The Paranormal Database

Dave

Location: Broughton Astley - White Horse public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2011
Further Comments: Since the old cellar floor was dug up, paranormal occurrences have been regularly witnessed, including radios which are turned on even when unplugged, objects which are moved, items thrown about, and an attic door found open. Black shadows have also been spotted in mirrors and the figure of a woman seen when the pub should have been empty.

Plasma Ball

Location: Burbage - Park along Grove Road
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: Six young people watched a glowing ball hovering above the park. They originally believed the light to be from a police helicopter's searchlight before realising there was no rotor blade sounds. The ball remained for five minutes before shooting upwards and disappearing.

House Mover

Location: Burleigh - Burleigh Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The building is said to have once stood on a nearby hill - a ghost would come on stormy nights and spin the hall around, making the residents dizzy. On its last visit, the entity moved the building to where it now stands.

Mary

Location: Bushby - Bushby Old Hall (demolished 1965)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: During the demolition of the hall, builders appeared to encounter objections from the other side. 'Sturdy' parts of the building fell on their own accord, workers heard strange sounds, and one man ran off the site after encountering an old lady. This woman was identified as Mary, a former maid who took her own life. Once the building had been taken down, all haunting activities ceased.

Father Dougal

Location: Castle Donington - Church of St Edward King and Martyr
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 1950
Further Comments: A brother and sister, visiting the church to arrange the altar flowers, spoke at length to a vicar who they did not recognise. The man told them that he was once based at the church but left in 1906. When the pair later returned home, they discovered that the vicar died in 1906.

Sounds of Driven Coach

Location: Castle Donington - Donington Hall (currently Nottingham East Midlands Airport HQ)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to death (coach), man and woman in January and November 2020
Further Comments: It was once said that when the head of the household hears a phantom coach approach but is unable to see it, a member of the family will die within a year. The hall is also reported to be haunted by a hand, possibly belonging to Lady Catherine Hungerford. During 2020 a figure was spotted on the road outside, vanishing when approached, and an air hostess wearing an old fashioned hairstyle silently moved along a hallway.

Officer

Location: Castle Donington - East Midlands Airport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s or 1980s
Further Comments: A defunct airliner once stood at the perimeter of the airfield and was used for training. An engineer spotted lights on and returned to the flight deck where he saw a figure in the co-pilot seat who vanished in an instant. The figure was thought to be the first officer who died in a crash.

Man in Green Jacket

Location: Castle Donington - Just past Junction 24 of the M1 Motorway, where slip road meets the motorway
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 13 October 2009, approximately 07:45h
Further Comments: A driver was left shaken after seeing a man wearing a green jacket, dark trousers and headwear standing in the middle lane of the motorway. The driver glanced at her rear view mirror to see whether she could safely brake (she could not) and looking back at the road in front realised the man had vanished.

Figure in Long Coat

Location: Charley - Abbey Road, by Mount St Bernard's Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997, Autumn
Further Comments: A passenger in a car driving along in the direction of Shepshed noticed a figure walking towards the car on a grass verge. As they drew nearer the witness could see the figure was wearing a long coat with the hood up. The figure looked up, showing the witness that it had no face and stepped out in front of the car. The witness shouted 'stop!' and braced for impact, to which the driver slammed on the brakes. The driver had not seen the figure, and a quick look outside of the car showed nothing untoward.

Lost Tops

Location: Charnwood Forest - Trees in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 12 February 1554
Further Comments: There was a folk belief that when Lady Jane Grey, who once lived nearby, was beheaded, all the old oak tress lost their tops.

Ginger-Haired Man

Location: Coalville - Mount St. Bernard Abbey
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: While walking through the abbey grounds, a woman noticed a man walking behind her. He had ginger hair and was wearing a tan leather jacket and corduroy trousers. As the man walked past the witness, he melted away into the shrubbery.

Noisy Girls

Location: Coleorton - Church of St Nicholas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: This building is haunted by a group of girls who can be heard running and chattering away. An old woman has also been reported in the building, and once the disconnected speakers of a stereo began to generate strange mutterings.

Cellar Dweller

Location: Cotes - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Even when spoken about in the nineteenth century, the haunted cellar was referred to as tradition, so if something strange was seen there, the details may have been lost to time.

Maid

Location: Donington Le Heath - Donington le Heath Manor House Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once owned by a friend of Guy Fawkes, this former manor house is reputed to be haunted by a ghost of a housemaid. A phantom man wearing a tall, brimmed hat is also said to have a home here and is thought to be from the seventeenth century.

Werecat

Location: Edmondthorpe - St Michael's Church
Type: Werewolf
Date / Time: Effigies still present
Further Comments: Sir Roger Smith and his two wives have their tomb within this church, with the effigy of Lady Ann possessing a dark mark on one whist. A local legend says that Ann was a witch who could change into a cat - the mark on her statue shows where a butler hit Ann in cat form with a small axe.

Black Cat

Location: Glenfield - Fields in the area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: Policemen, farmers and walkers have all spotted an unidentified large black cat in the area.

Wooden carving of a knight fighting a griffin.

Guardian Griffin

Location: Griffydam - Old well
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This mystical beast once set up home at the well and attacked anyone who tried to draw water. A wandering knight fought the creature, killing the part lion, part eagle beast with arrows from afar.

Drowning Woman

Location: Groby - Private residence, Wallace Drive
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2000 onwards
Further Comments: One resident has reported seeing the manifestation of a screaming woman on three different occasions as they lie down in dead. The figure looks like a screaming woman who is being held under water.

An image of Boudica on her chariot, taken from the book Britain's Greatness Foretold - the Story of Boadicea the British Warrior Queen.

Boudica's Defeat

Location: High Cross - Watling Street and the Fosse Way junction
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This area is another possible contender for where the warrior queen's army fell.

Banished Ghosts

Location: Hinckley - Between Lash Hill and Burbage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A certain point between these two places was said to be home to a banished ghost which could still be heard calling out after dark. At least one person who walked the route after dark would play the fiddle as he walked, attempting to appease the entity.

Bleeding Stone

Location: Hinckley - Churchyard, grave of Richard Smith
Type: Other
Date / Time: 12 April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a year this gravestone is reported to leak blood - Richard was murdered by an army recruiting sergeant in 1727. An old folklore book says that the effect was caused by red sandstone being washed away by the rain. The church itself is home to phantom footsteps, believed to belong to a monk.

Sleek Black Cat

Location: Hinckley - Fields along the A5
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 15 December 2014, 15:15h
Further Comments: A large cat, described as sleek and black, was spotted by a witness stalking along a hedgerow. The creature was said to be around six foot in length, and between 300 and 500 yards away.

Bottled Child

Location: Hinckley - Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After being flogged to death, a child started to haunt this building. Several parsons managed to bottle the spirit and tossed it into a nearby moat. The water of the moat would vibrate in anger for a considerable time.

Crying Child

Location: Hinckley - Old Hall, no longer standing, was on site of the Vicarage, also no longer standing, now a leisure centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A child was said to have been flogged to death in the old hall and took to haunting the site. Several ministers banished the spirit into a bottle which was cast into a pond on the grounds. It was said that humming could be heard coming from the pond after dark.

Dark Man

Location: Hugglescote - Richmond Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2011
Further Comments: While cycling to work, this witness watched as a dark male figure appeared in front of him. Not able to swerve in time, the witness cycled straight through the entity. The cyclist turned around in time to see the figure walk through the old bridge wall. A friend later told the witness that he had also seen the ghost.