The Paranormal Database

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

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Kent Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Footsteps

Location: Bicknor - Bicknor Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Echoing footfalls have been reported around the church and a large, strange animal seen that vanished when approached.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2003-07-19 | Last updated: 2003-07-19 | ID #4406

Hooded Figures

Location: Bidborough - St Lawrence Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1998
Further Comments: Two visitors to the churchyard were alarmed by the appearance of three hooded figures floating down the path reasonably quickly. The figures possessed a faint glow, and there was also a pale hue under the hoods where their faces should have been. The witnesses ran from the churchyard but stayed outside the grounds for several minutes to see whether the figures would reappear. They did not.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2011-06-26 | Last updated: 2011-06-26 | ID #10491

Bad Vibrations

Location: Biddenden - Dargle Cottage (and surrounding area)
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: After retiring to the cottage, occupants Antony and Doreen Verney heard unusual noises and experienced vibrations from beneath their property, and spotted lights in nearby woodland. It is debated whether the events related to UFOs, military experimentation, or just misinterpreted natural phenomena.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2026-02-28 | Last updated: 2026-02-28 | ID #16386

Susannah Lost

Location: Biddenden - Ibornden Park, pond
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown (but said to be the anniversary of the death)
Further Comments: A baby left on the doorstep of the squire's home became adopted and given the name Susannah Lost. When Susannah reached eighteen, the family held a ball; the girl wandered off into the garden, only to be later found drowned in the pond. It is not clear whether this was misadventure or suicide, but her ghost dressed in a white ballgown is supposed to manifest and walk around the pond once a year.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2026-03-21 | Last updated: 2026-03-21 | ID #16431

White Figure

Location: Biddenden - Small wood in area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Between Christmas and Twelfth Night, pre-1930s
Further Comments: A white figure haunted the woodland and became most active over winter. The worried daughter of a farmer who had been terrified by the ghostly figure sought to help her father by recruiting Jasper Maskelyne to talk to the ghost and try to put it to rest. Jasper stood in the woodland at night; as the white figure approached, Jasper cocked a shotgun loaded with salt and fired. The ghost was revealed to be a farm labourer.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2023-07-17 | Last updated: 2023-07-17 | ID #14997


Photograph of a spitfire flying overhead.

Spitfire

Location: Biggin Hill - Biggin Hill Airport & village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 January (spitfire) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Observed flying overhead, and sometimes heard, a phantom Spitfire haunts the skies of Biggin Hill - January would appear to have become its favourite haunting month. Airmen dressed in trench coats have been reported in the village; they stop people and ask directions before disappearing.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-13 | Last updated: 2002-06-13 | ID #1187

Tailed Bigfoot

Location: Bilington - Field near the town
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: May 1961
Further Comments: Two girls walking from school reported seeing a large hairy figure running into nearby woods, complete with an unmistakable tail.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-23 | Last updated: 2002-07-23 | ID #1970

Line of Monks

Location: Bilsington - Bilsington Priory
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly procession of monks is said to haunt this area, and the ruins of the priory return to their former pristine state. The wife of Joseph Conrad was one witness to this event.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-07-06 | Last updated: 2002-07-06 | ID #1613

Woman with Long Blonde Hair

Location: Birchingham - Court Mount Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03:00h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Said to be quite pleasant to watch, this beautiful wraith in her white dress disappears into a bedroom wall. The sounds of phantom footsteps have also been reported.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-17 | Last updated: 2002-06-17 | ID #1283

Quentin

Location: Birchington-on-Sea - Lafayette Club, Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978
Further Comments: This nightclub appeared in the local press after the bar manager heard the clicking of fingers followed by a voice saying 'come here' while alone. Other people claimed to have seen a blue outline that formed the shape of a young man, who gained the nickname Quentin, and speculation connected him to the location when used as a drill hall.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2023-07-08 | Last updated: 2023-07-08 | ID #14976

Sheet

Location: Borden - St Peter and St Paul Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: February 2014
Further Comments: A photograph which made it into the local press which was said to show a 'faceless monk in a habit' was unconvincing and resembled a sheet behind a window at the church.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2014-05-05 | Last updated: 2014-05-05 | ID #11537

Grey Monk

Location: Boughton Malherbe - Old Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The pale smoke coloured figure still reportedly drifts around the building.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-06-12 | Last updated: 2004-06-12 | ID #5185

