The Paranormal Database

Mercure Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Lucy and Friends

Location: Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) - Mercure Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: A few entities are said to haunt this location. A member of staff claimed to have spotted an old soldier running down a corridor, while Lucy haunts one of the rooms, having committed suicide after an assault.

Running Man

Location: Sturminster Newton (Dorset) - Plumber Manor (currently a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former lord of the manor is said to have been killed and eaten by his hunting hounds. His ghost is said to run out of the building, his pack of hounds with a hungry look in their eyes, close behind.

Mummified Feline

Location: Sudbury (Suffolk) - Mill Hotel
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: If removed, this mummified cat is said to bring ill fortune to the building and the occupiers. When the cat was first discovered (before the mill became a hotel), it was sold to a nearby shop. The shop burned down, so the cat came back and has stayed ever since.

Laughter

Location: Sumburgh (Shetland) - Sumburgh Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987
Further Comments: Air crew staying at this hotel would say rooms 28 and 33 were haunted. One visitor staying in room 33 would be awoken multiple times by the TV turning itself on and hearing a child's laughter.

Headless Man

Location: Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands) - New Hall Hotel and Wylde Green Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1820s onwards
Further Comments: This headless figure is thought to have been a local man mistakenly found guilty for being a Jacobite spy. The man was executed, and his head left in an oak tree where it remained until the 1820s - the tree was cut down and the skull rediscovered. Since then, the headless phantom is said to walk around the area (or the head rolls around looking for its body, depending on the source).

Lillie Langtry

Location: SW1 (Greater London) - Cadogan Hotel, Sloane Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This quiet little spook is said only to come out when the hotel is nearly empty. During life, Lillie was the mistress of the Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII.

Ringing Bells

Location: SW9 (Greater London) - Gresham Arms Hotel (no longer open)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1900
Further Comments: A spiritualist told the occupants of this hotel that the reason bells would ring unaided by human hand was that a spirit had taken up residence there, unable to leave having dropped dead at the bar.

Green Lady

Location: Swaffham (Norfolk) - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Little is known about the history of the phantom woman in green spotted at the hotel over the years. She is sometimes seen holding a pan, though her manifestations are normally limited to tapping people on their shoulders or backs or appearing as a fleeting shadow from the corner of an eye.

Flying Glasses

Location: Swindon (Wiltshire) - Clifton Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 25 December 1972
Further Comments: For two concurrent nights, a sherry glass was seen to rise from the shelf and fall to the floor without breaking.

Betsy Grimbal

Location: Tavistock (Devon) - Bedford Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: The spectral female form which haunts this hotel is believed to be the same Betsy who haunts another part of the town. Wearing a dark dress and bonnet, she was once spotted by a chef on the ground floor, and other staff have heard the rustling of her clothing.

Andrew Mynarski

Location: Teeside (Durham) - Teeside International Airport (was Middleton St George airfield), hangars and nearby St George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards, pilot seen in hotel 1982 and detected 1990s
Further Comments: Mynarski died after trying to save a trapped pilot in a Lancaster bomber as it dived towards earth. He was awarded the VC for his efforts. Mynarski's restless spirit currently walks the area he was stationed during the war and was seen outside the control room and hangars in the 1950s. Another version of the story names the phantom as a Canadian pilot named Mullen. In 1982 a pilot reported feeling a weight on his bed which vanished when he told it to go away, and although this could be sleep paralysis, the pilot researched further and found 20 more people who had experienced the same event. Another pilot reported many crews would sleep with the lights left on, and after waking to the smell of burning flesh (which swiftly dissipated), refused to stay in the hotel again.

Black Dog

Location: Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) - Tudor House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This former pet has been seen on the landing, though it is not known whether the white woman who haunts a bedroom is its mistress.

The Bell Hotel, Thetford.

Landlady Betty Radcliffe

Location: Thetford (Norfolk) - The Bell Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century onwards
Further Comments: Killed in 1750 by her lover, Betty now walks the corridors at night checking visitors are comfortable; guests may hear her heavy skirt swishing as she passes the doors and spot a flickering light like that of a candle. Other ghosts reported here include a young girl seen looking from the windows of the staff quarters, a dog lying in front of what would have been the original fireplace in the bar, jangling keys, a pair of old fashioned suede boots coming through the ceiling, and a monk.

Bedroom Ghost

Location: Thorpe Market (Norfolk) - Elderton Lodge Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This servant girl committed suicide after being told off - her ghost is now seen standing at the foot of beds and has been blamed for the odd cold spot on the staircase.

Maid

Location: Thorpe Market (Norfolk) - Green Farm Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A regular venue for ghost hunters, this site is said to be home to a phantom maid, a monk and a farm labourer.

Sarah

Location: Tideswell (Derbyshire) - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Sarah was a fifty-five year old Victorian barmaid whose husband went missing. She continues to search for him. One story suggests that her appearance during a party in the 1930s successfully scared all the guests away!

Not Mother

Location: Tillmouth (Northumberland) - Tillmouth Park Country House Hotel
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Mid-twentieth century
Further Comments: A guest at this hotel reported seeing the silhouette of a woman standing by the window of her room in the early hours of the morning. She believed the figure to be that of her mother, with whom she shared the room, though after the figure disappeared the witness noticed her mother was still asleep in bed.

Lilly

Location: Torquay (Devon) - Audrey Court Hotel, Lower Warberry Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Lilly Langtry walked around this old hotel, knocking on doors. Edward VII purchased the building for Lilly at the turn of the twentieth century.

Bishop Henry Phillpotts

Location: Torquay (Devon) - Palace Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1978
Further Comments: A head porter reported seeing this entity dressed in Victorian clothing - it faded from view when approached.

Footsteps

Location: Torrington (Devon) - Black Horse Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2019, and April 1998
Further Comments: According to a TripAdvisor review, a couple staying at this hotel in 2019 heard someone trying their door handle. When they opened the door, no one was present, but footsteps could be heard entering their room, walking towards the bathroom, and then back towards the bed. Another witness encountered a figure wearing what resembled Civil War era clothing in their room in 1998.

Monk in Brown Habit

Location: Trethevy (Cornwall) - Hotel and Old Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Murdered in the area hundreds of years ago, this shade has been mistaken for a 'flesh and blood' person several times.

Figure in Gown

Location: Usk (Gwent) - Cross Keys Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spotted in Room 3, the jury is out on whether this intangible figure is a former serving girl or a monk.

Friendly

Location: Veensgarth (Shetland) - Herrislea House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The older part of this building is supposed to be haunted by a friendly ghost.

Green Lady

Location: Ventnor (Isle of Wight) - Royal Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Blamed for the creation of cold spots and disembodied footsteps, the green lady is reputed to haunt this hotel.

Lost Children

Location: W1 (Greater London) - Georgian House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These children make infrequent appearances, as does the ghostly figure of a man.