The Paranormal Database

Joe

Location: Outer London: Harrow - Private residence, Woodgrange Avenue, Kenton
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 23 - 25 October 1968
Further Comments: Canon Pearce-Higgins and a medium visited the property and attempted to remove the poltergeist that caused items to move around on shelving and rearrange chairs in rooms. The owner returned the following day and said although the bangs and noises had not gone completely, they were quieter. Another medium arrived a day later and claimed the entity was named Joe, who had died in a car accident.

Giant Shadow

Location: Outer London: Havering - Frank's Wood, now known as 'the brickfields', near Moor Lane, Cranham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: A black shadowy figure, standing two and a half metres tall with no discernible features, gave chase to a group of friends as they left the wood.

Monk with No Legs

Location: Outer London: Havering - St Mary's Lane, Cranham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (Reoccurring) - last reported 1970s
Further Comments: This phantom monk is said to float silently across the road.

Tall Man

Location: Outer London: Hayes, Hillingdon - Cherry Tree Cemetery
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: A tall man with no eyes was seen briefly by a witness tending a grave. By the time the witness stood up, the tall man had vanished.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Outer London: Heathrow Airport - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: This ghost was heard several times, breathing heavily around female members of staff, but never being seen. A second entity wears a bowler hat and has been known to ask about the whereabouts of his briefcase - both case and man were in an aircraft that crashed in the late 1940s, killing all on board. A phantom Dick Turpin rides a brown horse across the runways (or cargo sheds), while cleaning staff during the 1970s reported a presence which held them down, applying pressure around their throats. Finally, prior to the airport being built, a phantom Saxon prince reputedly haunted the area close to a pond where he drowned.

Shark Attack

Location: Outer London: Heathrow Airport - Unnamed reservoir south-east of Heathrow Airport
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 16 August 1997
Further Comments: A woman swimming in this reservoir was attacked by a creature under the water that grabbed and held her foot with its mouth. The woman managed to kick the creature off, and when the bite marks were examined by a marine biologist, she was told the creature must have been a shark.

Water Spirit

Location: Outer London: Hounslow - Bell Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This destructive entity, named as a highwayman hanged just across the road, is blamed for turning on taps and smashing barrels of beer.

An old woodcut of Hounslow Heath.

Dick

Location: Outer London: Hounslow - Hounslow Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The highwayman Dick Turpin, who is just as busy in death as he was in life, is reported to haunt this area of urban heathland.

Highwayman

Location: Outer London: Hounslow - Hussars public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure, complete with dark clothing and cape, has been observed loitering around the cellar doors.

Pound Pincher

Location: Outer London: Hounslow - Private residence, Catherine Gardens
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: March - July 1956
Further Comments: The Hankins, a married couple, asked their vicar for an exorcism after one-pound notes vanished without trace, no matter where they hid the money. Footsteps were also heard, objects moved, and food would be scattered around the kitchen. The activity ceased after a psychic visited the site and the family used 'anti-poltergeist' chants whenever they spotted a strange shadow.

Invisible Mare

Location: Outer London: Lower Bedington - Orchard House (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1934
Further Comments: Heard but never seen, a horse would gallop up to the gates of the house before stopping.

Dark Figure

Location: Outer London: Mitcham - Private residence along Morden Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1988-1998
Further Comments: A former resident stated that he and other previous owners of the property had spotted a dark shadowy figure in the hallway and on the landing. The figure appeared to be wearing a cloak.

Girl

Location: Outer London: New Addington - Rowdown woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2019, winter, around midday
Further Comments: Walking through the woods on a rainy winter's day, a witness spotted a little girl wearing a yellow summer dress, completely unsuitable for the time of year. The girl walked through foliage and nettles, moving behind a tree and disappearing. The witness, slightly freaked out, walked away from the area, but spotted the girl again, this time accompanied by a man wearing blue clothing. Both figures once again disappeared behind a tree.

Large Black Cat

Location: Outer London: Northolt - Central Line Railway between Northolt & Greenford
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1995 onwards?
Further Comments: It was claimed that this ABC used the local rail tracks to move around without attracting too much attention.

Lost Pilot

Location: Outer London: Northolt - RAF Northolt
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003 / 2004 (seat / presence), others unknown
Further Comments: Seen walking along the east/west runway of this former fighter base, a ghostly figure wears a pilot's uniform dating back to the Second World War. The residence of the station commander is also reputedly haunted, with one occupant hearing someone sitting on a creaky seat throughout the night and feeling its presence (although it was described as non-malevolent). One story says the Officers' Mess is home to a couple of ghosts, while on a road outside the base, a phantom Polish pilot from Second World War asks for directions - the man died when his aircraft crashed a short distance away.

Something

Location: Outer London: Norwood Green - Norwood Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: According to a 1999 edition of the Middlesex Chronicle, the building was haunted, although no further details were given.

Churchill

Location: Outer London: Queensway - Queensway Station, Central Line
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Witnessed waiting on the platform, Sir Winston Churchill once lived quite close to the station.

Kate Webster

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Barnes Railway Bridge (replaced in 1895)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1879
Further Comments: The ghost of murderer Kate Webster was said to appear on this bridge and could be seen dropping the remains of her victim, Julia Martha Thomas, into the river below. The main problem with this ghost story is that Webster threw pieces of her victim into the river from Richmond Bridge...

Figure with Tail

Location: Outer London: Richmond - General area, including near the theatre and close to the river side
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1801
Further Comments: A two-guinea reward was offered to anyone who could catch the ghost which started haunting the area. One description said the entity to be a completely black human-like figure with a tail, another claimed that it appeared white with a black head and hands. A girl who encountered the entity near the theatre became bedridden, while two women had to carry a man to the town after a sighting near the river made him feel faint.

Knight

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Kingston Hill area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom knight upon a white horse was once thought to haunt this area.

A pale figure seen at night...

Blame the Parrot

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Old Cobwebs public house (currently The Duke)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1904
Further Comments: A blue light and a pale figure were spotted by women staying in this building, and knocking heard which could not be traced to a source. The landlord denied his pub was haunted, claiming that he was mistaken as the ghostly figure while walking around at night holding a candle, and that the sounds were caused by rats, owls, and a neighbouring parrot.

Queen Elizabeth

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Richmond Palace
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1603
Further Comments: As she lay dying elsewhere, Elizabeth was observed standing at a window of the palace. A few reports say she still haunts the building. The palace may have been the location where Edward Seymour, Lord Protector of England, and Anne Seymour witnessed a 'hand with a bloodied sword' emerge from a wall. Edward was beheaded a short time later. There are also more recent reports of phantom horses' hooves heard clopping around the courtyard.

Ball of Glowing Light

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Richmond Park
Type: Other
Date / Time: 16 February 2003
Further Comments: Two men out for a walk watched a glowing ball of energy ooze over a park wall before bouncing into the park and brush against a tree. The ball then took off again, moving down the park road before dissipating. When the light faded away, both saw a small figure standing where the ball had been - it looked like a young male child, but with a large head. The entity then vanished in a flash of light.

Pillar of Mist

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Roebuck public house, Richmond Hill
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: A guest at the pub reported waking early in the morning to see a pillar of mist floating in the middle of his room - it moved towards the window before vanishing. Earlier the same day, a strange man was seen walking up the staircase, but no sign of him could be found when investigated further.

Cavalier

Location: Outer London: Richmond - Thames, between Richmond and Twickenham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Said to initially rise out of the river, this phantom Cavalier would start moving along local roads in the late afternoon or early evening, before vanishing without trace.