The Paranormal Database

Old Woman

Location: Chippenham (Wiltshire) - Five Alls public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: The family here in 1963 were all awoken by the sounds of an old woman, though no such lady was on site at the time. They also found lights switched on and furniture moved around.

Lady in Grey

Location: Chippenham (Wiltshire) - The Bear public house (currently a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: A barman was disturbed by loud voices in a room which he thought was unoccupied. When the barman checked, he realised that he was right - no one could be found. A maid outside the building spotted a figure in grey drawing a curtain inside a bedroom. When she investigated, she found the room unused and empty.

Figure in White

Location: Chorley (Lancashire) - Fox and Goose public house (closed early twentieth century)
Type: Other
Date / Time: March 1887
Further Comments: A landlord and two men discovered a figure in white in the kitchen. The figure made such a strange sound that the men allowed it to leave. The figure was later arrested, when it was revealed the ghost was a burglar who had tried to disguise himself as a paranormal entity.

Soho Bar, Christchurch.

Old Lady

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Castle Tavern (now Soho Bar)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: The ghostly old lady was only one of several phantoms which were reported here. Others included a man in black, a young boy, and a misty shape.

Sailors

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Nelson public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pair of phantom sailors are said to haunt this pub.

Sam Hookey

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Ship in Distress public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sam Hookey was an old smuggler who pushed his luck too far and drowned in the nearby river. Loud unidentified sounds and unpleasant odours in the pub are attributed to his ghost.

Charlotte

Location: Clacton (Essex) - Robert Burre public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2023 (Victorian), November 2025 (photo)
Further Comments: Charlotte is the name given to the phantom little girl found in the pub. The pub, a former farmhouse, is also said to be home to a Victorian woman and a nun. In 2025, the group Ghosts and Paranormal Society Essex featured in local press after saying a member had photographed a face in an empty part of the building.

Bert

Location: Claines (Worcestershire) - The Mug House public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A typical pub ghost, Bert is thought to be a former drinker at the establishment who died in the 1940s. He can be heard walking around the upper parts of the building.

Rumoured Polt

Location: Clare (Suffolk) - Half Moon public house (no longer operational)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late 1950s?
Further Comments: The Bury Free Press newspaper mentioned that this pub had a poltergeist prior to closing in the late 1950s.

Sid in the Cellar

Location: Clayton le Woods (Lancashire) - Halfway House public house, Preston Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: This shade, sometimes seen sitting by the window, is more at home in the basement where he plays with the lights and says ' excuse me' to passing staff.

Royalist

Location: Cleadon (Northumberland) - Britannia public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom Royalist soldier died on the site from his injuries and has been seen near the bar. A ghostly coach and horses also haunts the area. As a side note, a secret tunnel is said to run from the pub to a nearby house.

Footsteps

Location: Cliffe (Kent) - Black Bull public house, Church Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Footsteps can be heard in the upstairs part of the building, and locked doors have been known to open themselves.

Opening Doors

Location: Clifton Hampden (Oxfordshire) - Plough public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity reportedly creates unearthly sound effects and makes a pest of itself by opening locked doors and prodding people standing at the bar on their bottoms.

Pan Basher

Location: Clipstone (Nottinghamshire) - Dog and Duck public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This spirit has banged pots and pans, turned on taps, and created strange thumps in the cellar.

Sarah and Jack

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Fox and Fiddler public house (formally the Headgate)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Described as 'friendly', the three ghosts said to haunt this site are Sarah, Jack, and a young child who can be heard running around.

Cavalier

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Mermaid public house (no longer operational, Mersea Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This man was executed, shot in the back garden of the pub, and was since seen standing at the top of the stairs in the building.

Fred

Location: Colchester (Essex) - O'Neill's public house (was the Waggon & Horses)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing a peaked cap, this old man is said to occasionally walk through walls and turn taps off in the cellar.

Legs

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Three Cups public house (no longer operating), Trinity Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: While working in the office, this witness looked at the CCTV and spotted a disembodied pair of legs walking through the bar area, seemingly changing direction to follow people. A review of the recording showed a light rather than legs, although the action it performed remained the same.

White Woman

Location: Colne (Lancashire) - Hare and Hounds public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pub is rumoured to be the home of a phantom white lady.

Strangler

Location: Combeinteignhead (Devon) - Coombe Cellars public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: A room that people reported feeling a presence in was later discovered to have been the scene of a murder, in which the victim had been strangled. A barmaid reported the sensation of being throttled after she spent a few nights in the room.

Piano

Location: Congleton (Cheshire) - Lion and Bell public house (was renamed Bar Twelve, as of 2011 closed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 2000s
Further Comments: A piano was said to play itself, even though most of the keys were broken. The site was also said to be home to an old woman with her hair tied up in a bun.

Vanilla

Location: Conwy (Clwyd) - Liverpool Arms public house
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly figure is said to appear together with the aroma of vanilla prior to a death related to this building.

Figure

Location: Coopersale (Essex) - Theydon Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unidentified entity is said to occasionally pass by the inglenook fireplace and quietly venture down to the cellar.

Sailor

Location: Cople (Bedfordshire) - Five Bells public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Smoking a pipe and wearing his hair in a pigtail, the ghost of a sailor was seen several times by a former landlady as he sat by the fireplace.

Giggling Girls

Location: Corby (Northamptonshire) - Knight's Lodge public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Heard coming from an empty bedroom, the sounds of young female laughter and chatter were heard. There are also reports of phantom footfalls on the staircase, and a fleeting glimpse of a shadowy figure before it vanished.