The Paranormal Database

Phantom Coach

Location: Wangford - SW of Thetford (Suffolk) - Raydon Hall, Quay Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A coach pulled by a headless horse runs down Quay Lane on dark nights, believed to be driven by a former owner of Raydon Hall.

Brown Gardener

Location: Watton (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Watton Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Elfreda in 1956
Further Comments: The short, brown coloured figure seen in the abbey grounds is thought to be a former gardener. A few ghostly women (some of whom are nuns) in different colours and forms also haunt the abbey, including a headless woman known as Elfreda. During the mid-twentieth century a team of workmen camping on the grounds heard the bell pealing, even though it had been removed several years previously.

Waterloo Bridge, London.

Headless Man

Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Waterloo Bridge, Embankment
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The discovery of human remains near the bridge in the mid-twentieth century resulted in a ghostly apparition appearing for a few weeks after the incident. Earlier in the twentieth century, a criminal spotted a well-dressed young man on the bridge. As the criminal tried to grab the man, the young potential victim vanished.

Rising Woman

Location: Wellington (Somerset) - Barracks, and St James Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1804
Further Comments: Several guards stationed at the barracks reported the ghost of a headless woman, which rose from the ground in front of them wearing a striped dress. The figure then set off towards the park.

Headless Horse

Location: Welwyn (Hertfordshire) - White Horse Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The headless horse which runs along this road was said to have been a casualty during the civil war.

Dragon Slayer

Location: West Clandon (Surrey) - Exact location unknown, but woodcarving in local church
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A dragon which gave the locals a hard time was killed by an ex-soldier and his dog - the dog leapt onto the creature's face, while the man decapitated the wyrm.

Headless Driver

Location: West Lulworth (Dorset) - Lane along Coach Lane Gates (gates may no longer stand)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly coach pulled by horses and driven by a headless coachman reportedly travels along this lane. The coachman was said to have been decapitated during a highway robbery.

Headless Horseman

Location: Westcott (Surrey) - Road between Westcott and Dorking
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007, approximately 02:30h
Further Comments: A headless horseman is reported to haunt Westcott. In 2007, one man walking between Westcott and Dorking was followed by something unseen which pushed its way through thick bushes and made a trotting sound.

Woman in the Bedroom

Location: Westwood (Wiltshire) - Westwood Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a woman in one of the bedrooms is said to guarantee a sleepless night. There are also stories of a headless person who silently walks the manor house at night.

Headless Woman

Location: Westwoodside (Lincolnshire) - Blethergate area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity wanders the village roads, less her head.

Coach and Four

Location: Weybourne (Norfolk) - Road through village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once said that a ghostly coach pulled by four horses and driven by a headless figure would pass through the village and vanish into the church wall.

Headless Man

Location: Whitby (North Yorkshire) - Prospect Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This male entity has the removed item securely grasped under his arm.

An old postcard of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire.

Petrified Snakes

Location: Whitby (North Yorkshire) - Whitby Abbey
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Snakes unknown, St Hilda's ghost during summer months 10:00h - 12:00h
Further Comments: The abbey was besieged by snakes, until St Hilda turned up and drove them all off the edge of the cliff, where they turned to stone on the beach below. Her ghost is also reported to still gaze from the windows of the abbey. A few people have heard a choir singing in the empty building and one local legend says a team of headless horses pulling a hearse was once spotted by a man and boy walking in the area. Finally, treasure hidden in the abbey's grounds is protected by a headless figure in white.

Headless Woman

Location: Wicklow (County Wicklow) - Wicklow Head Lighthouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A local legend says that, during the mid-nineteenth century, this woman was decapitated with a scythe after a jealous former boyfriend became overly upset when he discovered her engagement to another. The entity is said to haunt the staircase and, according to one story, once seen by a party of six people staying at the building.

Many Headless

Location: Wimborne (Dorset) - Rowlands Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Some midnights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A story which was told in the late nineteenth century says that a large hole once existed here. Occasionally at midnight headless horses driven by headless men would emerge.

Headless Bride

Location: Winster (Derbyshire) - The Angel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century, particularly active around Christmas
Further Comments: The decapitated ghost caused one witness to faint as it ascended the staircase and headed towards the viewer. A local legend states that the ghostly woman and her lover both committed suicide the day before she was due to be married to another man. The building has a history of phantom footsteps and doors that open themselves.

Monk

Location: Witchampton (Dorset) - Old Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The headless ghost which was said to haunt the ruins was thought to be a monk. There was a local myth that a tunnel connected the manor to the church, and that the headless spirit would vanish into the concealed entrance.

Monk-Like Figure

Location: Withington (Gloucestershire) - Terrace house (now demolished), Hill Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: One occupant of this property twice spotted a small monk-like figure in brown run across the landing from a bedroom to their parent's room. On another occasion, the witness awoke to see a projection of light on the wall showing a dozen decapitated people pleading and speaking French.

Headless Horseman

Location: Woodhead (Derbyshire) - Area where Crowden Hall once stood (demolished 1937)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This decapitated figure on the back of a stallion still rides around the area where Crowden Hall once stood.

Headless Horses

Location: Woodmanton (Wiltshire) - Location known as Patty's Bottom
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Rumoured to be a battleground between Britons and Romans, the sounds of battle, accompanied by the sight of headless horses, have been reported. The battle was said to be so intense, the valley filled with blood.

Coach

Location: Woodrising (Norfolk) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, likely to be pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A coach which manifested here was said to glow from the windows and lamps with a light as bright as day. Witness accounts varied to whether it was pulled by invisible horses or headless horses.

Headless Man

Location: Wootton Rivers (Wiltshire) - Flitwick
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1930
Further Comments: This headless ghost disappeared soon after a decapitated skeleton was discovered in the wall of the farmhouse and laid to rest.

Phantom Coach

Location: Wroxham (Norfolk) - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ghostly coach and four passes over this bridge once a year. It is said to be driven by a headless Sir Thomas Boleyn and is one of eleven bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.

Headless Dog

Location: Yeaton (Shropshire) - Road between village and Baschurch
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site of a murder which took place many years ago was said to have become home to a headless black dog.

Headless Woman

Location: York (North Yorkshire) - Area of Bishopthorpe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: A wealthy woman was murdered for her money, and her body hidden a short distance from her house in Bishopthorpe. It was several days before the corpse was discovered, and it is said that the state of decay was so bad that her head had become separate from her torso. Her headless ghost haunted the area where her body lay for years after the event.