West Midlands Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Mary Littleton
Location: Birmingham - Maxstone Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mary was pushed down the staircase here after a furious argument with her husband - her shade lingers on.
First added: 2004-03-03 | Last updated: 2004-03-03 | ID #5056
Face
Location: Birmingham - Nokes'z Hair, Church Road, Northfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009-2013
Further Comments: Several incidents have been reported coming from this business, including the manifestation of a face in the darkness, appliances switching themselves on, objects being thrown, and a black mist forming at the rear of a room.
First added: 2013-09-22 | Last updated: 2013-09-22 | ID #11425
Misty
Location: Birmingham - Old Crown public house, Deritend
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 August 1999
Further Comments: A couple staying here reported a strange white mist in their room. One witness felt compelled to move towards the window. Two ghosts are said to haunt the inn, though who or what form the second one takes is unknown.
First added: 2008-03-02 | Last updated: 2008-03-02 | ID #8291
Hazy Figure
Location: Birmingham - Outside Sarehole Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2006, morning
Further Comments: A witness driving past the building in broad daylight one morning spotted the hazy figure of someone walking behind a lady on the street in front of the mill. The transparent figure caused distortion to the street behind it, like a mirage. The witness noted that the shape of the head was round and reminiscent of a helmet.
First added: 2023-10-29 | Last updated: 2023-10-29 | ID #15160
Burial Site
Location: Birmingham - Parsons Hill, Metchley Camp, field next to McDonald's, Kings Norton
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: When Roman remains were discovered in this field, a few declared the area to be Boudica's final resting ground. Unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate that this is really the case.
First added: 2007-08-11 | Last updated: 2007-08-11 | ID #7730
Figure in Black
Location: Birmingham - Path alongside the canal, Erdington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 23 September 2016
Further Comments: A figure in black was observed by a cyclist on the path ahead. The cyclist slowed a little and watched the figure follow the path around the base of a bridge. As the cyclist reached the same spot, they realised no one could be seen and there was nowhere the walker could have turned off.
First added: 2017-12-07 | Last updated: 2017-12-07 | ID #12631
Workman
Location: Birmingham - Pebble Mill Studios
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A workman killed during construction of the studios would be seen and heard around the sets once they were up and running.
First added: 2003-12-27 | Last updated: 2003-12-27 | ID #4957
Strange Sounds
Location: Birmingham - Police station, Canterbury Road (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Although some believed the strange sounds heard at the police station to have been created by an old heating system, reports were made in the press that some officers refused to work there at night.
First added: 2018-02-01 | Last updated: 2018-02-01 | ID #12726
Samuel Greatrex
Location: Birmingham - Private house along Garrison Lane, Small Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: Identified by a medium as Samuel Greatrex, this ghost created loud knocks, rattled chains, and generated footsteps day and night. It was later discovered that Greatrex had been arrested for stabbing someone and had died during his time in prison. When occupier Mrs Keogh moved away, Greatrex followed her.
First added: 2007-04-08 | Last updated: 2007-04-08 | ID #7241
Samuel Greatrex Returns
Location: Birmingham - Private house along Upper Thomas Street, Aston
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1964 onwards
Further Comments: Mrs Keogh fled her previous residence to escape the phantom Samuel Greatrex, but the ghost accompanied her, as did the loud raps it created Through a medium, Greatrex apologised to Mrs Keogh and promised to quieten down.
First added: 2007-04-08 | Last updated: 2007-04-08 | ID #7242
Flying Dog
Location: Birmingham - Private residence, Barrows Lane, Yardley
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late twentieth / early twenty-first century
Further Comments: Footsteps walking up a hallway were heard by a witness and her dog in a room. The footsteps stopped outside the room and the door handle started to turn. The dog ran to the door barking, and the witness grabbed a poker. Opening the door, the witness was surprised to find no one there, although the dog continued to bark at empty space. A short time later the family watched the dog barking at the air in the garden, when the hound was picked up and thrown into the door of a coal house by something unseen. There were also reports of loud crashes within the house, but nothing was ever found tipped over.
First added: 2012-01-22 | Last updated: 2012-01-22 | ID #10688
Footsteps
Location: Birmingham - Private residence, Kings Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1940s - 1970s
Further Comments: A report stated that strange footsteps would be heard walking around at night and more than one person had the same vision of a burning bedroom with shadowy figures moving around outside of the ring of fire.
First added: 2022-01-13 | Last updated: 2022-01-13 | ID #14350
Lady Bagot
Location: Birmingham - Pype Hayes Hall, Erdington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local story says that Lady Bagot committed suicide after being caught having an affair with a member of the household staff. It is unclear whether Bagot is the ghost in a yellow dress reported here. A caped man has been spotted and mild poltergeist behaviour is also said to have occurred.
