The Paranormal Database

Drowned Man

Location: Hertford - Jennings (or Jenningsbury) Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This farm is said to be haunted by a member of the Dunster who committed suicide by drowning. Another story says Benjamin Cherry, the mayor of Hertford haunts the site after accidentally killing himself in the moat.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Hertford - Private residence close to Hartham Common
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Autumn 2001
Further Comments: A woman and her friend were terrified by heavy breathing which approached them as they stood in the living room. The woman shouted for the breathing to leave them alone, and it did. The event was the final straw in a chain which included footsteps on the staircase and shadowy movements, and the occupant moved away.

Green Monk

Location: Hertford - Small church on Goldings Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Cloaked in green robes, a monk-like figure was seen by one witness for a few seconds before vanishing.

Goring the Cavalier

Location: Hitchin - Hitchin Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 June (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Killed by Roundheads a few miles down the road during the civil war, the ghost of Goring continues onwards to his earthly destination once a year. A grey lady has also been spotted in the grounds of the priory.

Apports

Location: Hitchin - Hitchin Urban District Council offices, Brand Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: April 1951
Further Comments: Items including stones, coke, a belt buckle and a key fell from nowhere. The items were gathered up, but soon vanished without trace.

Monk and Author

Location: Hitchin - Minsden Chapel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A phantom monk (or corrupt priest) reputedly haunts the chapel, and a local author also threatened to haunt the location. Mr Reginald Hine, at the start of the twentieth century, said he loved the place so much that he threatened to haunt the church to protect it from any redevelopment work. An unconvincing photograph does exist of the phantom monk/priest.

Cellar Sounds

Location: Hoddesdon - George public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Strange noises have been reported from the cellar, and it is said that no animal dares venture down the steps...

Nightwatchman

Location: Hoddesdon - Rye House Gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2016
Further Comments: The (debatably indistinct) photograph of a purported 17th century nightwatchman appeared in the Daily Mirror in 2016. The sire retains a reputation for paranormal activity and apparitions.

Hoddesdon's strange superhero.

Winged Person

Location: Hoddesdon - Various areas around town
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown - pre mid twentieth century?
Further Comments: Possessing a man-like face and body, but with dark wings, this ghostly entity has been known to prevent suicides and intervene during attempted murders.

Groaning Wood

Location: Ivinghoe - Gallows Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sound of wooden gallows groaning and creaking has been reported here. Chains have also been heard and a man dressed in grey spotted, though he never remains long.

Jenny

Location: Kings Langley - King's Lodge public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1981
Further Comments: Visiting mediums told the landlady of this pub that the strange occurrences (lights being turned on and off, unexplained tapping) here were caused by a woman named Jenny, who is buried somewhere within the walls.

Monks

Location: Kings Langley - Priory Orchard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ghostly monks have been reported drifting around the orchard, apparently looking for buried treasure.

Edwardian Chap

Location: Knebworth - Brickmaker's Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: The front room of this pub was once home to an Edwardian figure who sat on a sofa. He was exorcised by a local man.

Jenny Spinner

Location: Knebworth - Knebworth House
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: This ghostly clothes maker was renowned for waking the household with the grinding of her spinning wheel, normally heard before a death in the family.

Lord Palmerston.

Lord Palmerston

Location: Lemsford - Brocket Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The shade of former Prime Minister Lord Palmerston is thought to be one of those who are yet to find rest here.

Dog Scaring Footsteps

Location: Letchworth - Scudamore, Letchworth Corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1947
Further Comments: A family pet was constantly terrified whenever the phantom footsteps were heard stomping around the building.

Johann Kellerman

Location: Lilley - House facing the Green
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 1808 - 1828
Further Comments: Kellerman was called the Last of the Alchemists and employed workmen to work a furnace in the basement (or outhouse) which ran throughout the day and night. Doors through his house were padlocked and traps set up in the garden to deter curiosity. Kellerman claimed to have converted base metal into gold, resulting in some accusing him of working with the Devil. Then one day, Kellerman just disappeared.

Jarman

Location: Little Gaddesden - Village pond and Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year but date unknown, last seen twentieth century?
Further Comments: Jarman, a churchwarden living in the village, drowned himself in the pond after his relationship with a member of the Bridgewater family fell apart. His entity reportedly lurks by the pond and, once a year, travels around the manor house extinguishing candles and dimming any electrical lights.

Monks

Location: Little Wymondley - Priory (only long barn exists)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The priory is reputedly home to several phantom monks. As a side note, a chestnut tree at the location is said to have been planted by Julius Caesar.

Thomas Colley

Location: Long Marston - Gubblecote Cross
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thomas Colley led a gang who murdered Ruth Osborne, who had been accused of witchcraft. Executed for the crime, Colley's body hung in chains on the site for years, and the large black hound which started patrolling the site identified as his spirit.

Catherine Ferrers

Location: Markyate Cell - Area around the priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen riding her horse topless, and swinging around tree branches without a stitch on, the ghost of the highwaywoman Ferrers continues to create the same amount of havoc that she did whilst living.

Monk

Location: Nettleden - Roman Lane (aka Spooky Lane)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom monk is thought to be connected to the nearby Ashridge House.

Geoffrey De Mandeville

Location: New Barnet - Pymms Brook, bottom of Northfield Road and Castlewood Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1992 / 1993
Further Comments: A child ran home after encountering a ghostly figure wearing a red habit with a hood covering the head. Many years later, the child believed the figure to be Sir Geoffrey De Mandeville.

White Lady

Location: Panshanger Woods - Area near an abandoned decoy air shelter
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1990?
Further Comments: This area is rumoured to be haunted by a woman who committed infanticide.

Lady

Location: Pirton - Fox Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2011
Further Comments: Makers of the pilot programme Greatest Haunts claimed this pub was haunted by a woman who had two children.