The Paranormal Database

Victorian Woman

Location: Port Isaac - B3314 towards Tintagel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: Pulling over after fearing she had hit an animal which had darted out in front of her car, Ms H Talbot looked in her rear view mirror. In the middle of the road stood a woman wearing Victorian-style clothing who stared at the driver before vanishing. Shaken, Ms Talbot drove away.

Madgy

Location: Porthgwarra - Madgy Figgy's Chair (rock formation)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local witch by the name of Madgy Figgy would fly through the area and land on this rock formation, using a lamp to lure ships towards her and their doom.

William's Return

Location: Porthgwarra - Off coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A regional story tells of a man whose lover gave him three years to try to make a living overseas, before returning home and taking her with him to his newfound fortune. Three years later he did return and take her away - however, locals soon found out that he had drowned some time before, and his ghost had returned to ensure her body joined his under the deep blue sea.

Mermaid or Whale

Location: Porthleven - Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 14 September 1786
Further Comments: Following a storm, a large creature was discovered on the beach. It was alive, until concerned locals beat and stabbed the creature to death. The creature measured just under 49 feet (15 metres) from head to tail, had a back tougher than a turtle's shell, and two stubby arms. While some of the creature's killers named it as a whale, others were not so sure and declared it to have been a mermaid.

Mrs Ruberry

Location: Porthleven - Ship Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former landlady, Mrs Ruberry is said to remain in the building, as is a French prisoner of war who took his life on the site. Another local story says the inn is connected to several other notable local locations via secret tunnels, although they remain undiscovered.

Black Figure

Location: Porthtowan - Beach
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While out walking along the beach, a man heard a voice from the sea whisper 'The hour has come but not the man'. The witness heard this recited twice more, before seeing a shadow like figure run down a nearby hill and into the sea, heading towards a ghostly ship anchored offshore.

Dog and Dragon

Location: Porthtowan - Mile Hill area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A fearful dragon once made its lair near here but was driven off by a mysterious white shuck-like creature. The dog is still said to haunt the area.

Wrath

Location: Portreath - Sea cave in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wrath was a giant who lived in a cave with direct access to the sea. He would wait for a ship to wreck before taking the surviving sailors home to eat.

Small Man

Location: Portreath - Smugglers Cottage guest house, West Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Thought to belong to a man whose skeleton was found in a hidden room in the mid-twentieth century, this petite ghost has made infrequent appearances over the last three hundred years.

Battered Serpent

Location: Portscatho - Gerrans Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1876
Further Comments: Caught by two fishermen who found the beast wrapped around their offshore crabbing equipment, they proceeded to hit it with an oar before finally killing the creature on nearby rocks.

Kate, her Lover and her Father

Location: Poundstock - Penfound Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Kate and her lover, John, had decided to elope before her father married her off to someone else. The pair were caught as they tried to run away; the father and John engaged in a sword fight, managing to kill each other, as well as Kate who had tried to break the scuffle up. This meaningless battle is now re-enacted once a year at midnight.

Murdered Priest

Location: Poundstock - St Neots Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 March 1971
Further Comments: Killed in the mid-1300s, this holy man has been seen drifting around the churchyard and standing by the altar. He was murdered after speaking out against the local smugglers. In 1971 a man reportedly spoke to the priest, mistaking him for a real person.

Rotting Sea Serpent

Location: Praa Sands - Beach
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1933
Further Comments: The body of what was thought to be a sea monster was later identified as a rotting basking shark.

Drifting Wreaker

Location: Priest Cove - Off coast
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This man, who once made a living from dashing ships on ragged rocks, now drifts out at sea holding on to a plank of wood that prevents him from being dragged under.

Middle Aged Man

Location: Quintrell Downs - Likely the A3058
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Spring 2001
Further Comments: A couple caught up in stop/start traffic watched a middle aged man in dark trousers and pullover cross the road in front of them before vanishing into thin air when he reached the kerb on the opposite side. There was nothing remarkable about the figure (until his disappearing act) and he carried something in his hands, although the witnesses did not notice what it was.

Knocking

Location: RAF Cleave (no longer operational) - General area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: The WAAF huts were said to be haunted by the sounds of knocking - armed guards were unable to pinpoint the source of the noise. The sounds faded after a few weeks.

Redruth, Cornwall.

Raining Snails

Location: Redruth - Area near the town
Type: Other
Date / Time: 8 July 1886
Further Comments: Thousands of snails were reported to fall from the sky during a storm in the area.

The Chancellor Death

Location: Redruth - Scorrier House
Type: Other
Date / Time: 11 May 1812
Further Comments: A man who lived here dreamt that he saw the Chancellor of the Exchequer shot in London. He told several people of his vision before news of the assassination reached the town.

The sky over Redruth.

Spinning Saucer

Location: Redruth - Sky over town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 09 July 1976
Further Comments: A schoolteacher and several pupils watched a white spinning disc with pulsating lights pass overhead.

Strange Noises

Location: Redruth - Unidentified house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century
Further Comments: Strange sounds would drive residents away from this property. Attempting to discover the source of the noises, one occupier dug up the kitchen floor and discovered ash, bone and teeth. The sounds ceased.

Roundheads

Location: Redruth - Victoria Inn, Four Lanes
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: The roundhead soldiers murdered in this 700 year old inn in 1640 are said to occasionally return.

Tin Miner

Location: Roche - Roche Chapel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This miner (or smuggler, according to other accounts) was murdered by the Devil's agents, and now haunts the area where the crime occurred.

John Thomas

Location: Sancreed - Road between Sancreed and St Just
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: December 1783
Further Comments: Thomas vanished while travelling to St Just, and was presumed robbed and killed. Eight days later, his friend saw a figure that resembled the missing man and approached it. The figure vanished, but John's friend could hear cries of help, and soon found Thomas at the bottom of a nearby pit, where he had fallen over a week previously.

Tregeagle

Location: Sennen - Escalls Cliff and Genvor Cove (latter place name now changed?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Tregeagle the wizard is cursed to make trusses from sand at the cove and carry them to Escalls Cliff.

Anne George

Location: Sennen - First and Last Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Anne was the wife of a fence who profited from smuggling. She turned King's evidence against her husband's 'business' partner but was soon drowned by several villagers who were also involved in the trade. Anne continues to haunt the inn, manifesting in black clothing, and has been observed many times by the current owners.