The Paranormal Database

Old Tom

Location: Lilley - Lilley Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Old Tom is said to make regular appearances in the pub, with staff and customers having fleeting glimpses of him before he vanishes. The building is also home to two female entities, one an old maid and the other a lady named Francis.

Late Night Worker

Location: Luton - Britannia House, Leagrave Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: One of the employees in this building refused to enter the building after encountering a white-haired, tall old man with very long fingernails. The phantom spoke to the employee, saying that he once worked in the building, but his wife left him because he worked late too often.

Screen Six Shadows

Location: Luton - Cineworld cinema
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003
Further Comments: Strange sounds, darting shadows and icy cold patches of air have all been blamed on the presence that may haunt cinema screen 6.

Sawing

Location: Luton - Clegg & Holden printing company (no longer standing?), Bedford Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Several events convinced staff at this factory that a haunting presence had settled in. One employee spotted a foot-cranked circular saw spinning unaided, lights could be seen moving around after dark (police were unable to find the source), a bottle of spirits was thrown by hands unseen, and the majority of staff had heard footsteps emerge from empty parts of the building.

Ann

Location: Luton - Cock and Bull public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A white figure glimpsed here is thought to be the ghost of Ann, murdered in the pub so long ago that the date has been forgotten. She has been known to talk to visitors who are unaware she is a phantom. The figure may be the same entity which has been seen on the street outside, moving from the pub towards nearby shops.

Headless Man

Location: Luton - Dorset Court, Bailey Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man watching television in his flat turned around to see a headless figure standing behind him. Blood started appearing over the bathroom walls. The flat underwent an exorcism, but the couple living there did not stop to see if it was successful - they moved out.

Gallows hound.

Dog on Fire

Location: Luton - Galley Hill
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: During a storm, the gallows that once stood here were hit by lightning - a large fire quickly took hold around the area, and the witnesses who quickly arrived on the scene reported seeing a large black dog in the middle of the blaze running around the flames. The entity suddenly vanished.

Cold Mist

Location: Luton - Galley Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The site where criminals were hanged is still said to be home to many of their restless spirits. Strange cold mists are reported, and even on hot summer days there is a coldness and silence here.

Housekeeper

Location: Luton - Museum & Art Gallery, Wardown Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: Two engineers working overnight to fix the heating system spotted a woman in a dark dress with a large set of keys on her belt. She walked up the back staircase - the engineers tried to follow her, but she vanished. The following morning the building caretaker confirmed that no one else was in the building during the night. Several other people had heard disembodied footsteps on the same staircase but had never seen to whom they belonged. One local legend says that a Victorian housekeeper drowned herself nearby after a failed romance.

Factory Worker

Location: Luton - Skefco ball bearing factory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: On several occasions the ghost of a white woman managed to unnerve workers at the plant. She was thought to be the spirit of a former worker who died nine years previous.

Workman

Location: Luton - The Alma cinema (no longer standing)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Pre-1960s
Further Comments: The Alma was thought to be cursed by locals who were forced to move from their homes so they could be demolished for the construction of the cinema. A construction worker fell to his death during the building work, and many felt that it was his ghostly presence that haunted The Alma.

An old postcard of Wardown Park.

Running Shadow

Location: Luton - Wardown Park entrance, Old Bedford Road, (heading towards Stockingstone Road)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 08 March 2012, 03:15h
Further Comments: Driving back after a nightshift, two witnesses spotted a black shadow run through the railings of the park on to the pavement. The driver slammed on the brakes, expecting the shadow to continue moving across the road, but it vanished. The witnesses said the shadow had no features but resembled a tall man.

Gaming with the Devil is risky.

Vanishing Leapfroggers

Location: Marston Moretaine - Devil's Stone, also known as Devil's Jump Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A stone marks the spot where the Devil played a game of leapfrog with three local lads - when they jumped over his back, a hole to hell opened, and they were never seen again.

Drummer

Location: Marston Moretaine - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Windy days
Further Comments: During a Civil War skirmish, the cavaliers retreated into a tunnel that led from the church to the rectory. Rather than follow them in, roundhead troops sealed both ends of the tunnel. The trapped cavaliers slowly died; the last sound the roundheads heard was the drummer boy beating his drum. His instrument is supposed to be still heard beating in the village on windy days.

Dropped Church

Location: Marston Moretaine - St Mary the Virgin church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil tried to steal the bell tower, but found it too heavy and dropped it after several steps - church and tower remain separated to this day.

William and Mary Huett

Location: Millbrook - Church of St Michael and All Angels
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1857-1888
Further Comments: During repair work on the church in 1857, the tomb of William and Mary Huett, upon which lay their sculptures, was dismantled and not replaced. Soon after, the church was haunted by groaning. Attempting to pacify the spirits, the rector had the carved figures buried in the churchyard, though it took many years for the groaning to finally stop.

Scared to Death

Location: Millbrook - Exact area unknown
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One report of a shuck in this village states that the female witness who encountered the demonic dog with eyes like red hot coals died of shock three days later.

Hooves

Location: Millbrook - Sandhill Close
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sound of hooves heard passing this way are thought to belong to the horse of highwayman. Galloping Dick, who lived locally.

Headless Horseman

Location: Millbrook - Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom rider is named as local highwayman Galloping Dick.

Heavy Horse

Location: Milton Ernest - Field along Thurleigh Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, 23:30h
Further Comments: A hunter with a torch looking for rabbits heard and felt a heavy horse running toward and then past him, but nothing could be seen in any direction.

Monks

Location: Northill - The Crown public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Built on the site of a monastery, The Crown is now haunted by monks. One has been seen ascending the staircase, while other people have reported a robed figure in the car park.

Upstairs Entity

Location: Odell - Bell Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown, but pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: The upper part of the building became home to a noisy ghost, although what happened to the spirit is not known.

An old woodcut of a man and the Devil on horseback.

Sir Rowland

Location: Odell - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Every hundred years (next expected 2044)
Further Comments: Sir Rowland Alston made a deal with the Devil, though when Old Nick came for Alston's soul, the man fled to the nearby church for help. It proved futile, and Alston was dragged to hell. Scratch marks can be seen in the church porch where Alston tried to hold on as the Devil dragged him away. The scene is re-enacted once a century.

Gentle Woman with Flowing Hair

Location: Old Warden - Swiss Garden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The former mistress of Baron Ongley haunts this garden where she once lived. Another ghost, this time the Baron's son, haunted the same area for a short period of time after his headstone was removed by a gardener. Once replaced, the haunting halted.

Sounds

Location: Potton - Potton Fire Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-1974
Further Comments: Built in 1974 on the site of an old tannery, it is unsure whether the strange noises and other odd events are connected to events from the previous building or the current one.