The Paranormal Database

House Party

Location: Downend (Isle of Wight) - Area near Knighton Gorges
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December knight seen (reoccurring), house reported in the twentieth century
Further Comments: A manor house has been seen in the area, a party in full flow visible through its windows. However, the house was demolished many years previous. Even when not seen, locals have reported hearing music coming from the site. A large black knight on horseback is still occasionally seen, once a year.

A photograph of a statue depicting the Devil.

Laird Beardie

Location: Moonzie, Fife (Fife) - Lordscairnie Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December, Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Beardie played cards against the Devil and lost - the fateful game is now replayed once a year, though it is warned that anyone watching the game will also travel to hell with the Laird at the end of the match.

Westminster Bridge, London.

Leaping Shadow

Location: SW1 (Greater London) - Westminster Bridge (over)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December, midnight (reoccurring) - 'Ripper' seen. Woman circa 1900s?
Further Comments: Just as a new year begins, a phantom man is said to throw himself off this bridge - many believe it to be the ghost of Jack the Ripper, taking his own life. Another story tells of a policeman who encountered a woman who pleaded with him to follow her. The policeman set off and was led to another woman in the act of throwing herself into the river. Having prevented her suicide, the policeman realised that the woman looked identical to the girl who had taken him to the spot, who had since vanished.

Tech Support

Location: Chelmsford (Essex) - Civic Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: All year, but especially in December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This building is haunted by the spirit of a technician killed on Duke Street. Visitors would sometimes ask about the helpful man who had guided them around, only to be told that it was the ghost. There are also reports of footsteps on stage and of an overwhelming uncomfortable feeling on the Balcony and the stairs to the Wardrobe/FOH Office. In December, the spirit takes the form of a white butterfly, seen (traditionally) on one show during Christmas week.

Wailing

Location: Steyning (Sussex) - Bramber Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Maude of Ditching's screams and cries can occasionally be heard in the ruins - her lover was bricked up in the dungeon after being caught by Maude's husband. The castle is also said to be haunted by two children seen begging for food, though they vanish if approached.

Duchess

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - Area around Duchess Lake (now filled in) and Dower House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December (reoccurring) - exact date not known
Further Comments: Duchess Elizabeth Somerset fell from her horse and broke her neck - her ghost is said to ride around the area. A local legend says that if you wait near her monument, three knocks will signify her presence.

Headless Figure

Location: Castel (Guernsey) - Fauxquets Valley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December (reoccurring), between 22:00h - 00:00h
Further Comments: A tall headless figure is said to haunt the valley during the winter months.

A skull-headed horseman.

Dark Horseman

Location: Ellistoun (Renfrewshire) - Ellistoun Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Possessing a grinning skull barren of flesh, this dark horseman and his black steed gallop furiously down muddy paths towards the nearby waterfalls.

Fighting Armies

Location: East Lulworth (Dorset) - Flower's Barrow and Grange Hill
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: December, during wartime
Further Comments: The ghostly figures found here when Britain is at war generate screams, horses and the clashing of swords as they move over the hills overlooking the coast. The apparitions are said to have last appeared during the Second World War.

Blinding Light

Location: Newquay (Cornwall) - Old Headland area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A floating light is said to unnerve local fishermen as it moves along the path before vanishing neat the old lifeguard and boatyard. One story is that the light belonged to a smuggler, trying to wreck unsuspecting craft.

Cheriton

Location: Folkestone (Kent) - Enbrook Manor
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November / December (?) 1917
Further Comments: Poltergeist activity broke out around the site of an excavation, with one man hit multiple times by rocks. Another witness claimed to have seen stones rise and fall from the ground. A hammer, chairs and a pickaxe were all seen to move unaided. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visited the area but did not offer an explanation to the events.

Paths in Dunwich, Suffolk.

Hobby Lanterns

Location: Dunwich (Suffolk) - Paths around Dunwich
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre-1924, said to be most active between 29 September and 24 December
Further Comments: Will-o-the-Wisps, known locally as Hobby Lanterns, were said to lure people off the paths at night after extinguishing the victim's own light source.

Phantom Runner

Location: Bolton (Greater Manchester) - Hall i' th' Wood Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Runner between 25 December - 6 January (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Always heard but never seen, this spook frequents the old staircase, the footsteps always rushing. Other ghosts reported here include an old woman seen in the kitchen and two men, one dressed in black and the other green.

Jean Baptiste du Barre

Location: Bathampton (Somerset) - The George Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century, said to be more frequent in December
Further Comments: A Frenchman killed in a duel, du Barre reportedly took his last breaths in the inn. A spirit resembling the duellist was seen standing by the bar at the end of the twentieth century; the witness said the entity was friendly and unthreatening.

King John's Hounds

Location: Purse Caundle (Dorset) - Purse Caundle Manor
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Varies: 20 June or 23 June and 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Twice a year, this pack of devil dogs is let loose in the neighbourhood. Sounds of ghostly plainchant have been heard coming from the manor house.

Night Coach

Location: Ilmington (Warwickshire) - Roads of village, particularly Pig Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: 24 December and 01 January the pack hunt, date of coach unknown
Further Comments: This spectral vehicle runs along the roads, before suddenly veering off and vanishing across local fields. This may be related to the ghostly hunt pack seen in the area, led by a man killed by his hounds.

Party with Ugly Young Man

Location: Madingley (Cambridgeshire) - Madingley Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: 24 December Lady Ursula seen. Party reported in September 1963
Further Comments: One witness claimed to have heard a ghostly party, followed by the sighting of a stuffy young man, whose face resembled that of a skeleton. Others have also reported similar occurrences, describing the man as having a decaying green face. Lady Ursula Hynde also returns to the hall once a year, upset at her son's actions - he pulled down a church, and used the wood to finish construction of Madingley Hall.

An old postcard of Rochester Castle.

Lady Blanche de Warenne

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: Blanche on Good Friday or 04 April, Dickens on 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A bystander in a battle for the castle, the Lady Blanche was killed when an arrow entered her heart - her shade has been observed still staggering with the shaft protruding from her chest. It is also believed that Charles Dickens's ghost haunts the moat; he has been seen both here and at the Corn Exchange clock.

Lady Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Woodhouse Lee (or Woodhouslee) ruins and meadow, on the outskirts of the city
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Snowy nights (others say 25 December, after dusk)
Further Comments: After her husband's castle was taken by force, Lady Hamilton was banished into the frigid winter night without clothing - needless to say, she froze to death soon after. Her naked shade has been reported in the area, though it never leaves any prints in the fresh snow. Some say she holds the body of her child who also died of exposure.