The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Essex Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Dragging and Footsteps

Location: Billericay - St Audyns House, Chapel Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: A haunting that has been reported since 1920s/30s, various people have reported footsteps, dragging sounds and the feeling of dread in this building.

Fifty Pence

Location: Blackmore - Skies over
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 18 March 1985, 19:05h
Further Comments: A nightclub manager reported watching a heptagon shaped object hovering before moving away at speed. The ufo projected two beams of light from the front and two weaker beams from the rear, and had clusters of red, yellow and green lights on the underside.

Father William in Front of the Fire

Location: Blackwater Estuary? - Small, thatched cottage along the Blackwater Estuary
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After dying in a workhouse, in which he was placed against his will, Father William's ghost returned to his old home. He sits in a chair by the fire, though it is unclear if the chair is physical or part of the manifestation.

Anne Boleyn

Location: Boreham - New Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of the places she frequented while still in favour with her husband, Anne Boleyn is still alleged to walk the corridors of the building.

Cavalier

Location: Borley - Borley Lodge
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom Cavalier is reputed to haunt Borley Lodge.

Moving Coffins

Location: Borley - Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Ninetieth century
Further Comments: Music, crashes, thumps, bell ringing and footsteps have all been reported emerging from the church after it has been locked up for the night. A local tale involves the coffins in the Waldegrave family crypt mysteriously moving on their own accord between the times the tomb was opened.

Tall Man in Old Fashioned Clothes

Location: Borley - Churchyard
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A group of ghost hunters from London reported seeing a man smoking an old fashioned pipe standing under a tree in the churchyard - one of them later discovering that the figure resembled Harry Bull - one time owner of the rectory. A phantom nun also walks the area, likely to be the same entity seen along Nun's Walk. A particularly nasty smell is said to emerge from a bush, although the reason for the stench cannot be ascertained.

Horse and Cart

Location: Borley - Lane in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa Summer 2003
Further Comments: Two people walking around the lanes at night heard a horse and cart but could not see anything. They left rather sharpish. A piece of folklore says a phantom coach haunts a nearby area.

Woman

Location: Borley - Private Residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A ghost of a female form which was observed by two residents at this property was said to be attached to a chair - when the piece of furniture was removed, the ghost was never seen again. On one occasion the figure smiled at a witness before walking through the wall.


An old photograph of Borley Rectory before destroyed by fire.

Nun

Location: Borley - Rectory (destroyed by fire 1939, ruins demolished 1944)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1949
Further Comments: Commonly called 'the most haunted house in England', the rectory became a household name after ghosthunter Harry Price's investigations of the building featured heavily in the popular press. On 28 July 1900, four witnesses reported seeing a phantom nun, while Price himself was said to have documented over two thousand paranormal occurrences between October 1929 to January 1932 (although Price has been accused of personally creating at least a few of the events). The ghostly nun may have last been spotted 26 July 1949 by a doctor who drove past and witnessed her pass through a hedge.

Nun

Location: Borley - Site of Rectory, Nun's Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 July (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a regular apparition on the lawn of Borley Rectory, the figure still appears where the garden once existed. Borley was called the most haunted house in Britain, though the chief ghost hunter in the case appears to have been over enthusiastic in his analysis.

Cottage Entity

Location: Borley - Unnamed cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1940s
Further Comments: In Haunted Borley by A C Henning, the author alludes to a large cottage being haunted, although further information is lacking.

Phantom Organ Music

Location: Bowers Gifford - St Margaret's Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A witness reported hearing the organ playing, though they were alone in the church at the time.

Betty Potter

Location: Boxted - Bend in the road close to Boxted Road, known as Betty Potter's Dip
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 October, midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Hanged from a tree for witchcraft (or she committed suicide, depending on the story), Betty is said to return once a year to the site of her death.

Upset Father

Location: Bradfield - Lane in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: A cyclist is said to have ridden straight through a man who suddenly appeared in the road. Sharing his encounter at the local pub, he was told that the ghost was that of a man who had shot his daughter's suitor, but also accidently hit his own daughter. He then turned the gun upon himself.

Sir Grimston

Location: Bradfield - Main road through village and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: unknown
Further Comments: Sir Harbottle Grimston, who once lived at Bradfield Hall, is still driven around the village in a coach on moonless nights.

George

Location: Bradfield - Unspecified field in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nicknamed George, this phantom is said to be a former farmer who wanders his land.

The 'Galloping Ghost'

Location: Bradwell on Sea - St Peter's on the Wall church area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: June 1967
Further Comments: Several people have heard horse's hooves pass close by to them in this area but have seen nothing. This could be the same entity as a roman soldier seen riding a horse near the site of a long gone roman castle.

Malevolent Presence

Location: Bradwell on Sea - St Peter's on the Wall Church, near Bradwell on Sea
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: One of the oldest churches in the UK, the place is regarded as haunted, but by whom or what no one knows.

Galloping Figure

Location: Bradwell-Juxta-Mare - Former (?) Coastguards Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cottage was once home to a phantom figure and another ghostly entity which galloped on horseback through locked gates and headed towards the church.

Centurion

Location: Bradwell-Juxta-Mare - Weymakers Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This Roman trooper is said to ride from the farm towards the church.

Butler and Child

Location: Bradwell-on-Sea - Bradwell Lodge (once the Rectory)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The butler attempted to kill himself in a room upstairs, though ended up walking to the ground level before dying. The history of the child is unknown.

Two Girls

Location: Braintree - Alleyway behind Freeport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December 2013, and January 2014
Further Comments: In December 2013, a witness encountered two small girls with long hair leaping over concrete posts along an alleyway. Walking away from the girls, the witness then heard a scream. The witness turned to see that one of the girls had fallen to the floor. As the witness ran over to help, both girls disappeared. A month later the same witness spotted one of the girls skipping under a lamppost along the same alleyway, once again vanishing when approached.

Apparition on Staircase

Location: Braintree - Angel public house, Notley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s-1980s
Further Comments: While only a vague form has been reported on the staircase, the presence is better known for upsetting dogs and creating footfalls around the building.

Assault

Location: Braintree - Chapel Hill
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 1863
Further Comments: Two men became embroiled in a fight after one mistook the other for a ghost, punching him. Both appeared in court, but the judge threw out the case.

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