The Paranormal Database

Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

Knights

Location: Battle - Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A phantom knight on horseback appears on the anniversary of the battle, while other figures have been seen more sporadically. The ground is also said to bleed after a storm.

An old postcard showing St Mary's church in Battle, Sussex.

Curate

Location: Battle - St Mary's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: After a Sunday service, several members of the congregation asked the Reverend who the new curate who they had seen standing in the sanctuary. In fact, the old curate had left, but had yet to be replaced, leading several to speculate they had seen a ghost.

Two Walkers

Location: Beddingham - Asheham House (aka Asham House) (demolished 1994)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1912-1919
Further Comments: The former home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf was reputedly haunted. The sound of two people wandering and whispering around the house at night was said to have inspired Virginia Woolf to write her short story 'The Haunted House'.

Edwardian Gentleman

Location: Bexhill - Police Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The police station is said to be haunted by this figure, though his motives for returning here are unknown.

Imprints

Location: Bignor - Bignor hill
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large snake-like creature wrapped itself around Bignor hill and squeezed so tightly that it left imprints of its coils.

Gliding Old Man

Location: Billingshurst - Crossroads known as Buck Barn, between Billingshurst & Hayward's Heath, and Horsham & Worthing. Now a dual carriageway.
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1947, onwards
Further Comments: Said to look like a traditional tramp or hobo, the old man sits on a milestone by crossroads, before gliding in front of incoming traffic. When the vehicle stops, there is no evidence of the figure existing. The reports have trailed off since the road updates.

Anne Starr

Location: Blackboys - Blackboys Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: This ghost which has never made a sound is believed to belong to Anne Starr, a woman who died in childbirth within the building.

Lady in Red

Location: Bodiam - Bodiam Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, singing heard on Easter Sunday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This spectre stands on the top of a tower, illuminated by bright moonlight, as if waiting for someone. A child haunts the bridge - the young boy disappears when he reaches the halfway point. More stories tell of phantom singing, music, and words spoken in an unknown tongue.

Dark Lady

Location: Bognor - Unnamed house, constructed in 1860
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1882-1889
Further Comments: A family of eight who moved into this house were subjected to seven years of haunting from a woman in a black dress who carried a white handkerchief. As time went on, sightings of the ghostly figure became rarer, and she was more likely to be heard than spotted. At the end of the haunting period, the ghost had simply vanished.

Elmer

Location: Bognor Regis - Area around Elmer Woods
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1950s onwards?
Further Comments: A local story points to Elmer being a farmer evicted from his home and who now walks around the area. The same locale is said to be haunted by a large black dog.

Cuthbert

Location: Bognor Regis - Manor House, Flansham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds associated with a person dragging a body across the floor have been heard by guests here. The phantom has been christened Cuthbert by interested patrons.

Footsteps

Location: Bognor Regis - The Lion Hotel, Nyetimber
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03:00h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Moving between rooms 5 and 6, the footfalls could belong to the lady in blue who has been seen on the odd occasion. Her silk dress has also been heard rustling along the corridor.

Smuggler Curse

Location: Bognor Regis - The Old Vicarage, Sudley Road
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A curse was placed on this building after the vicar attempted to stop local smuggling activities. The building no longer stands, but the area (which now has shops built on top) is still said to be unlucky and haunted by the sounds of footsteps.

Woman in RTA

Location: Bolney - A23 near the Queens Head public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1990s
Further Comments: A woman in a grey dress stepped out in front of a car and was hit - the car then crashed off the road. However, the woman in grey had disappeared once the three people in the car climbed out. Two other witnesses reported that they too had seen the woman in front of the car.

Acting Ghosts Only?

Location: Bolney - Wykehurst Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site doubled as Belasco House in the 1973 film The Legend of Hell House, with one contemporary review claiming the site to be really haunted, although any stories supporting the assertion are lacking.

Underwater Bells

Location: Bosham - Bosham Creak
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When Danish raiders took the bells from the church, they pushed the Lord too far - he sunk their boat, and now the bells can be heard ringing in celebration.

Blue Spheres

Location: Bournemouth - Exact location not known
Type: Other
Date / Time: 26 January 2012
Further Comments: Steve Hornsby found a dozen jelly-like, small blue balls in his garden following a hailstorm during which the sky briefly turned dark yellow. While the balls were not formally identified, it was suggested that they could be marine invertebrate eggs, discharge from an airliner toilet, or a kind of plant feed gel.

Ogre

Location: Brede - Brede Park
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A child eating ogre that lived in the park was impervious to iron weapons. Growing tired of living with the threat of being eaten, all the children in the area united. They made a large keg of beer and left it outside the ogre's home. The ogre consumed the beverage, and after falling asleep drunk, the children cut him in half with a wooden saw.

Father John

Location: Brede - Brede Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of several spectres alleged to haunt (or have haunted) this location, this figure is said to be benevolent in nature. A former maid has also been seen onsite (she was hanged for theft), a headless man wanders around, and a woman who looks like she originates from the Elizabethan days. Finally, Sir Goddard has been seen walking around - he was sawn in half by angry villagers when it was discovered he ate babies!

Servant Girl

Location: Brede - Small hill next to Brede Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This young lady was hanged from a tree which has since been chopped down, though her presence remains.

Mad Jack

Location: Brightling - Churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Jack is buried in the large pyramid that dominates the churchyard - he can be raised from the dead by running around his new home seven times. The inside of the pyramid is said to be covered in glass, to prevent the Devil coming to take Jack's body away.

Tall Man in Black

Location: Brightling - Wooded area north of Darvell reservoir
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: This spooky figure is reportedly the ghost of a local drug dealer murdered in the middle of the twentieth century.

Moulsecoomb Rail Station in Brighton.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Brighton - Moulsecoomb Rail Station
Type: Other
Date / Time: Animal in 1986, phantom train in 2013
Further Comments: Two women reported hearing animal grunts, snarls, and feeling the breath of an animal close to their faces, although nothing could be seen. A phantom steam train was also heard at the station, and older man who vanished suddenly. It is said some locals have voiced concern about using the station after dark.

Elderly Man

Location: Brighton - NHS site (exact location withheld)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A ghostly older man was said to occasionally manifest sitting in a chair at this site.

Brighton's Nightingale Theatre.

Emily Coalthorpe

Location: Brighton - Nightingale Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fourteen year old Emily died here in the late nineteenth century when this building was an hotel. Her ghost is supposed to haunt a staircase.