Hotel Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Robert Clay
Location: Preston (Lancashire) - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: One landlord was driven out of the building because he could not tolerate the mysterious presence of Mr Clay. The entity would manifest in the form of a tall, bearded man with a deep voice, dressed in clothing which dated back two hundred years. Robert Clay is thought to have killed two young children on the site, burying the bodies in the cellar.
First added: 2003-05-31 | Last updated: 2003-05-31 | ID #4269
Murderer and Murdered
Location: Purfleet (Essex) - Royal Hotel (Room 31)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: In Room 31, an argument over gambling resulted in a young man murdering his girlfriend before committing suicide. Both are said to haunt the room, and also appear in the kitchen and the upper restaurant balcony. Poltergeist activity has also been reported in the Longbridge Bar.
First added: 2025-05-17 | Last updated: 2025-05-17 | ID #15896
Crying Girl
Location: Quothquan (Lanarkshire) - Shieldhill Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This woman had her newly born child snatched from her - she died of a broken heart soon after and her ghost is now occasionally seen or heard.
First added: 2003-06-01 | Last updated: 2003-06-01 | ID #4303
Foggy Column
Location: Radcliffe (Greater Manchester) - Commercial Hotel (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: Several workers in the building reported a strange pillar of white mist that would grow from the floor, disappearing after a couple of minutes. The apparition would be accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature.
First added: 2003-09-28 | Last updated: 2003-09-28 | ID #4616
Mary
Location: Ramsey (Cambridgeshire) - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Mary is thought to be a former landlady who died in a fire on the site. The ghost is said to hate naked flames and will blow out candles and matches.
First added: 2009-05-25 | Last updated: 2009-05-25 | ID #9348
Pacing Footsteps
Location: Reading (Berkshire) - Roebuck Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghost can also be heard knocking on doors, and opening locked windows, much to the annoyance of the owners.
First added: 2003-01-03 | Last updated: 2003-01-03 | ID #3431
Chained Child
Location: Redworth (Durham) - Redworth Hall Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lord Surtees had his mentally ill child chained to the fireplace - the youngster can be heard crying and wailing.
First added: 2005-06-18 | Last updated: 2005-06-18 | ID #6364
Elderly Lady
Location: Retford (Nottinghamshire) - The Elms (currently a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s (onwards?)
Further Comments: A soldier on guard duty at the building, which had been taken over as a hospital) spotted an elderly woman in a Victorian-type dress as she glided across the land before vanishing. The ghost may have been seen since this encounter.
First added: 2008-05-27 | Last updated: 2008-05-27 | ID #8647
An Unfaithful Wife
Location: Retford (Nottinghamshire) - West Retford Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1910s onwards
Further Comments: The ghost here is thought to be a woman who had an affair with the stable boy (who later committed suicide because of the scandal). What became of the woman is unknown, but her shade now walks the corridors, heading out across the courtyard towards where the stables once stood.
First added: 2008-05-05 | Last updated: 2008-05-05 | ID #8511
Young Girl
Location: Retford (Nottinghamshire) - White Hart Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to have been killed in a coach accident at the rear of the building, some believe that the ghost of the girl lingers on at the hotel. She may have been heard walking down the corridors by visitors to the building. A bust of the girl is contained within a display case, and bad luck is said to befall anyone who touches it.
First added: 2008-05-04 | Last updated: 2008-05-04 | ID #8456
Hunt
Location: Rickmansworth (Hertfordshire) - Lord Clarendon's Grove Park (now hotel) grounds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Former owner Lord Doneraile converted a chapel into a kitchen. He was condemned to ride a phantom horse and, together with ghostly hounds, pursue a phantom fox around the park.
First added: 2024-08-05 | Last updated: 2024-08-05 | ID #15573
Anne Armstrong
Location: Riding Mill (Northumberland) - Wellington Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Anne was a witch hunter who caught five pagans practicing 'black magic' in the hotel. It is not known whether the witches escaped execution, but Anne was found hanged in the hotel shortly after and foul play was suspected. Anne's ghost haunts her favourite bedroom.
First added: 2004-09-17 | Last updated: 2004-09-17 | ID #5459
Young Boy
Location: Ripley (Derbyshire) - Cock Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Strange sounds have been heard coming from empty parts of the hotel, and several staff have reported seeing a young lad with cigarette burns who quickly vanishes in the blink of an eye.
