Essex Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Moving Chair
Location: Romford - Brookside Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2014
Further Comments: CCTV recorded what appears to be a chair moving unaided in the theatre, although some claim that the movement is an optical illusion caused by a water droplet on the lens of the camera.
Rainaldus the Chaplain
Location: Runwell - Our Lady of the Running Well parish church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January - April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Rainaldus is said to have practiced black magic, and that the Devil came for him (with the north door of the church still showing the scorch marks created by the Devil's hands). Now the ghost of a monk with a scarred face, dressed in black, haunts the area; and the old Chaplain is blamed.
Sister Lucy
Location: Runwell - Our Lady's Well
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sister Lucy ran away from her chapel, but realising she had made a mistake, tried to return. She slipped as she passed the well and drowned in its waters. Her ghost is now said to haunt the area. The same location is also said to be home to a phantom horse.
USAAF Pilot in Car
Location: Saffron Walden - B1052, between Saffron Walden and Hadstock
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1993
Further Comments: Exactly fifty years after dying in a flying accident (1943), the ghost of an USAAF pilot appeared in the back seat of a woman's car, as she drove past the old crash site of the plane in which he flew.
Reducing Woman
Location: Saffron Walden - Bridge in South Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: September 2002, 00:00h
Further Comments: This witness wrote: 'When I was walking with my friend that night, we saw a lady in the top of the bridge. She was about 3 metres tall. While she was walking down the bridge towards us, she decreased in size until becoming about 1.6 metres tall. We ran quickly after seeing that. We both were sober when we saw that.'
Heavy Trampling
Location: Saffron Walden - Cross Keys public house, corner of King Street and High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring), 23:00h-Midnight
Further Comments: Any listener here is said to hear footsteps marching up and down a passageway. They are rumoured to belong to a soldier of Cromwell. A ghostly woman is said to haunt one of the bedrooms, and it is alleged she was Cromwell's mistress.
Cockatrice
Location: Saffron Walden - Exact location unknown
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This medieval creature which killed people with its eyes took up residence near the town, only to be defeated by a man wearing mirrored armour.
Door Slammer
Location: Saffron Walden - Farm of Big Bill Campbell
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 1948
Further Comments: The home of Canadian entertainer Big Bill Campbell had an entity that would walk the site and slam doors, although Campbell's seven year old daughter declared the phantom to be friendly.
Nelly
Location: Saffron Walden - Hill House in the High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After freezing to death in the mid-1800's, a teenage maid known as Nelly is said to have returned to Hill House. Her ghost has been reported walking around the corridors in the house, her presence accompanied by sharp drops in temperature.
Mrs de Freville
Location: Saffron Walden - Hinxton Churchyard, square stone vault
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 08 May 1885
Further Comments: Shortly after her death, Mrs de Freville was spotted by a gardener standing by her husband's grave. The woman's ghost had a white face and wore a black dress. The gardener was unaware of the lady's death at the time of the sighting.
Cromwellian Soldier
Location: Saffron Walden - The Old Sun Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A noisy fellow, blamed for moving furniture about, and banging on the walls. Some people have reported feeling uneasy on entering the building.
Adolphus Frederick
Location: Sewardstone - Gilwell Hall
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Haunting a corridor in the building, Frederick was a common visitor to the hall in life.
Girl with Slit Throat
Location: Shoeburyness - A small brick house called Red House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: unknown
Further Comments: This woman is said to have slit her own throat to upset her lover.
Heavy Breathing
Location: Shoeburyness - Army Barracks - Woman's Royal Army Corps
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A former building here burnt down, killing several people. It is believed that the new buildings are haunted by those killed, and they can be heard moving around at night, breathing the thick smoke that claimed their lives.
Hooves on Gravel
Location: Shoeburyness - Countryside in area
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: While walking home through the nearby countryside, a woman reported hearing the overworked horses and the sound of crunching gravel. The site of the occurrence, upon investigation, proved once to be a brick yard.
Old Lady
Location: Shoeburyness - East Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1992, a Sunday at 10:00h
Further Comments: Walking with his nine year old brother from a caravan park, this witness spotted an old lady heading towards them. Both realised that the woman's legs faded to nothing from below the knee - no feet were visible - although she appeared to walk normally.
Old Lady
Location: Shoeburyness - Private flat along Caulfield Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1986 onwards
Further Comments: The grey-haired phantom that haunted this flat was blamed for moving potted plants around while the occupants slept.
Dark Haired Young Lady
Location: Sible Hedingham - The Bell Inn, 46 Swan Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The lady haunts one of the building's bedrooms and has been known to remove the bed covers of any who sleep in her room.
Runner
Location: Sible Hedingham - The White Horse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: An invisible being has brushed past several staff and customers of this public house. The entity has also disturbed people by running down corridors and ringing the front bell.
Man Holding a Lantern
Location: Sible Hedingham - Wethersfield Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 23 November 2015
Further Comments: A man in period clothing carrying a Tilley lamp was spotted by five witnesses in a car. The figure appeared to be self-luminating and walked along the roadside, ignoring the car as it passed.
Breeding Stone (Pudding Stone)
Location: South Weald - Parish
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local legend tells the story of how smaller stones grow out of the larger one, and if the 'baby' stones are removed, more grow in their place.
Monk
Location: South Weald - The Golden Fleece, Brook Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s?
Further Comments: Seen in a mirror by a witness who ran screaming from the scene, the reason behind the monk's presence in the pub remains a mystery.
Monk
Location: Southend - Priory Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly monk is reputed to walk through this piece of parkland.
Grey Shape with no Eyes
Location: Southend-on-Sea - Clifton Court, Royal Terrace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1966
Further Comments: The grey shape haunted the bedroom of one of the houses here, driving the owners away. An exorcism removed the spirit.
Tap on Shoulder
Location: Southend-on-Sea - Porters Mansion
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Working alone one night, a builder felt a couple of taps on his shoulder - turning around, he found no one there...
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