The Paranormal Database

Face with Pointy Beard

Location: Carlton - Village Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth Century
Further Comments: This ghost of a previous rector murdered by his butler was exorcised in the 1870s, and the spirit trapped in a bottle and locked in a cupboard. An accident in the 1920's smashed the glass container; the ghost returned to peer through windows and could be heard banging at night.

Face

Location: Castor - Unidentified house
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1820
Further Comments: Servants at this house heard footsteps and the rustling of a silken dress descend a staircase, but soon found out that the mistress of the house, who they thought responsible for the sounds, had not left her room for some time. A little later, one servant exclaimed, 'Oh, I see a face!' before falling ill and dying.

Executioner

Location: Caxton - A428 near Caxton Gibbet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002, evening
Further Comments: A driver heading towards Cambridge from St Neots spotted what looked like a classic executioner, wearing a black hooded cloak, with its head bent down. Visible for only a few seconds, the figure then vanished.

Murderer

Location: Caxton - Caxton Gibbet Inn, Room 5 (no longer standing)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Footsteps pacing around in the upper part of the building have been allocated to a former landlord (or his son) who killed several of the guests. Several other phantoms were also said to haunt the ill, although it has been gutted by fire and may not be rebuilt. The gibbet outside the ruins was made from timbers from a cottage demolition in the village of Caxton in the early 1900s, although it was not the one from which the murderer hanged.

Hitch-Hiker

Location: Caxton - Road from Caxton Gibbet to Graveley
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is rumoured that a phantom hitch-hiker thumbs his way between Caxton Gibbet and Graveley, but no witnesses appear to exist.

Dog

Location: Chatteris - Cross Keys Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly dog is said to remain at the hotel.

Spontaneous Fire

Location: Chatteris - Private residence, east of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1983
Further Comments: While one family lived in this property, several strange events occurred. A semi-transparent woman, possibly a nun, was spotted gliding through the wall of the attic before disappearing through another wall. When one occupant was alone, they witnessed two children run up the staircase. A window would open itself, and in one instance, a fire started in an unused fireplace.

Monkey

Location: Cherry Hinton - Gog Magog Hills
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom monkey which haunted this region was reported in the dim and distant past. The giant Gogmagog is buried here and the threat of their awakening used to keep children from playing near the chalk pits.

Knight

Location: Cherry Hinton - Wandlebury Hillfort, Gog Magog hills
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: According to legend, if a warrior cries out 'Knight to knight come forth' on the hilltop at midnight, a spectral figure in black armour emerges ready to fight. He has only once been bested in battle.

Footsteps

Location: Chippenham - Tharp Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2016
Further Comments: A friendly ghost was blamed after reports of disembodied footsteps and objects which seemingly moved themselves in the bar area and cellar.

Black Chrysler Hit by Express

Location: Conington - Railway junction (8m NE Peterborough)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 16 October, 4pm (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: 1948 saw the tragic death of Colonel Mellows, when he drove his car over the tracks only to be hit by a speeding train. Another explanation of the ghosts here says that a lorry of German POWs was hit during the Second World War, and that one of these soldiers now haunts the area.

Moving Away

Location: Cottenham - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The church was due to be built in the middle of the village, but the Devil thought otherwise and moved the building materials to the outskirts.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Croxton - The Spread Eagle public house
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Heavy footsteps were said to haunt an upstairs passageway in this pub, and the sounds of a loud crowd of people were heard coming from an empty room.

B17 Crew

Location: Duxford - Imperial War Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The control tower is haunted by crew from a B17 which hit the building while attempting a landing. Other witnesses report hearing aircraft flying low overhead, though nothing can be seen, while hangar 5 is another paranormal hotspot.

Ignatius

Location: Elm - Elm Vicarage near Wisbech, now known as The Old Shires
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A disgraced monk known as Ignatius the Bell Ringer haunted this building; the phantom was seen dressed in a brown habit with sandals and could often be heard walking around the vicarage. His ghost departed the area after saving the life of a woman from the attack of another spirit.

The Rector's Wife Bell

Location: Elm - Elm Vicarage near Wisbech, now known as The Old Shires
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The wife of the rector was the only person in the village to hear the bell, but it always foretold a death within a couple of days of the tolls.

Harry Kirk

Location: Elton - Black House public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Harry Kirk, former full-time landlord and part-time hangman, was reputed to haunt this pub.

Adrian with a White Shirt and Large Collar

Location: Ely - 7, 9 & 11 Silver Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s, 1990s
Further Comments: Once a single house, the three cottages now claim to share the same ghost. Nicknamed Adrian by one of the occupiers, the spirit has been heard crying upstairs and seen walking through the wall leading to house number nine.

Dog Hunting Friar

Location: Ely - Along fens between Ely and Walsingham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After saving a girl from an attempted rape by a friar, a local dog died from its wounds. It continues to hunt down its attacker.

Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Etheldreda

Location: Ely - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Circa Seventh century AD
Further Comments: Etheldreda founded the monastery of Ely after leaving her husband King Egfrith of Northumbria (he requested to bed her, after twelve years of sexless marriage). Etheldreda is credited with saving Ely from famine using only the milk from two does.

Shadows in Monks Gowns

Location: Ely - Multiple Locations, including the High Street, 'Jumpers' clothing shop, Firmary Lane and the cathedral lawn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century, multiple times
Further Comments: Many parts of the town are reportedly haunted by monks, sometimes accompanied by poltergeist activity, sometimes leaving footprints in the snow, sometimes staring out of windows...

Footfalls along the Corridor

Location: Ely - Oliver Cromwell House, currently the Tourist Information Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1979
Further Comments: Footsteps have been heard moving along a corridor in the house, followed by the opening and closing of a door. A blue woman has also been seen in the house, and a woman claims to have developed bruising after a ghostly encounter.

Etheldreda's Blue Hand

Location: Ely - Prior's House, back staircase
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With no body to guide it, the hand of Etheldreda is said to run up and down the banister of the rear staircase. The real hand is the only part of Etheldreda that remains and is located in a nearby street. A nun has also been seen carrying a candle on the site, and a ghostly priest was reported by his living counterpart.

River Ouse near Ely.

Spectral Brethren of Monks Crewing a Barge

Location: Ely - River Ouse towards Ely
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Misty evenings
Further Comments: Chanting hymns, these ghosts are said to escort an open coffin containing a body of a woman as they head towards Ely. The body is that of Saint Withburga, taken from her grave at East Dereham by monks acting on the orders of the Abbot of Ely.

Handless Dr Hudson

Location: Etton - Woodcroft Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1648 onwards
Further Comments: Killed at the fortification by Cromwell's soldiers in 1648, Doctor Michael Hudson's hands were severed as he tried to climb down the castle walls to escape. His handless ghost now haunts the grounds.