Thomas Sales

Location: Boxley - Boxley House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards
Further Comments: Thomas, a butler, is believed to have killed himself in 1898 after he was blackmailed by a gang who burgled the building. His short, well-groomed shade has been seen in the bar area after hours, and perhaps more sinisterly, his unseen hands have reportedly tried to push several people downstairs.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-17 | Last updated: 2002-06-17 | ID #1274

Gliding Hound

Location: Boxley - The Street
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1988, dusk
Further Comments: The passenger of a van observed an Alsatian-sized dog as it glided towards the vehicle before reaching a hedge, where it stood upright on its rear legs. The passenger and dog watched each other until the van turned a corner and out of sight.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2017-10-07 | Last updated: 2017-10-07 | ID #12573

Maid carrying a Basket

Location: Bridge - Bridge Place Country Club
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghostly maid seen in a bedroom is believed to have been murdered by a former owner, after giving birth to an unwanted baby. The infant has been heard crying, the sounds coming from behind the fireplace. Another figure, this time a cavalier, has also been observed on site.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-17 | Last updated: 2002-06-17 | ID #1282

Count Louis Zborowski

Location: Bridge - Higham Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: A figure that disappeared suddenly as it crossed a field was named as the ghost of Zborowski, who once resided at the Higham Park estate.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-04-18 | Last updated: 2009-04-18 | ID #9253

Glowing Cross

Location: Broadstairs - Beach
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: While gathering shellfish on the beach, a married couple spotted a glowing cross in the sky.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2025-12-24 | Last updated: 2025-12-24 | ID #16214

Bloated Face

Location: Broadstairs - Boarding School, run by Mr & Mrs Hester
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Author Dennis Wheatley encountered a man with a white, bloated face while boarding at this school. He thought the figure was a burglar, and a hunt ensued on the property after his sighting. However, the figure had disappeared, leaving no trace. A few years later, during the First World War, Wheatley was told the figure he encountered was an elemental, accidentally summoned by the Hesters.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-04-18 | Last updated: 2009-04-18 | ID #9252


An old postcard of the beach at Broadstairs in Kent.

White Nurse?

Location: Broadstairs - Kingsgate Castle and beach below
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2010 (nurse), October 2011 (nun)
Further Comments: A photograph taken by artist Malcolm Baker appears to show the upper body of a white figure moving through foliage just outside the castle. Baker believes the figure to be a nurse in a 1950s uniform, carrying a tray in front of her. A few months later musician Dan Smith reported spotting a nun dressed in white on the beach just after dawn, the figure quickly vanishing.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-03-04 | Last updated: 2012-03-04 | ID #10756

Blithe Ghost

Location: Broadstairs - Playhouse, (theatre demolished in 1980s) Westcliff Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1947
Further Comments: Two of the Blithe Spirit cast reported hearing footsteps outside their door in the upper part of the building, but no person could be found. A former actor told the local press the site was jinxed, and she had been pushed on the staircase by an unseen force. Whispers could be heard from behind the stage during performances, but like the source of the footsteps, no guilty party could be discovered.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2023-10-10 | Last updated: 2023-10-10 | ID #15103

Woman

Location: Broadstairs - Private residence near Nelson Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1956
Further Comments: A newspaper article featured the activities of this female phantom, which included the rustling of an unseen dress, the smell of perfume, and the family cats interacting with something that could not be observed. On one occasion, an occupant heard a piano being played inside the house, although the instrument did not exist on the site.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2023-02-25 | Last updated: 2023-02-25 | ID #14808

Monstrous Fish

Location: Broadstairs - Sandy area, was known as Fishness
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1574
Further Comments: A twenty-two yard (twenty metre) long fish washed up on the beach, the creature's roar being heard over a mile away before dying. One of the creature's eyes was said to be 'more than a cart and six horses could draw'. It is very likely the 'fish' was a whale.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2021-01-13 | Last updated: 2021-01-13 | ID #14050

Stooping Man

Location: Broadstairs - Thanet House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom stands over a small lake in the area, as if looking for something.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2006-03-01 | Last updated: 2006-03-01 | ID #6766

Woman in Long Gown

Location: Broadstairs - Woodside Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Seen only a couple of times, it was much more familiar for this entity to be heard walking in the upper part of the building.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2004-02-28 | Last updated: 2004-02-28 | ID #5015


Leeds Castle.

Black Dog

Location: Broomfield - Leeds Castle
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Prior to a death or grave misfortune (dog), others unknown
Further Comments: This shuck is only an ill omen for those who see him and live at the castle. Two castle stewards reported hearing running footsteps on a staircase, but they could not find the source of the sound.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-16 | Last updated: 2026-05-12 | ID #1251

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