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Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Cambridgeshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Fire

Location: Ramsey - Great Whyte
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old piece of folklore warns what if a hare runs down the Great Whyte, a fire will break out in Ramsey within three days.

Dark Shadow

Location: Ramsey - Ramsey Rural Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2013
Further Comments: Cambridgeshire Supernatural Investigators claimed to have recorded unexplained noises and caught images of a dark shadow while investigating this site.

Haunt of Black Dog

Location: Reach - The Devil's Ditch: defensive earthwork that ends close to Reach, crosses Newmarket Health, via A11 and A14
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of the areas that the Black Shuck is said to run along, to see this creature will result in either the witness becoming insane within two months or indicate their death within a year.

Diamond Formation

Location: Ring's End - Skies above March Road
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 10 April 2008, 23:00h
Further Comments: Andrew Warren and his son watched a diamond formation of lights as they passed overhead. Though the source of the lights appeared close, there was no sound, and the pattern appeared to hover before moving away. They also saw two other patterns of light, one of which was a 'V' shape.

Queen Mary, and Girls Laughter

Location: Sawston - Sawston Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Queen Mary rebuilt the Hall after it was burnt down by troops searching for the monarch. Seen in the room in which she slept, the Queen's ghost appears to always smile, and wears the same dress which appears in her portrait located elsewhere in the building. An explanation for the laughter which sometimes echoes through the Hall has never been discovered, although another royal, Lady Jane Grey, is still seen in her former bedroom and walking down corridors - it is said this was the only place that she felt happy.

Airman

Location: Snailwell - Country road between Snailwell and Chippenham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2012, around 17:00h
Further Comments: During home in thick fog a driver had to slowly pass a US airman walking in the middle of the road. As the driver passed, they noticed that the airman did not appear to see the car and seemed to be glowing.

Ammunition Train

Location: Soham - Approach to the station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 June (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Every 2 June an accident that cost the lives of two people is re-enacted. An ammunition train caught fire, the explosion shattering every window in Soham and destroying the old station. The rebuilt tracks no longer follow the scene of the accident.


Causeway House, image copyright Sarah Morley.

Mary Fordham (nee Pollard)

Location: Soham - Causeway House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: A guest at the house claimed to have spotted the ghost of an old lady wearing a long black dress, standing still with her arms crossed, staring blankly into space. The description of the phantom matched that of Mary, who once lived at the house and who suffered from what today is acknowledged to be catalepsy (image copyright Sarah Morley).

Strange Voices

Location: Soham - Press Mouldings Ltd
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1970s
Further Comments: Night workers at this factory complained of shadowy figures and of hearing uncanny voices. The Managing Director of the company stayed one night to investigate.

The Voices

Location: Soham - Soham Lodge Motel, Room 11
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: Staff at the motel reported hearing voices around empty corridors, furniture moving on its own accord, and a clock which 'jumped' from a wall. Guests have complained of sleeping badly in Room 11. Jessica Penberth, a medium, visited the location and claimed there were three men haunting the place; a teenager who died on the road outside in the early 2000s, and two older gentlemen.

Joseph Hempsall

Location: Soham Mere - Between Soham Mere and Wicken
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Joseph Hempsall's last mortal night on earth was spent drinking heavily - his body was discovered soon after in a bog near his farm. His friends claimed Joseph's ghost appeared and guided them to the spot his corpse laid. However, burial of the body has not stopped sightings of the spirit in the area.

Wolfhound Howls and Doom Follows

Location: Southery - Near ruins east of the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 May (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Belonging to one of those who built the original church at Southerly, the dog was mistakenly killed by a soldier. The phantom hound now hunts the area, and it is believed that upon hearing the howls, the listener will die within a year.

Green Lady Removes Bedcovers

Location: St Ives - Golden Lion Hotel, Room 13 (or 14, depending on source)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With a habit of opening and closing doors and removing sheets from beds, the Green Lady has been seen many times in room 13.

The Abbot's Chair

Location: St Ives - Norris Museum, the Hurstingstone (aka Psalm Stone)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Nicknamed the Abbot's Chair because of its shape, the chair is reputedly haunted, though descriptions of the haunter are not forthcoming. It is also said that if the stone sinks under the earth, the streets of Blantisham will run with blood.

Tall Man

Location: St Neots - Coach House (was The New Inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: The ghostly figure of a tall man, thought to be the Earl of Holland, has not been reported for quite a while.

Hissing

Location: St Neots - Private residence, River Terrace (original building no longer stands)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 15 February 1929 (end date not clear)
Further Comments: A retired Met policeman, his wife and their son suffered a poltergeist outbreak featuring a hissing sound that would follow the former officer around the property. Furniture moved and smaller items were thrown around the kitchen. A crowd of several hundred people gathered outside to try to glimpse the activity, but dispersed after a neighbour donned a white sheet.

Terrible Smell

Location: St Neots - The Royal Oak, 38 High Street
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Pre-1960s?
Further Comments: This ghostly presence was exorcised during the 1960s, after the owners of the building grew weary of the stench which periodically manifested and accompanied the phantom.

Shuck

Location: Stapleford - Wandlebury Hillfort
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1930s, early 2000s
Further Comments: Large black dogs run about this area, a witness from the 1930s claiming to have seen one the size of a pony. A later witness said they had spotted the entity on more than one occasion during the early 2000s, and that the large hound was non-threatening.

Knight

Location: Stapleford - Wandlebury Hillfort, Gog Magog hills
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: According the legend, if a warrior cries out 'Knight to knight come forth' on the hilltop at midnight, a spectral figure in black armour emerges ready to fight. He has only once been bested in battle.

Elizabeth Pateman

Location: Steeple Morden - Cheyney Water
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1750 onwards
Further Comments: Though it was widely believed she was murdered by a local farmer with help from his wife, the killer of Elizabeth Pateman was never brought to justice and her ghost has been seen on the site where she once lived. The phantom appears to be wringing her hands.

Murder

Location: Steeple Morden - Cottage at Moco Farm (no longer exists)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1901
Further Comments: While at home, a gamekeeper, his wife, and a shepherd heard someone in pain, followed by a thud and the sound of a gunshot emerge from the corner of the room. It was said that a murder (or two) had previously occurred in the cottage.

Turpin

Location: Stilton - Bell Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: It was once believed that the ghost of Dick Turpin passed by this inn on Wednesday nights - the thud of horse's hooves could be heard, and some people reported seeing a man on horseback just outside of the building.

Grey Lady with Basket

Location: Stuntney - A142 - near Stuntney, where the old and new roads cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards
Further Comments: Appearing towards dusk, the woman is believed to be the wife of Robert Cromwell, father of Oliver. Oliver's mother once lived in a long gone hall in the village.

Pilot in the Fog

Location: Sutton - RAF Mepel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1960
Further Comments: An RAF police officer encountered the apparition of an RAF pilot in full flying gear in the fog. The phantom dissolved before him. The witness tried to report it as an incident and was told not to bother as it had been seen before. Others on site had heard an aircraft flying low as if to land, though no aircraft would touch down.

Woman

Location: Thorney - Dog in a Doublet public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom woman is said to walk past just outside the pub. The building is also home to the traditional poltergeist which moves small items around.

Records 151 - 165 of 165

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