The new Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
Location: Canterbury - Marlowe Theatre (original theatre demolished in 1982)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: This ghostly figure could be seen loitering on the right hand side of the stage during a performance. Please note that the image is of the newer Marlow; the one in which the ghost was encountered was demolished in 1982.
Location: Canterbury - Private residence along Querns Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: The Canterbury Times reported that Dorothy Crawford had lived in her haunted home for thirty years, experiencing shaking furniture and having bed sheets removed at night. Crawford had also observed an old woman dressed in nineteenth century garb in her home.
Location: Canterbury - Rowlands Bistro (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1980s / early 1990s
Further Comments: Locking up late one night with only one other person in the building, a member of staff in the office heard a disembodied woman's voice say, 'I'll be there in a minute'. The witness quickly ran downstairs to find the waiter. The waiter himself stood in shock, having encountered a cold shape which had passed through him.
Location: Canterbury - Shop in The Parade
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: A worker in the upper part of the shop heard rustling. When they turned, a black shadowy figure was observed moving towards a kitchen. When the area was investigated, no one was there. The shadow had been spotted a couple of years previous by a cleaner.
Location: Canterbury - Sudbury Tower, Pound Lane, City wall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This solitary figure haunted a bedroom in the tower, reportedly tucking the occupant in at nights! Some believe the figure to be Simon of Sudbury.
Sun Street, Canterbury.
Location: Canterbury - Sun Street
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pump that once jutted from a wall was said to give out red water, coloured by the blood of Thomas Becket.
The Old Weaver's House, Canterbury.
Location: Canterbury - The Old Weaver's House, currently a restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen by a domestic assistant, the lady in grey was observed ascending the staircase.
Tiny Tim's Tearoom, Canterbury.
Location: Canterbury - Tiny Tim's Tearoom (restaurant), 34 St Margaret's Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Workmen working on restoring the building during the 2000s reported the sounds of children playing on the staircase, strange noises in the attic, and youngsters whispering in a panelled room where they had found the relics from several children.
Location: Canterbury - Undisclosed shop along The Parade
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March 2011
Further Comments: An employee reported that a customer had seen a black figure walk into and through a wall in the upper part of this shop.
Location: Canterbury - Unnamed church residence along Burgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: A property along this road was haunted by an unhappy man who made himself frequently seen. A skeleton was discovered the area, after which the phantom took on a cheerier disposition.
Location: Charing - Pett Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man driving home with his mother spotted a man wearing a mackintosh walking his dog along this lane. The car slowed then stopped to let the man and hound cross, but they passed straight through the side of the car, illuminating the inside before vanishing without trace.
Location: Chartham - Chartham signal box
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1991, around 23:00h
Further Comments: A young signalman was on the phone to a colleague in the signal box in Wye when the man on the other end of the phone started screaming. The young signalman asked what was wrong and was informed that the box in Wye had just started shaking. At that moment, the young signalman's box also began to shake, likened to someone hitting the building with a sledgehammer every second. The young signalman opened the door ready to face the person hitting the building; the shaking stopped, and no one could be seen. The young signalman continued to work in the box for several years, and while the intensity of the experience was never matched, the shaking would occasionally repeat.
Location: Chartham - Howfield Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once a monastery, plainchant has been heard coming from this area. It is also reported that a monk haunts the grounds of the Manor - he died while trying to save his brothers from a fire.
Location: Chatham - 122 High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: While watching the CCTV camera here, a member of staff watched the girl brushing her hair by a row of dresses, although when the staff member went to serve the girl, she had vanished. The same girl was later seen looking through a window in the upper part of the shop - upon investigation, the room was empty, though it was impossible for a trespasser to leave without passing someone.
An old portrait of Horatio Nelson.
Location: Chatham - Dockyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Nelson has reportedly been seen here, though there are few details as to why. A more recent addition to the ghost world is a female supervisor who died here in the 1980's; she prods workers who are not pulling their weight!
Location: Chatham - Hill House (demolished late eighteenth century, site was north of Chatham Church, now Medway Council Offices)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa mid seventeenth century
Further Comments: Kenrick Edisbury, nicknamed Edgeborrow, was Surveyor of the Navy between December 1632 and September 1638. After Edgeborrow died, he was said to haunt his former bedroom. Samuel Pepys spent a night in this room but did not see the ghost (although he was briefly unnerved by a pillow).
Location: Chatham - Old Royal Marine Barracks, former guardroom section, Dock Road (building since demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: Even after the Royal Marines vacated their former barracks in 1950, one of their number remained. A marine who had committed suicide refused to leave and was spotted by Naval personnel who took up residence in the building.
Location: Chatham - St Mary's Barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1949
Further Comments: The sound of someone walking around with a peg leg has been heard late at night, and reportedly seen in Room 34 of the Cumberland block.
Location: Chatham - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghostly Humphrey would sit and watch shows in the mid-twentieth century - if he liked it, he would stay, otherwise walk out. Other shades remain in the building - a woman in a long evening dress has been seen and possibly heard, and mild poltergeist activity reported.
Location: Chatham - Two houses along Magpie Hall Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: A nasty suicide occurred in one of the buildings, and now it would appear the ghost has involved his former neighbouring house in the haunting. Loud taps are heard, stopping abruptly upon investigation, and footsteps approach closed doors, never to enter.
Upper Bell Inn, Chatham.
Location: Chatham - Upper Bell Inn (no longer standing)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This public house was said to be haunted, possibly by the ghost of Dick Turpin, although there is a distinct lack of accounts of any sightings. A headstone which stood in the beer garden most likely added to its spooky atmosphere, as did its location, close to Blue Bell Hill and its infamous vanishing hitchhiker (but more on her another day). One paranormal group claimed to have photographed 'orbs' on this site.
Location: Chiddingstone - Chiddingstone Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female ghost is rumoured to ride her horse along the lanes that lead to the castle, recognisable by her tricorne hat.
Location: Chilham - Chilham Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The bar, built into the castle for the enjoyment of tourists, is rumoured to be haunted by an unknown girl who has scared staff. There is an old story that she was bricked up alive by a previous owner of the castle, for reasons unknown.
Location: Chilham - Pilgrim's Way, opposite the Woolpack Inn
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: January 1947
Further Comments: A witness watched this large black creature bounding towards the barrow, where it promptly disappeared.
Location: Chilham - The White Horse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10:10h, reoccurring, started 1956, end date unknown
Further Comments: The haunting started soon after the discovery of a small secret hole in an old fireplace. The figure disappeared only when spoken to, and is rumoured to be Sampson Hievar, a former vicar from the nearby church.