: 2002-07-02 | ID #1537

White Figure

Location: Dunwich (Suffolk) - Area around the 'red stile', between Dunwich and Heveningham, aka Devil's Field or Lane.
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1924
Further Comments: This pale phantom was described as wearing a white veil or having black patches around the head. One brave man touched the entity and went numb down his right side. A large black hound-like creature was also reported in the area, and a clanking chain heard.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-05-03 | Last updated: 2009-05-03 | ID #9296


A road through Dunwich, Suffolk.

Herds of Cows

Location: Dunwich (Suffolk) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Herds of invisible grazing animals were once heard by locals moving along the roads in this area. The creatures are also said to be heard on the beach, where green pastures once lay.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2004-11-14 | Last updated: 2004-11-14 | ID #5567

Unlucky Cat

Location: E1 (Greater London) - 88 Newark Street, Whitechapel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: The family who lived here for six years reported a suppressive atmosphere and terrible luck. Their children reported a phantom cat, while the mother was too scared to enter certain rooms.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-02-06 | Last updated: 2003-02-06 | ID #3760

Boy or Cat

Location: Easingwold (North Yorkshire) - Old manor house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century (or before)
Further Comments: Local folklore said that the strange sounds reported in one room were created by the phantom of a boy flogged to death nearby. However, years later, the remains of a cat were discovered within the walls, and the sounds attributed to the frantic scrabbling of the creature before it died. Some will say that the poor cat was an apotropaic object; we'll never know for sure.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2019-09-09 | Last updated: 2019-09-09 | ID #13341

Persian Cat

Location: EC3 (Greater London) - All Hallows by the Tower, Great Tower Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1940
Further Comments: This phantom feline haunted the original church prior to its destruction by German bombers during the Second World War. In one story, a small group rehearsing Christmas carols claimed to have seen a phantom woman sitting on a chair. The figure disappeared and was replaced by a black cat which also vanished soon after.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-12 | Last updated: 2002-08-12 | ID #2145

Bear

Location: EC3 (Greater London) - Tower of London, Jewel House (now known as Martin Tower)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1816
Further Comments: After seeing a large bear approaching him, a guard tried to bayonet the creature; the weapon passed straight through the ghost, and it continued to move towards the soldier. The soldier collapsed and died a few days later.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-07-04 | Last updated: 2002-07-04 | ID #1598

Cat

Location: EC4 (Greater London) - House of Mr Edward Pitts, Puddle Dock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1674
Further Comments: A phantom cat seen in this house was said to be the size of a mastiff hound, but it had no legs. The family were also subjected to a poltergeist outbreak, which opened doors, moved items around and lit candles.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-09-13 | Last updated: 2009-09-13 | ID #9705

Shadowy Figures

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Private flat in Bruntsfield Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Several entities reportedly haunt this building, including cats, a dog, and possibly several people who were mistaken as 'real' by one witness.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-08-02 | Last updated: 2005-08-02 | ID #6463


Mary King's Close, Edinburgh.

Plague Victims

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Mary King's Close, currently buried under the City Chambers
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1685 - 2020s
Further Comments: A whole host of spectres haunt this area; women, children, old men and even animals have been reported haunting the site over the past 350 years. More recently, there have been reports of a ghostly little girl and an 'impish' young boy. The last occupant of the close was forced to move out in 1898 to make way for the City Chambers extension, which now stands over the area.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-13 | Last updated: 2002-06-13 | ID #1211

Thomas Holloway

Location: Egham (Surrey) - Royal Holloway University
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Founded by Thomas Holloway, the man himself is said to haunt the Founder's Building, though he manifests in the form of a black cat. Jane Holloway, Thomas's wife, is said to haunt the fourth floor of the same building.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-03-02 | Last updated: 2008-03-02 | ID #8301

Jeffrey

Location: Epworth (Lincolnshire) - Epworth Rectory
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: December 1716 - January 1717
Further Comments: This building experienced phantom groaning, knocking, and invisible hands that pushed people around. Unlike most poltergeist cases, the entity also manifested in the form of a white figure and a headless badger. The presence left without warning.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-07-04 | Last updated: 2002-07-04 | ID #1608

Plague Victims

Location: Ewell (Surrey) - St Mary The Virgin
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several graves belonging to plague victims are thought to be haunted by their occupiers.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2008-02-24 | Last updated: 2008-02-24 | ID #8215

Horse and Coach

Location: Ewell (Surrey) - William IV Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of a horse pulling a coach have been heard outside this inn, though never seen.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2008-02-24 | Last updated: 2008-02-24 | ID #8214

Black Pig

Location: Exeter (Devon) - Southern Hay area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This porker is reputed to be the ghost of Judge Jeffreys, cursed to return in animal form after he died.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-11-21 | Last updated: 2004-11-21 | ID #5594

Fast Moving Old Lady

Location: Farnham (Surrey) - West Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Wet winter nights
Further Comments: Limping, this OAP runs by witnesses at a rate of knots and disappears into the doorway of a house along the street. The same street is also haunted by a black dog which performs a similar action to that of the old woman.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-12 | Last updated: 2002-07-12 | ID #1699


An old woodcut of a large bear, appearing to exhale smoke.

Final Bear

Location: Fernhurst (Sussex) - Ruins of Verdley Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This is said to be the location where the last wild bear in England was pointlessly killed; the creature's ghost now returns in protest.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-22 | Last updated: 2002-07-22 | ID #1935

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