War Apparition

Location: Walton-on-the-Naze - Tower on the Naze
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s, and 2000s
Further Comments: Used by the military as an observation post during World War Two, one soldier ran screaming from the tower building, claiming that he had seen a ghost. It was said that the officer in charge covered up the incident. The pillboxes in the area are now said to be home to disembodied voices, the sound of loading weapons, and a figure in a trench coat.

Smugglers?

Location: Walton-on-the-Naze - Walton Hall (ruins)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghosts which haunt the ruins of this old house are believed by some to be smugglers who were caught and held captive in the basement.

Moving Baby

Location: Warley - Unknown Council Flat
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: August 2006
Further Comments: The Metro reported that a couple had fled this property after their newly born baby was moved across the room by an invisible presence. Prior to this, it was claimed that something had grabbed and scratched the arm of the child's mother, while the father had been subjected to an electric shock.

Screams of a Young Girl Falling

Location: Weeley - Hillside House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1945 onwards
Further Comments: Since built, it is believed that two girls have fallen down the stairs and have died because of their injuries - and the ghost of at least one of them re-enacts the scene. Even when the building stands empty, a face has been reported staring out of one of the windows. If this was not enough to deter people from moving into the property, a local legend tells of a rocking chair in the house that would not stop moving. The owner of the house placed it in the loft; it could still be heard, so it was moved to the shed. Within a week, the chair had moved itself back into the loft, rocking.

Tidying Intruder

Location: Weeley - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Possibly an old lady, the ghost here is quite popular with the residents - reportedly tidying up dirty kitchens and dusting down the shelves.

Hooded Monk

Location: Weeley - Outside Hillside House, along lane
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993
Further Comments: A couple passing the house reported seeing a ghostly monk near the building, crossing the road and walking down the lane leading to Great Bentley.

Sounds of Coach Crash

Location: Weeley - Pond near Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend tells of the phantom sounds of a coach crash near the pond.

Cloaked Figure

Location: West Mersea - Between the Fox and turning for Waldegraves
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1990 and 2004
Further Comments: Driven in a car by a friend, a passenger reported seeing a white, cloaked figure cross the road ahead of him. Halfway across the road, the figure looked backwards, but continued to move forwards until vanishing into a roadside hedge. Around fourteen years later, the original witness was once again a passenger in a car, this time driven by his wife. She braked hard on the same stretch of road, as she had spotted something white cross ahead of her.

Dog in Cellar

Location: West Mersea - White Hart Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Delivery men at the White Hart Inn have complained of a dog darting under their feet as they worked in the cellar, though the landlords have always insisted that the area is devoid of animals.

Murdered Publican

Location: West Thurrock - The Ship Inn
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Shot in the 19 Century, the pub owner is finding it hard to rest...

Long Neck

Location: Westcliff on Sea - Mouth of the Thames
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 1923
Further Comments: Two crew members, one of whom being the captain, spotted a two metre long snakelike neck twice rise from the river, the monster's head briefly looking around before vanishing.

George

Location: Westcliff on Sea - Palace Theatre, currently an arts centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: George has been reported sitting next to patrons during performances - they claim to have felt someone take up position next to them, though the entity remains invisible while seated. George is said to be the theatre manager who hanged himself from the fly floor due to financial difficulties just after the building opened in 1912. A white woman has been seen in the building, but it is generally agreed that these are two different forces, rather than the same ghost.

Duel Fighter covered in Blood

Location: Wethersfield - Great Codham Hall
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 February, 1712 (or 1713)
Further Comments: A mother woke here one morning to find the spirit of her son standing over her - a few hours later she discovered he had been killed in a duel the previous night.

Hobbling Old Man with Stick

Location: White Roding - The Black Horse
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Mid 1980s
Further Comments: The ghost of an old man is said to be responsible for poltergeist activity and the strange sounds of piano playing in the pub (though there isn't a piano in the building).

Scratching Shadows

Location: Wickford - Moat Field, near Barn Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980
Further Comments: Many witnesses have reported seeing moving shadows, but always out the corner of their eye. A tractor driver was said to be terrified after a shadow encounter on evening which left his vehicle covered in scratches. The legend says that the Devil waits for the soul of a knight here, after the mortal promised it 'whether he was buried inside a church or out'. The Devil agreed, only to lose face when the knight was buried in the wall of a church.

Young Girl Thumbing Lift

Location: Wickford - Roundabout on Southend Bypass
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Probably local urban mythology, the ghost of a girl who died in a motorcycle accident is reported to thumb a lift here, wanting to go to Southend - her destination before dying.

Coach and Horses

Location: Wickford - Runwell Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: A spectral horse and carriage pulls up the driveway, a woman climbs out, walking up to the door to be met by a long dead butler. A similar story says that Anne Boleyn travels in a coach along the roads in the area of the Hall around the same time of year.

Disappearing Keys

Location: Wivenhoe - Greyhound public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A polt manifestation here resulted in the disappearance of an important set of keys.

Large Black Cat

Location: Wivenhoe - Outside police station, High Street
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 27 January 2009, early hours of the morning
Further Comments: The so-called Beast of Essex was spotted by a police officer along the High Street - the large black cat fled down the side of the police station. A search for the creature was launched, but nothing could be found.

Long Legged Dog

Location: Wix - Crossroads in the village
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: August 2007, around 20:00h
Further Comments: A dark dog with long legs and drop ears suddenly appeared in front of a car. As the driver passed, the dog vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

Young Airman

Location: Woodford - M11 Southbound
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly German airman has not been seen since the road layout changed and the M11 now joins the A406. Prior to this, a witness reported seeing the figure a half dozen times standing on the hard shoulder.

Girl who Drowned in Moat

Location: Woodham Ferrers - Edwin's Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: There are still occasional reports of a young girl seen on the grounds of the hall, believed by some to have drowned in the moat. A ghostly cavalier reportedly patrols the grounds of the hall, though his history is unknown.

Dragon Slaying

Location: Wormingford - Bloody Meadow
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Fifteenth century
Further Comments: The local church gives the account of how a local dragon that was immune to arrows was put to death in a nearby field by Sir George de la Haye. A virtually identical tale exists from nearby Bures.