The Paranormal Database

Cathedral Cottages, Bury St Edmunds.

Figure on Bed

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Cathedral Cottages
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1960s
Further Comments: The spinster Enid Crossley told her friends at work that the figure of a monk had crossed her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed. This occurred several times while she lived there. Witnesses from other cottages have also reported the figure.

Faceless Man

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Coppice running alongside Horringer Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Two children playing in the coppice spotted a man approaching them. The figure wore a black suit with a bowler hat and carried a walking stick. He could have been mistaken for a regular man, other than his face was completely devoid of features. The children hid up a tree until the figure passed.

Cupola House, Bury St Edmunds.

Grey Lady Waiting

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Cupola House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lonely figure has been seen sitting in the front bar, shying away in a corner.

John Reeve

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Dog and Partridge public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reeve, the thirty-second and final Abbot of Bury St Edmunds, died in a house which once stood where the pub now stands. Reeve's phantom, dressed in his vestments, appears in the pub.

Former fire station, Bury St Edmunds.

Footsteps

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Fire station (no longer operational, currently a bank)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps were reported coming from empty parts of this fire station.

Mayor

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Guildhall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local stories say this site is haunted by a former mayor.

Four Spheres

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Howard estate, heading towards Fornham St Martin
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 21 April 2007, 09:27h
Further Comments: The Ministry of Defence confirmed that Suffolk Police had handed over a report of four black spheres which one person had seen moving across the sky in formation.

Manor House Museum, Bury St Edmunds.

A Normal Family

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Manor House Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reportedly resembling a 'normal' family visiting the building, this gang of ghosts disappear without trace... Other figures from the building's past also frequent the corridors and halls, including a couple of servants and a young child.

The Nutshell, Bury St Edmunds.

Young Child

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Nutshell public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Child and monk unknown, cloaked figure 1990s
Further Comments: A small ghost for one of the smallest pubs in the UK - this young child was murdered in a bedroom on the site, and sometimes comes back. A phantom monk is also said to haunt the building, and sometimes the smell of perfume can be detected in the air, even if no one present is wearing it. Finally, a cloaked figure wearing a tricorn hat was spotted by a customer on the first floor, standing by a window.

Old Bury Gaol, Bury St Edmunds.

Screaming Skull

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Old Bury Gaol (possibly)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The skull of William Corder, infamous for the Red Barn Murder, was stored in the prison - it was thought to be possessed by evil, and strange sounds and spectral figures were seen around it. The skull was finally removed and buried in an unknown local country graveyard.

Grey Figure

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Private residence along Bishops Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1991
Further Comments: A former occupant of this building reported seeing a grey, misty small or young woman. The entity appeared to have a scarf around her head. The witness eventually moved from the property after hearing a voice screaming 'help me'; other people present were unable to hear these cries.

Butley Priory, Suffolk.

Robert Brommer

Location: Butley - Butley Priory - gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1509 (?) onwards
Further Comments: Robert Brommer committed suicide in Ipswich after falling heavily in debt to the king. After a couple of burials and removals, his remains were finally laid to rest at a crossroads along the nearby Hausen Street. His spirit took exception to the movement and has since been reported in the gatehouse. A piece of local folklore says the third Earl of Suffolk, who died at Agincourt, is buried in a silver coffin somewhere on site.

Figure on Stairs

Location: Butley - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This building is home to a former owner who shot his wife (she feigned death, avoiding a second and more fatal shot) before turning the gun on himself while standing at the top of the stairs. It is at this spot that he is seen standing. The nearby pig farm is also reportedly haunted by a figure dressed in green, wearing a mask - he was a worker killed in farm machinery.

Man in Long Coat

Location: Buxhall - Rattlesden Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: frosty nights or when snow is on the ground in February
Further Comments: The silhouette of a man in a long coat has been spotted walking around this road, carrying a lantern at waist height. The same witness reports his dog behaves strangely when taken past the woods close to Cockerells Hall Drive.

Cold Spots and Damp Patches

Location: Buxhall - 'Rawmarsh' House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Considered by locals to be an unlucky house, occupants have reported incredibly cold spots located in the building which are unaffected by any amount of heating. Damp patches have also appeared on the ceilings of the rooms, disappearing with incredible speed.

Children Singing

Location: Capel St Mary - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: A witness staying nearby heard children singing 'Ring a Ring of Roses' at half past midnight, though could not find anyone when she investigated further.

Little People

Location: Capel St Mary - Old house on edge of woods
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fairies were once said to frequent this locale.

Neighbourhood of St Peters Church.

Voice calling 'John'

Location: Carlton Colville - St Peters Church, the area of
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Over the period of a week, the residents of the neighbourhood could hear a female voice calling out 'John! John!' The voice was slowly heard less, until it was heard no more. In the churchyard itself, a folktale says running around the 'Pirate's Grave' a set number of times would summon the Devil.

Rotation

Location: Chediston - Cedd's Stone (aka Chediston Hall stone)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Folklore says this stone acted as an altar to Woden and could rotate unaided.

Richard Howarth

Location: Chelmondiston - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: After the death of Reverend Richard Howarth, the vicar was said to have been heard walking around his former abode, appearing on one occasion in 1890.

Toppling Tower

Location: Chelmondiston - St. Andrew's church
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Varies (see below)
Further Comments: St. Andrew's church tower was cursed by a local witch. First it burned down, and when rebuilt, was struck by lightning and burned down again. To prevent this from happening a third time, a large square tower was built, only to be hit by a bomb during the Second World War.

Rumoured Polt

Location: Clare - 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.

Switching Lights

Location: Clare - Stone Hall (Council building)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 21 November 1961
Further Comments: People arriving at the site found lights turned on, even though the caretaker had switched them off. Previously, lights had switched themselves on and chairs moved apparently unaided.

Wealthy Farmer

Location: Clopton - Farm next to Clopton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a farmer whose wealth was never discovered is said to still be around the area, waiting for a person willing to follow him to the hidden money.

Corton beach, Suffolk.

Fog Bank with Flag

Location: Corton - Beach
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 29 March 1890
Further Comments: In what could be an early UFO sighting, a man walking along the beach watched a localised 'fog bank' sitting on the sand, with a huge flagpole sticking out. After ten minutes, the object rose and faded from view.