The Paranormal Database

Lady in a Bonnet

Location: Chester - Taxi Office
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Wearing a white nightgown and bonnet, this phantom was observed walking through a locked door. The witness questioned their sanity before being told that others had seen the entity.

Sighs of Criminals

Location: Chester - The Bridge of Sighs, near Northgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: A man cycling to an appointment along Northgate Street looked up at the bridge and spotted two or three people dressed in old fashioned clothing. They then vanished, leaving the man rather surprised. Prisoners being led to church prior to execution would cross this bridge, and it is believed their sighs can still be heard.

Sarah

Location: Chester - Thorntons Chocolate shop (was once House of Bewlay Tobacconist), Eastgate Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Stamping and thuds emanating from an empty room have been reported from this shop, as well as strange wailing. Lights flicker on and off, and doors open and close by an unseen hand. The source of the haunting is said to be Sarah, a jilted bride who hanged herself, though her presence and poltergeist activities are said to be 'friendly' in nature.

Sarah

Location: Chester - Tobacconist, Eastgate Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring), last encountered 1970?
Further Comments: Staff would be disturbed by the sound of footsteps and a woman sobbing. Poltergeist activity would also occur; doors opened, a picture fell to the floor, and decorative studwork forcefully removed.

Royalist

Location: Chester - Tudor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless Royalist soldier is said to haunt the building where he lost his head after a cannon ball hit him during his stay. The site is also reputed to be haunted by a grey lady.

Lioness

Location: Chester - Upton area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 23 October 1976
Further Comments: A reported lioness was spotted roaming the area, though a police search could find nothing.

Woman in Black

Location: Chester - West Cheshire Hospital campus, Liverpool Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: The ghostly stories concerning the woman in black who is said to haunt this site are said to go back many years. On one occasion, a guard was said to have seen the figure sitting at a desk, but when he looked again, the entity had vanished. Footsteps have also been heard walking down empty corridors.

Fighting Men

Location: Chester - Ye Olde King's Head public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two men, who managed to kill each other while fighting over the love of a girl, are said to remain in the upper part of this pub.

Strange Voice

Location: Childer Thornton - Halfway House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A weird voice was picked up on a tape recorder during a ghost watch at this building.

Two ghostly men.

Hanging Around

Location: Christleton - Plough Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two felons hanged along this road are thought to have remained in the area.

Grey Figure

Location: Church Lawton - Liverpool Road West
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 09 September 2011, around 21:30h
Further Comments: A driver reported seeing a figure walking along the pavement, head down, illuminated by the lights on an oncoming car. The driver said the figure was completely grey - no other details could be seen. The figure dropped out of sight as the oncoming car passed, and when the driver reached the same spot along the road, the figure had vanished.

Uneasy Atmosphere

Location: Church Lawton - Woodland near the lake
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 2016
Further Comments: Two friends were walking their dog in the woodland and encountered an increasing uneasy atmosphere. They heard an iron entry gate screech open then slam shut and a series of footsteps walking towards them. The dog started uncontrollably barking at nothing which could be seen and then bolted straight towards the gate, the two witnesses following close behind. There is a local legend that the lake and surrounding area are haunted by a Grey Lady. She was somnambulant and ended up drowning in the lack during one of her sleepwalking episodes.

Woman in the Red Scarf

Location: Church Minshull - Road to Winsford, near cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 December 2004, 00:30h
Further Comments: A figure of a woman in a red scarf whose pallid face was darkened only by black sunken eyes was seen by two people driving along this road. They reported that the ghostly figure stared right through them, was totally motionless and that her clothing looked like it dated from the 1960 or 1970s. When they drove past again the following day, the whole area seemed very different from previous.

Bell Overboard

Location: Comber Mere - Waters of the lake
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After the nearby abbey fell into ruin, the bells were taken across the lake towards Wrenbury church - one bell fell overboard and can sometimes be heard ringing.

Marbury Lady

Location: Comberbatch - Marbury Park and former hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Exact date unknown, but reported to be around 22:30h (female ghost)
Further Comments: An Egyptian maid was pushed down the staircase of the old manor house, dying in the fall. Her ghost was said to haunt the old hall, though when it was demolished, the spirit changed location and took up residence in the park. A phantom mare named Marbury Dunne is also said to haunt the park.

Lord in Chair

Location: Combermere - Combermere Abbey
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Ghost photographed in 1891, child appears prior to a death
Further Comments: An early photograph taken here shows what appears to be a phantom man sitting in a chair in the study. Though the figure was identified as the late Lord Combermere, it is more likely a mortal blurred by a long exposure time. Another entity that takes the form of a small child is said to appear before a death in the Cotton family, while it was believed in the nineteenth century the site to be haunted by cowled monks.

Something Large

Location: Combermere - Combermere Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Something tore a large hole in a pike net, and a diver searching for a drowned body encountered something that frightened him to such an extent that he said he would never return to the lake.

Piano

Location: Congleton - Lion and Bell public house (was renamed Bar Twelve, as of 2011 closed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 2000s
Further Comments: A piano was said to play itself, even though most of the keys were broken. The site was also said to be home to an old woman with her hair tied up in a bun.

An old postcard of Little Moreton Hall.

Face in the Fireplace

Location: Congleton - Little Moreton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: A thirteen year old girl reported seeing a face appear in the fireplace here which gave her 'disapproving' looks.

Crocodile

Location: Congleton - Old quarry (now Astbury Mere Water Park)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1995
Further Comments: A lizard-like creature just under a metre in length was seen by several users of this quarry when it was converted to a water sports centre.

An old woodcut of a black bird standing on a vase.

Raven

Location: Coppenhall - Area around Don Kinson's Oak
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Thought by locals to contain the spirit of a woman who drowned herself in a nearby pool of water, this black bird had to be exorcised by the area's Bishop.

Grace Trigg

Location: Cotton Edmunds - Cotton Farm, the 'Roman Bridges'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Grace is said to have been beheaded by Cromwellian soldiers after trying to protect her master's property from theft and destruction. Some believe her spirit to remain in the area, carrying her severed head under one arm.

Grey Lady

Location: Crewe - Crewe Arms Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly grey lady is said to be seen (and heard) as she moves along a corridor in the hotel.

Ballet Dancer

Location: Crewe - Lyceum Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Actor unknown, dancer seen 01 October 2010
Further Comments: The stage door is reputedly haunted by an actor murdered by a jealous thespian. A ballet dancer who killed herself can sometimes be seen dancing on stage. She was last observed in a full white period dress and is said to leave a lingering smell of perfume.

Airman or Farmer

Location: Crewe - South Cheshire College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This ghost, who appears all over the student's campus, is thought to be either a farmer or an airman who died on the site. Though seen on CCTV, the entity appears to have the ability not to show up on the video footage.