The Paranormal Database

Painting of Horatio Nelson by Lemuel Francis Abbott.

Horatio Nelson

Location: E14 - Gun Inn, Docklands
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Thought to be waiting for Lady Hamilton, Nelson still patiently stands inside the public house.

Worker in Green

Location: E14 - HSBC building, floor 25, Canary Wharf
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: Killed in an accident during construction, a member of the crane crew dressed in green overalls now haunts the floor on which he died.

Laugh

Location: E14 - Northern end of Church Street (now Newell Street), Limehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1827
Further Comments: Mr and Mrs Dickenson were repeatedly troubled by a loud chuckling laugh emanating from their bedroom wall.

Bangladeshi Man

Location: E14 - Private residence, Aberfeldy Village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014-2015
Further Comments: A person living in this residence reported spotting the presence of an older Bangladeshi man who vanished on the staircase. Cold spots could be felt in the same location by multiple witnesses.

Vicar with Walking Cane

Location: E14 - Ratcliff Wharf, Limehouse
Type: Experimental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: The Vicar of Ratcliff Cross was once a popular tale in the area - two hundred years ago, the holy man would murder rich visitors to his church for their money. Now the preacher is content with making fleeting appearances near the riverside. Or rather not, as the whole story was invented in 1972 by a paranormal investigator to see if any witnesses came forward. That they did, and several authors mentioned the case in their works, without questioning the source.

Grinning Man

Location: E15 - Channelsea Depot, Stratford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: June - December 1994
Further Comments: A former British Rail employee reported seeing a tall man wearing a cape and top hat standing by a hangar. He had a terrible grin and a mouth full of white teeth, and immediately vanished, leaving the witness very cold and apprehensive. A few months later, in the same area, the witness felt a strong tug at her bag that almost pulled her over; she spun around expecting to see a colleague, but no one was in sight.

Fireman in Brass Helmet

Location: E15 - Old Fire Station on Broadway, and new site at Romford Road, Stratford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen by staff at the fire station, the ghost is said to be Godfrey Netherwood, a man from the late nineteenth century with an interest in paranormal happenings. This spirit now appears to have migrated to a new home at the newer station.

Freddy Fredericks

Location: E15 - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The builder of the theatre, Freddy now looks after the building. He is said to walk around at midnight, a small, tubby man dressed in brown, radiating friendliness, and has been caught on camera at least once. His initials are painted on an archway, and if removed it is said the theatre will fall.

Choking

Location: E15 - West Ham Polytechnic
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The sounds of someone being choked to death have been reported coming from the science laboratories here, followed by a woman's scream.

Savage Woman

Location: E16 - Connaught Tavern
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The former home of a suicide, the spectre of this semi-mad woman has been seen on at least one occasion - she terrified a staff member as they entered a bedroom, sending them running.

Accident

Location: E1W - Wapping Wall / Garnett Street junction
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: The site of a collision caused by a drunk driver who died of his injuries is now haunted by the sounds of screeching tires and a loud crash. When people rush to investigate, nothing can be found, although the area is unnaturally still.

Crowd Puller

Location: E2 - 132 Teesdale Street (demolished 1958)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February 1938
Further Comments: This poltergeist outbreak started off as 'normal', tapping and cries being heard, and furniture moved. However, this 'haunting' quickly became a media circus, and attracted a large public crowd (some 2000 people, according to the Dairy Express at the time) to gather outside the home in the hope of seeing something. Many believe the outbreak to have been a deliberate hoax, and Nandor Fodor told the press that nothing supernatural had occurred in his presence.

Cries and Screams

Location: E2 - Bethnal Green Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1981
Further Comments: A station master working alone in the station office late at night heard the soft sounds of children crying. As time went by, the cries grew louder and were joined by the screams of women. He ran from the office. One hundred and seventy-three people died in the station in a single accident during the Second World War, the vast majority being women and children.

Woman in Brown

Location: E2 - Gibraltar public house (no longer standing), Bethnal Green
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Landlord John Harris was said not to be an easy man to live with, although he turned his life around after encountering a phantom woman in brown sitting in his pub. The ghost warned him that if he failed to turn his life around, his daughter would come to a violent end. The apparition then vanished. Even though John became a better man, his daughter still ended up being hanged for an unknown crime.

Woman in Black & Grey

Location: E2 - Nag's Head public house, Hackney Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: This aging woman dressed in dark clothing has a grey shawl draped over her bony shoulders, and once haunted the basement. After a series of seances, the ghost disappeared for good.

Soft Footsteps

Location: E2 - Pret A Manger, 121 Bethnal Green Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 2022
Further Comments: Two workers twice heard soft footsteps walking across the floor above, although no one appeared on CCTV. Staff tried to use a Ouija board to contact the entity without much success.

Suited Man

Location: E2 - Private flat, Granby Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2024, circa 01:00h
Further Comments: One witness reported seeing the apparition of a man wearing a 1940s-style suit and black hat along a corridor.

White Lady

Location: E2 - Sutton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The phantom woman or women who haunt this building are not alone - the sound of a wailing hound has been heard, and disembodied voices emanate from empty rooms.

Sounds of Murder

Location: E2 - Ye Olde Axe, Hackney Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1970s
Further Comments: While the public house was undergoing major rebuilding work, the remains of two bodies were recovered from beneath it - the sounds that followed, coming from the building late at night, convinced many the dead did not appreciate being disturbed.

Swan Eater

Location: E20 - Lea River, Olympic Park
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late 2011
Further Comments: Users of the river had reported the swan population had been dropping, and in November 2011 one witness watched a large Canada goose being quickly pulled under the water. Opinions of what is snacking on the local bird life have ranged from the exotic (escaped or released alligator or python) to the reasonable (catfish or pike).

Florrie Clark

Location: E3 - Ancient Briton public house, Glaucus Street (now demolished)
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: A worker at the pub reported seeing the ghost of a former landlady, even though she was still alive and living a county away.

Old Lady

Location: E3 - Barton House, Bow Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: A family living here reported encountering the ghost of an elderly lady wearing slippers and a white apron. She was said to tamper with electrical items and would throw small items around the rooms. The haunting is thought to have stopped when the family moved out.

Lifetime Drinkers

Location: E3 - Black Swan public house, Bow Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A Zeppelin raid killed many people here during the First World War, and now they sometimes return to continue their pints. Two particularly active ghosts are said to be Cissie and Sylvia Reynolds, daughters of the landlord.

Phantom Flusher

Location: E3 - Bow Bells public house, 116 Bow Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early 1970s
Further Comments: A 'ghost' was blamed for the haunting in the woman's restroom, with locked doors being opened and the toilets flushing themselves, though recently a former employee at the building has said that the phantom was invented to generate trade.

Disapproving Man

Location: E3 - Driver's Arms public house?
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1979
Further Comments: A poltergeist outbreak here in the late 1970s was attributed by a medium to a Victorian tenant who disliked women who drank!