Essex Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Little Lady bringing Warning of Death
Location: Great Waltham - Langley Manor
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1623
Further Comments: The daughter of Sir Charles Lee said she had seen her dead mother, who had warned her she would die the following day. Doctors pronounced the girl to be in perfect health, but she died suddenly of unknown causes the next day. Another ghost story attached to this location says that the kidnapping of a young girl occurred, perpetrated by an apparition. However, little more is known.
Noises
Location: Great Waltham - The Great Waltham, Main Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980
Further Comments: During the building's conversion from the Rose and Crown to the Great Waltham, a series of unexplained noises plagued workers on the site. No reports have occurred since completion of the work.
A Grey Cat and Old Ruffy
Location: Great Waltham - Beehive public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A grey cat has been seen in the building on several occasions, running down a corridor, only to disappear into a wall in the bathroom. Old Ruffy is the affectionate name given to the pub poltergeist, which once had a habit of breaking glasses.
Labrador
Location: Great Warley - Thatcher's Arms
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Not known
Further Comments: The history of this doggy spirit is unknown.
Dark Fawn ABC
Location: Great Wigborough - Exact location not known
Type: ABC
Date / Time: January 1996
Further Comments: The dark fawn ABC here was believed to be a mountain lion.
Prudence
Location: Great Wigborough - The Hyde
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Reportedly a sixteenth century witch, this ghost has hung around despite an exorcism.
Richard Hughes
Location: Great Yeldham - Spraynes Hall
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nothing is really known about this spirit.
White Lady Who Slaps
Location: Hadleigh - Castle ruins
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Late summer, 2009
Further Comments: Legend tells of the story of a milkmaid who met a ghost at the castle. The white lady requested that the milkmaid returned the following night, but the girl stayed away. The next day, the white lady hunted down the girl and slapped her for disobedience! More recently, a jogger spotted a woman in a white dress (possibly a wedding gown) standing in the path ahead him. The woman turned and started running just ahead of the jogger. The woman in white suddenly vanished on a bend on the path, and the jogger felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Hostile Presence
Location: Hadleigh - The Old Schools
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: The 'presence' would appear to be responsible for turning lights on and off, loud bangs, and phantom footfalls along the corridors.
Shop Keeper
Location: Hadleigh - The Village Stores along the High Street, and the route between the shop and the churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The little old lady who once ran this shop around a hundred years ago has been seen both in the shop after hours and walking from the churchyard where she is buried to the building.
Georgian House
Location: Hadleigh - Wood between Leigh-on-Sea and Hadleigh
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1946
Further Comments: While walking a familiar path, a brother and sister spotted a strange Georgian house that they had never seen before. A girl and a dog walked down the driveway and passed the siblings. Neither brother nor sister were later unable to locate the house, even on old maps. M H Coleman, writing in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research (vol 63, no 853) offered compelling evidence that the house is real, and the witnesses were mistaken in their belief that what they had seen was ghostly.
Pleasant Old Man
Location: Hadstock - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s onwards
Further Comments: Little is known about this ghost, but his company is said to be non-threatening.
Headless Airman wanting Lift
Location: Hadstock - The B1052 leading into Hadstock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After losing his head in a flying accident, the apparition of an American pilot has been seen thumbing a lift on the roadside.
Red Light & Blue Man
Location: Hainault Forest Country Park - Lake and Cabin Hill
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 05 and 08 May 1977
Further Comments: Two police officers watched a large red light moving by the lake - as they approached it vanished suddenly. The officers then spotted a strange white object; this also vanished. Three days later, two men walking their dogs encountered a blue figure that stood around 2.5 metres tall and 1.25 metres wide. Like the UFOs, this figure also vanished.
Grey ABC
Location: Halstead - Fields near town centre
Type: ABC
Date / Time: June 1996
Further Comments: Seen at a reasonably close distance, this cat was charcoal grey in colour.
Unknown
Location: Harlow - Canons Brook Golf Club
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A brief mention on the Camra website says the clubhouse may have a ghost.
Cat
Location: Harlow - Northbrook House, near Harlow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Northbrooke House is reportedly haunted by a cat, the reincarnation of a woman murdered by her lover.
Poltergeist & Voices
Location: Harwich - The Duke of Edinburgh
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The poltergeist in this public house has been known to move full bottles of spirits around on the shelves and, on the odd occasion, throw them to the floor. Voices have also been heard emanating from the empty bar.
Lady Hamilton
Location: Harwich - Three Cups Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once haunted by Nelson's wife, when the pub had a wall knocked down, the spirit disappeared forever.
Spontaneously Combusting Dog
Location: Hatfield Peverel - Gates of Crix, house on Chelmsford side of village
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1900s
Further Comments: Quite harmless unless antagonised, a ghost taking the form of a dog once patrolled the gates of a house in the town. However, when the town's first motorcar arrived, the ghost was so shocked it burst into flame, and disappeared without trace.
Silas
Location: Hatfield Peverel - Vinehurst house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This property was said to be haunted by two ghosts. Silas was said to be friendly, while the other entity was accompanied by a feeling of cold which upset the family dog.
Pusher
Location: Hatfield Peverel - William Boosey public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Three phantoms reputedly haunt this pub, one of which pushes staff behind the bar.
Footsteps
Location: Hawkwell - Clements Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: This ghost is said to have been so friendly that the family dog would run up to the sounds wagging its tail. Another tale states that the ghost of Anne Boleyn has been seen without her head walking the corridors of the house.
Glowing Woman
Location: Hawkwell / Hockley - Belchamps (camping area)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: It is reported that this glowing entity floats through the wooded area here, vanishing soon after being seen.
Basking Dragon
Location: Henham - Field near Henham
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: May 1669 (or 1699)
Further Comments: The nine foot long dragon with 'eyes as big as a sheep's' once spent a few days basking in a field in this area, before taking leave (chased away by concerned villagers). The creature caused no damage and remained a popular local character until quite recently. Another version of the tale is not so dragon-friendly; the creature lived in a cave and would venture out at night to eat cattle and sheep - it only stopped when the cave roof collapsed, trapping the creature within.
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