The Paranormal Database

Hymns

Location: St David's (Dyfed) - St Nonna's church ruins
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 March (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sound of phantom singing is heard coming from these church ruins on the evening of St David's Day.

Figure at the Window

Location: St Day (Cornwall) - Old church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2021
Further Comments: Local press carried the story that a paranormal group released video purporting to show a figure standing in an elevated window of this empty church.

Returning Bell

Location: St Illtyd (Gwent) - St Illtyd Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: In the forgotten past, an English king was said to have taken the bell from this church. He died soon after, but wished the bell returned from the original location. The horse carrying the bell immediately set off back to St Illtyd without human intervention, the bell's rings summoning other horses to aid in the quest. Once the horse reached the church, the bell fell from the horse's neck, breaking a stone which, it was said, remained in the churchyard for many years as a reminder that the miracle had really occurred.

Young Man

Location: St Ives (Cornwall) - Private residence opposite parish church (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Likely nineteenth century
Further Comments: The haunting in the ancient house which once stood here began after the owner's son died in a mining accident - the young man manifested by his father's bedside. After the owner moved away, bangs and laughter continued to be heard from the house. The ghost disappeared after the building was renovated.

End of the World

Location: St Levan (Cornwall) - St Levan's Stone, in village churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: St Levan hit this rock with his bare hands and broke it in two large pieces. He declared that when the gap grew big enough to let a horse through, the world would come to an end. In another part of the graveyard, one can find the tombstone of Captain Wetherel, who can be heard ringing his ship's bell from within his coffin.

An old postcard of St Mawgan in Cornwall.

Moved

Location: St Mawgan (Cornwall) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During construction, the Devil moved the stones each night to where the church now stands.

Ghosts emerge from the sea.

Pirates

Location: St Michael's Island (Isle of Man) - Church, and nearby ruins
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said if you knock on the church, one can hear the screams and cries of a group of pirates. These men were killed on the nearby rocks as they tried to escape with the church gold. The nearby ruins are haunted by the drowned people buried around the site. They have been seen sitting on the rubble and walking inland from the sea.

Mr Blondel

Location: St Peter in the Wood (Guernsey) - Church at St Pierre du Bois and rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Mr Blondel left instructions that on his deathbed the church bell should be tolled to show his passing. However, when Blondel died the bell remained silent, so his ghost took to climbing the church tower and throwing crockery around in the rectory kitchen. Thirteen members of clergy gathered and locked the ghost in a cupboard.

Cow Bone

Location: Stanion (Northamptonshire) - Church
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The church is home to a bone just under two metres in length, which is claimed to have come from a giant cow. The cow would provide free milk for the whole village until approached by a jealous witch who made the creature try to fill a perforated bucket - the cow dropped dead of exhaustion.

Altered Interior

Location: Stanningfield (Suffolk) - St Nicholas Church
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1933
Further Comments: A passing gentleman noticed the church doors open and went in to investigate - he said he found the altar adorned with flowers and set up for a Roman Catholic service, even though it was an Anglican church.

Moving Coffins

Location: Stanton (Suffolk) - Church
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 1850s
Further Comments: Opened to inter a recently deceased family member, the French family vault was found in disarray. The vault was tidied and sealed; five years later the seal was broken and the heavy coffins once again found moved from their places. Tidied and sealed for a second time, a couple of years past until another death in the family. This time one of the coffins that required eight men to lift had moved to the stone staircase leading to the vault. While flooding was suspected to have moved the coffins, some believed an otherworldly force had played a part. A similar story exists of the Chase Vault in Christ Church, Barbados.

A bottled ghost.

Bottled Brown

Location: Stanton upon Hine Heath (Shropshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1777
Further Comments: Elizabeth Brown died aged 92 in 1777 and was buried in a wooded area close to her home. After she was spotted wandering the area, it was decided that Elizabeth should be buried in the churchyard. She returned once more, this time sitting on a large stone, frightening passersby. A team of parsons gathered and together banished Elizabeth's ghost into a bottle which was then buried inside the church.

Devil's Gold

Location: Staple Fitzpaine (Somerset) - Devil's Stone, near the church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: The stone was once thought to have gold concealed underneath, hidden by the Devil. However, when moved to make way for a new road, nothing was found.

Running Dog

Location: Stevenage (Hertfordshire) - Saint Nick's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Upset by the continued yapping of the gravedigger's dog, the bell ringer poisoned the pet pooch. The animal died an agonised death, and some people now claim the dog runs around the church, floating slightly above the ground.

Cloaked Figure

Location: Stevington (Bedfordshire) - Church of St Mary the Virgin
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This church is home to a spectre that wears a cloak and old fashioned hat. The site also possesses a holy well that is reputed never to freeze over.

Milian

Location: Steyning (Sussex) - St Andrew's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Drifting amongst the headstones, the female phantom here is thought to be a thirteenth century lady named Milian.

Thomas Hardy's Grandfather?

Location: Stinsford (Dorset) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December 1919
Further Comments: After Hardy placed a sprig of holly on his grandfather's grave, a figure in eighteenth century clothing appeared and said, 'A green Christmas'. Hardy replied, 'I like a green Christmas', and watched the figure enter the church. Hardy followed but found the church to be empty.

Richard Jorden

Location: Stodon Massey (Essex) - Church and churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century onwards
Further Comments: After Richard Jorden died, his body was found outside his coffin so often that his friends decided to wrap the casket in chains, to prevent Jorden from climbing out again. His ghost walks the church grounds in protest.

Monk

Location: Stoke (Devon) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: A phantom monk which haunts the churchyard was last seen by a vicar. Several monks walking in a line are said to walk from the church towards Hartland Abbey, though no witnesses exist for this event.

Headless Nectan

Location: Stoke (Devon) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church is built on the location where St Nectan had his head chopped off - he bent down and stuck it back on his neck before walking off!

Hungry Witch

Location: Stoke Dry (Rutland) - Area around the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This woman haunts the place where she was held against her will; denied food and water, it was not too long before she died.

Stoned Man

Location: Stoke on Trent (Staffordshire) - Shelton Churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1886
Further Comments: A crowd gathered to what a ghostly figure in white moving amongst the gravestones. A couple of braver members in the crowd lobbed stones at the ghost before grabbing the figure, who turned out to be a corporal in the Hanley Volunteers. The man was handed over to the police and issued a caution.

Relocation

Location: Stoke upon Tern (Shropshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was supposed to be built on top of a hill, but every night the stones were moved to the bottom by an unknown force. The church was constructed at that place instead.

Soft Ringing

Location: Stourpaine (Dorset) - Church
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The little people ring the church bells after covering them with dew, ensuring the soft ringing is seldom heard by mortals.

Construction Devil

Location: Stowe Nine Churches (Northamptonshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The foundation stones of the church were moved around the village by Old Nick nine times before the rest of the building could be constructed. Another version of the story blames fairies.