The Paranormal Database

Cavalier

Location: Colchester - Mermaid public house (no longer operational, Mersea Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This man was executed, shot in the back garden of the pub, and was since seen standing at the top of the stairs in the building.

Mersea Road, heading out of Colchester.

Teenage Boy

Location: Colchester - Mersea Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Through the rear view mirror, a driver spotted a teenage boy sitting in the backseat of her car. She turned her head to see who was sitting there, but the seat was empty. Turning back to face the road, the figure was once more visible in the mirror.

Black ABC

Location: Colchester - Mersea Road
Type: ABC
Date / Time: January 1996 to 1999
Further Comments: A large black cat was spotted along this Colchester road at different times by multiple witnesses.

The Phantom nurse along a corridor.

Nurse in Old Fashioned Uniform

Location: Colchester - Military Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Second World War
Further Comments: A nurse wearing a Victorian uniform was seen by several people walking down a corridor, vanishing once she had reached the end. One of the patients was convinced that she had helped change his dirty bandages.

Soldier

Location: Colchester - Mill Street
Type: SHC
Date / Time: 19 February 1888
Further Comments: The body of a soldier was discovered in a hay loft, much of his corpse charred by fire, but the surrounding area untouched by the flames. His legs and boots were also undamaged.

Fred

Location: Colchester - O'Neill's public house (was the Waggon & Horses)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing a peaked cap, this old man is said to occasionally walk through walls and turn taps off in the cellar.

Strange Reflections

Location: Colchester - Private house along Maldon Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1994-2000
Further Comments: A family were eventually forced to move from the property after enduring four years of paranormal activity which included the sounds of footsteps running through the house, strange reflections glimpsed in windows and mirrors, a door held shut by a shadowy figure, and one particular night when all the electrical appliances in the building were unplugged.

Shadowy Figure

Location: Colchester - Private residence, Duffield Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2008
Further Comments: One witness in this home reported seeing a black shadowy figure standing in a bedroom - it subsequently vanished through a wall. Other events on the site include strange smells, tapping on peoples' shoulders, items being moved around, and the sound of a woman's voice.

Black Smoky Shape

Location: Colchester - Private residence, St Anne's estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s/1980s
Further Comments: The black smoky shape seen by one witness was preceded by the sounds of groaning and heavy boots. Keys and cutlery would vanish, only to reappear a few days later in strange places, and a decorative plate displayed on a wall hovered in mid-air before falling and breaking into four perfect segments.

Alice Mellor

Location: Colchester - Red Lion Hotel, Lion Walk Shopping Precinct
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1972
Further Comments: Killed in 1633, Mellor's ghost is said to have been so terrifying that her old room was sealed up and forgotten about. Now part of the hotel, no sightings have recently occurred, though the building is also home to a monk who died in a fire.

Two Men Working on Flower Beds

Location: Colchester - Severalls Hospital (now closed)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1960s (?)
Further Comments: Two gardeners reported seeing a couple of featureless characters working in the garden one rainy afternoon. The gardeners went to investigate, only to see the figures fade away.

Darting Light

Location: Colchester - Sky over Titania Close
Type: UFO
Date / Time: September or October 1976
Further Comments: A group of children playing football watched a light dart around the sky at incredible speed. It momentarily stopped moving before darting off once again in the direction of the A12 road. The light later returned to the area and was seen by other witnesses.

St Botolph's Priory, Colchester.

Dark Smiling Figure

Location: Colchester - St Botolph's Priory
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993, and 1994 or 1995
Further Comments: A young girl reported that while playing with her friends around the gravestones, she saw a dark figure by a tomb that smiled at her before disappearing into thin air. Around a year later, a small group of children spotted a tall, robed figure standing motionless, looking down at the ground. When one of the group called out to the figure, it turned slightly, resulting in the children running away.

Legs

Location: Colchester - Three Cups public house (no longer operating), Trinity Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: While working in the office, this witness looked at the CCTV and spotted a disembodied pair of legs walking through the bar area, seemingly changing direction to follow people. A review of the recording showed a light rather than legs, although the action it performed remained the same.

Victoria Road, Colchester.

Fairies Playing around Trees

Location: Colchester - Victoria Road
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: An inhabitant of the road watched a group of fairies dancing around an old tree trunk.

Footsteps, Rapping and Choir

Location: Colchester - Wilson Marriage Community Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Hospital radio staff based at the centre have often heard a choir singing, footsteps running across the loft, and a voice that seems to call out the listener's name.

Headless Nun

Location: Colchester - Area close to Birch Brook, no longer accessible
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Estimated mid-to-late-twentieth century
Further Comments: A witness reported that, while taking a short cut across the area at night, he spotted a figure dressed as a nun, but with the head missing. The figure stopped and vanished in front of the witness. The witness later told a friend who said that his brother had also encountered the entity.

Colchester Barracks.

Invisible Assailant

Location: Colchester - Barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 1911 (unknown force), 1975 (banging)
Further Comments: On different occasions, three soldiers were struck unconscious by an unknown force at night. Many years later, a corporal witnessed a door being banged so hard it shook - he flung the door open moments after hearing the bang, but no one stood behind it. This happened several times in quick succession.

Penny Farthing

Location: Colchester - Boundary Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Circa 1990s, spring
Further Comments: A child travelling in a car with her grandmother spotted, cycling alongside them, a man cycling on a penny farthing. The cyclist wore a light brown shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and dark brown trousers. The cyclist's hair was also brown. The grandmother appeared not to have seen the figure.

Charlotte in White Robe

Location: Colchester - Charlotte's Well, Berechurch Hall (demolished 1952)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977, winter
Further Comments: Located in a hidden part of the grounds, Charlotte's Well was built for a woman after which it took its name. Charlotte is said to have loved the well so much that she could never leave and is said to have been seen since her death around the bathing pool. She may have last been seen walking around a wooded area in a white dress during the winter of 1977, although there are stories that a phantom woman still appears in the area. A phantom coach is also said to ride around the area.

Colchester Castle.

James Parnell, Quaker Martyr

Location: Colchester - Colchester Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1653 onwards
Further Comments: Quaker James Parnell found himself arrested in 1652 for the heinous crime of being 'idle and disorderly' after upsetting a local priest. Parnell was imprisoned in Colchester Castle, where folklore says he was placed in a small room and forced to climb a rope each time he wished to eat. After a few months of this punishing routine, Parnell eventually slipped during his daily climb and suffered injuries which killed him. Parnell's ghost haunted the dungeon (although it is worth noting that he was imprisoned in a crevice in the castle wall). There is a story that a foolhardy man once stayed the night in the dungeon as a wager, only to emerge the following morning a gibbering wreck. Another tale states that the castle is haunted by a headless nun, although her story is not known.

Colchester Hospital.

Living Old Woman

Location: Colchester - Colchester Hospital, Ward Eight
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The doppelganger of an old woman in bed was spotted within the hospital.

Figures Pass Through Bedroom Walls

Location: Colchester - Defoe Crescent
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: A few residents living in the crescent were reported as having seen figures in their homes, described as dark shadows with no faces. Sounds of children playing were also reported.

Woman in White

Location: Colchester - Dolcis shoe shop (since closed)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1991
Further Comments: A former member of staff reported seeing a woman in a long white dress in the stockroom, hearing footsteps, and witnessing boxes of shoes jump off shelves. The worker eventually refused to work in the room.

Evil Victorian Woman

Location: Cold Norton - House called 'De Laches'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02:00h
Further Comments: A petite woman appears dressed in Victorian clothing, an aura of evil surrounding her. Animals are said to hate entering the house.