The Paranormal Database

Woman with Dog

Location: Pewsey (Wiltshire) - Cuckoo Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Sometime between 1939-1945
Further Comments: A farmer and an aid chasing down stray cattle encountered a phantom woman dressed in black crossing the bridge. She was accompanied by a large dog, being led by a diamond chain.

Man on Fire

Location: Pitstone (Buckinghamshire) - Railway bridge between village and Bulbourne
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom burning man was reported to haunt the bridge here, the ghost of a suicide victim. The figure is said to be an ill-omen, although by averting your glance, you can avoid the misfortune.

Roman Soldier

Location: Plas Pren (Clwyd) - Stone Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: To see the Roman guard standing on the bridge will bring death shortly after.

Drowning

Location: Portendown (now Portadown?) (County Armagh) - Portendown Bridge (now Bann Bridge?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1640s
Further Comments: Depending on the account, between one and four hundred people were drowned in the waters by the bridge by rebels. After these murders, people reported seeing the ghosts of drowning men and women or hearing screaming.

Evaporating Man

Location: Portsmouth (Hampshire) - Railway bridge, St Mary's Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: A driver slowed to take a better look at a man who stood on the side of the bridge which did not have a footpath. The driver thought that the man did not 'look right', which was proved correct as the driver watched the figure evaporate in the rear view mirror.

Lady Carew in a Coach Pulled by Four Black Horses

Location: Potter Heigham (Norfolk) - Arched Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 May, Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Occurring on the stroke of midnight, the phantom coach driven by a skeleton is seen to crash into the side of the bridge and fall into the river below. After selling her soul to the Devil, Lady Carew was taken away by two skeletons driving a coach pulled by four black horses on her wedding day. The coach disappeared on the bridge over the River Thurne, and the scene is repeated every 31 May. Another version of the story says the phantom is Lady Evelyn, who died when her coach crashed in 1741.

Hearse

Location: Quidenham (Norfolk) - Bridge close to a church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless coachman drives his coffin laden carriage and horses across this bridge.

Twelve Drunken Pall Bearers

Location: Quidenham (Norfolk) - Bridge, route from church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One Lord Albemarle of Quidenham requested that his coffin be carried by twelve men in the state that he had favoured in life - drunkenness. The pall bearers, too drunk for their own good, fell over the side of the village bridge near the church and drowned in the waters below. On certain nights, this incident can be reheard.

Drinkstone Hill Bridge, Rattlesden.

Footsteps Splashing in the Water

Location: Rattlesden (Suffolk) - Drinkstone Hill Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1956
Further Comments: Known locally as Brook Bridge, splashing sounds and footfalls have frequently been heard coming from the water, though on immediate investigation there has been no living creature found in the area.

Black Cat

Location: Rothbury (Northumberland) - Bridge over River Coquet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The structure is reportedly haunted by a dark moggy.

Reducing Woman

Location: Saffron Walden (Essex) - Bridge in South Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: September 2002, 00:00h
Further Comments: This witness wrote: 'When I was walking with my friend that night, we saw a lady in the top of the bridge. She was about 3 metres tall. While she was walking down the bridge towards us, she decreased in size until becoming about 1.6 metres tall. We ran quickly after seeing that. We both were sober when we saw that.'

Blessing

Location: Santon (Isle of Man) - Fairy Bridge
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It is considered unlucky not to say 'good day' to the fairies as you cross the bridge. In recent years, people have begun to leave gifts and notes on a nearby tree for the fairies.

Figure

Location: Sapcote (Leicestershire) - Bridge between village and Stoney Stanton, was known as Scholar's Bridge (may no longer stand)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A supernatural agency which lurked at this bridge at night was said to be a reoccurring terror for local villagers.

Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames, London.

Tall Woman in Black

Location: SE1 (Greater London) - Blackfriars Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Likely early twentieth century
Further Comments: A postal worker watched a tall woman wearing black standing on the edge of this bridge. The woman suddenly leapt into the river. Horrified, the postal worker ran to the edge of the bridge intending to jump over the railings to save her. A nearby policeman also rushed over but, instead of helping the woman or summoning additional support, grabbed the postman. The postal worker told the policeman what had happened, only to be told the woman had previously committed suicide and it was now her ghost which performed the same action every day. The policeman told the postman to return at the same time the following day to witness the woman make the suicidal jump again. The postal worker returned as requested and did indeed see the woman in black repeat her jump.

Woman in White

Location: Seaton (Leicestershire) - B672 Road, under the Seaton Viaduct bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 12 April 2007, 01:01h
Further Comments: While travelling home, a driver spotted a woman in white clothing, with a pale face, standing by a gate by one of the bridge arches. Finding it strange for someone to be there, the driver slowed down to take a closer look. The figure was completely motionless. The driver passed her, and looking into the rear view mirror, realised the figure had vanished.

Running Woman

Location: Settle (North Yorkshire) - Beggar's Wife Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Named after the wife killed by her mad spouse, she can still be seen running over the bridge, trying to escape her fate. The figure has no face, only a spider's web where the details should be.

White Figure

Location: Sion Mills (County Tyrone) - Old Railway Bridge, and river underneath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: No longer in service, this bridge is thought to be haunted by the phantom of a suicide, which has been seen emerging from the waters below. The sounds of a train have also been reported coming along the track.

Dunvegan Castle (public domain).

Fairy Flag

Location: Sligachan, Isle of Skye (Highland) - Dunvegan Castle
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Flag story unknown, cats seen circa 2002
Further Comments: The Flag of the MacLeod's was given to them by a fairy that changed herself into a mortal and married into the family - it can only be used three times, but each time it is waved, it grants the MacLeods victory over a foe. Used twice before (1490 & 1580), the flag remained true to the fairy's words. The Fairy Bridge near the castle is considered inherently evil, upsets animals, and is reputedly haunted by a clowder of cats once owned by a witch.

Headless Man

Location: Sneem (County Kerry) - Blackwater bridge, between village and Kenmare
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This bridge was the traditional haunt of a headless male figure. One legend says that the headless phantom was attacked by another ghost, although the outcome of the fight is not known.

An old postcard showing Sonning-on-Thames.

Child

Location: Sonning-on-Thames (Berkshire) - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young child is said to haunt this bridge. The story hit the headlines in September 2013 after a letterbox appeared in the centre buttress of the bridge.

Man-Like Monster

Location: South Mimms (Hertfordshire) - Bridge along Wash Lane
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa late nineteenth / early twentieth century
Further Comments: A man crossing the bridge watched as a human-like creature rose from the ground and leapt over the bridge, vanishing into the mist. The witness fled.

Children Playing

Location: Stocksbridge (South Yorkshire) - Pearoyd Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 1987
Further Comments: Seen playing around an electricity pylon, the children faded when approached.

Horseman

Location: Stokesley (North Yorkshire) - Broughton Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A horseman with his caparisoned horse was said to travel over this bridge, the sound of his jangling armour causing unease to anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby.

Devil

Location: Stony Hurst (Lancashire) - Cromwell Bridge
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The Devil is reputed to cross the bridge once a year - if he looks you in the eye, he'll take your soul!

Tall Man

Location: Strathdon (Aberdeenshire) - Luib Bridge, Corgaff (prior to bridge being rebuilt)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to 1830
Further Comments: A man riding home to his sick wife was stopped when he reached a collapsed bridge. A tall figure appeared and offered to carry the man across the river. Desperate to reach home, the man agreed, although halfway across the river the tall figure transformed into a kelpie and tried to drown his passenger. The man managed to fight the kelpie off and made it to the opposite bank, narrowly avoiding a boulder thrown by the angered kelpie.