First added: 2007-11-27 | Last updated: 2007-11-27 | ID #8063
Old Boots
Location: Ripon (North Yorkshire) - Unicorn Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known to his friends as Old Boots, Tom Crudd was a well-liked boot boy, and his nonfrightening ghost now haunts the hotel.
First added: 2002-10-17 | Last updated: 2002-10-17 | ID #2721
Victorian Lady
Location: Rochester (Kent) - Gordon Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hotel was reportedly home to the sounds of mild poltergeist activity, although one person reported seeing a Victorian woman.
First added: 2026-05-23 | Last updated: 2026-05-23 | ID #16579
Pale Woman in Blouse
Location: Rochester (Kent) - Hotel (exact one unknown, but next to former airstrip / current airport)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This young female form, sometimes accompanied by a clicking sound, appears on the second floor of a modern extension of the hotel. Some staff members believe her to be connected to a murder that once took place on the piece of wasteland just outside the original building.
First added: 2003-02-06 | Last updated: 2003-02-06 | ID #3753
Older Lady
Location: Rochester (Kent) - Kings Head Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom old lady once held shut a fire door on the landing.
First added: 2026-05-23 | Last updated: 2026-05-23 | ID #16580
Grey Woman
Location: Royal Tunbridge Wells (Kent) - Swan Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 October 1997, and mid nineteenth century
Further Comments: A phantom woman in grey was spotted at this hotel during the 1990s. An older story says that the site is haunted by a girl who calls out the name 'John'. It is not clear whether they are the same entity.
First added: 2009-04-18 | Last updated: 2009-04-18 | ID #9263
Thin Man
Location: Royston (Hertfordshire) - Banyers House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: A ghost by the name of Henry haunts this site, and may have been the tall thin man wearing a brown suit seen briefly by both the manager and the owner standing by the bar. Room 4 is visited by strange sounds and a soldier in a peaked cap. Other ghosts reportedly frequenting the area are a monk, a caped man, and a woman in a bonnet.
First added: 2025-06-14 | Last updated: 2025-06-14 | ID #15945
Bottled Squire
Location: Rugby (Warwickshire) - Brownsover Hall Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost of a squire driving his coach and horses raised hell in the neighbourhood until exorcised; trapped in a bottle now hidden within the walls of the hotel, he now waits until released again. A recent email received suggests that late night drivers in the area still encounter the phantom coach along Leicester Road.
First added: 2004-02-29 | Last updated: 2004-02-29 | ID #5031
Whispers
Location: Runcorn (Cheshire) - Tricorn Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: Customers at this site would hear whispering close to their ear and footsteps walking across the ceiling. One story claimed that a farm once stood on the site; a mother locked her daughter in a barn for punishment. The barn burnt down, killing the daughter and driving her father mad with grief - he locked his wife in the farm's attic for a decade.
First added: 2025-08-25 | Last updated: 2025-08-25 | ID #16042
Grey Lady
Location: Ruthin (Clwyd) - Ruthin Castle (hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Clear nights
Further Comments: This lady was married to a fifteenth century steward at the castle - she decapitated her husband when she discovered him with a younger woman. In turn, she was beheaded for the act of revenge, and now the spook makes fleeting appearances at the former fortress. A man in armour is also occasionally reported.
First added: 2003-07-19 | Last updated: 2003-07-19 | ID #4408
Joker
Location: Ryde (Isle of Wight) - Ryde Castle Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The poltergeist here is said to have a good sense of humour.
First added: 2006-04-17 | Last updated: 2006-04-17 | ID #6852
Kitchen Ghost
Location: Rye (Sussex) - White Vine Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November 1995 onwards
Further Comments: The kitchen has had its contents rearranged several times, and various food stuffs mixed up and hidden. Sometimes the activities migrate towards the bedrooms, though they always come back.
First added: 2002-07-21 | Last updated: 2002-07-21 | ID #1913
Blurred Figure
Location: Salford (Greater Manchester) - Irwell Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This dark figure has been seen at the back of the hotel, seemingly slightly out of focus with the rest of his surroundings.
First added: 2003-10-25 | Last updated: 2003-10-25 | ID #4712
Records 351 - 375 of 461
Quick Links
Contribute
Reports: Places
Reports: Type
Reports: People
Calendar