First added: 2016-01-31 | Last updated: 2016-01-31 | ID #12011
Grasper
Location: Birmingham - Queen's Arms public house, Charlotte Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: Staff at this public house named their resident spook Grasper after a series of incidents where their bums were pinched by an unseen hand. Other activity is said to include chairs moving and footsteps heard in empty parts of the building.
First added: 2012-04-22 | Last updated: 2012-04-22 | ID #10845
Sandwell Vallygator
Location: Birmingham - Sandwell Valley
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: An American snapper which had either escaped or been set free was first spotted at a valley lake in 1999, though it took a further two years to catch the creature.
First added: 2005-07-25 | Last updated: 2005-07-25 | ID #6432
Henrietta's Maid
Location: Birmingham - Saracen's Head Inn, Kings Norton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When Queen Henrietta Maria visited Kings Norton, an influenza outbreak ravaged her troops. For her safety, the troops set up camp by the stream while the Queen stayed at the Saracens Head. Queen Henrietta had her maid run messages to and from the camp, but the young girl caught the illness. When Henrietta set off, the maid stayed behind and died shortly after. She still walks the upstairs corridor looking to serve her mistress.
First added: 2004-08-08 | Last updated: 2004-08-08 | ID #5283
Young Girl
Location: Birmingham - Sheldon Hall public house, Gressel Lane, Tile Cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Caught on film by a group of party goers, this shade is one of the two ghosts that haunt the property, the other taking the form of an old woman. In 1993, when the pub was known as 'Baldie's Mansion', a masked white apparition was spotted, accompanied by nearby trees and bushes violently shaking.
First added: 2003-09-07 | Last updated: 2003-09-07 | ID #4575
Old Paper Man
Location: Birmingham - Sherburne Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, but said to occur around 03:00h
Further Comments: Wearing a top hat and old fashioned clothing, this phantom man is said to walk along picking up papers.
First added: 2006-08-27 | Last updated: 2006-08-27 | ID #6948
Mystery Rockets
Location: Birmingham - Skies above the area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 25 November.1947
Further Comments: Fast moving objects seen during the day at low altitude and moving from east to west leaving a trail of sparks were identified as 'probably' shooting stars by the Edgbaston Observatory. One witness said that he thought the object he witnessed resembled a rocket.
First added: 2025-10-18 | Last updated: 2025-10-18 | ID #16126
Silver Saucer
Location: Birmingham - Skies over the area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 16 July 1947
Further Comments: Four witnesses watched a silver object in the sky during a storm. One of the witnesses claimed the object would periodically pause in its movements before continuing.
First added: 2025-10-18 | Last updated: 2025-10-18 | ID #16127
Gypsy Curse
Location: Birmingham - St Andrews, Birmingham City Football Club
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that a community of gypsies were evicted from the land many years ago, enabling the construction of the stadium. St Andrews is one of several football grounds around the country that claims this gypsy curse is responsible for any bad luck they encounter.
First added: 2008-08-03 | Last updated: 2008-08-03 | ID #8675
Melting Woman
Location: Birmingham - Telephone Box, Station Road, Erdington (box no longer standing, replaced by a sculpture)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: September 1975
Further Comments: One of the more unusual haunted places in the database - a priest wanting to use the phone box was kept waiting by a woman chatting away on the line. When he opened the door to see how much longer she would be, the figure melted away. The figure is reported to have continued haunting the phone box until the mid-1990s; the ghost was said to be a distressed woman who had lost her children in a house fire and had used this phone to call the emergency services. She later killed herself.
First added: 2004-03-03 | Last updated: 2004-03-03 | ID #5057
Crawling Cordial
Location: Birmingham - The Old Crown public house, Digbeth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2015
Further Comments: This pub appeared in the national press after a video was released showing a bottle of blackcurrant cordial moving unaided across the bar. The ghost has also been blamed for pinching female staff's bottoms and forcing one member of staff to quit after he spotted a female entity walk through a door.
First added: 2015-02-08 | Last updated: 2015-02-08 | ID #11746
Stone Throwing
Location: Birmingham - Thornton Road, Ward End
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1981-1982
Further Comments: The jury is still out on whether the dozens of stones which rained down and smashed windows of numbers 32, 34 and 36 along this road were thrown by human or paranormal hands. Despite hundreds of police hours spent investigating and observing the area, no arrests were ever made.
First added: 2012-02-19 | Last updated: 2012-02-19 | ID #10710
Henry Skinner
Location: Birmingham - Trocadero public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: Murdered in the late nineteenth century, former landlord Henry Skinner is held accountable for throwing around small change and beer mats. A former landlord claimed to have encountered Henry. Two other phantoms, girls who fell to their deaths on a staircase are also reputed to haunt the site.
First added: 2012-06-09 | Last updated: 2012-06-09 | ID #10897
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