Norfolk Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Waiting Woman
Location: Belaugh - Riverside
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 24 August (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A woman in a white dress is said to wait for her Viking lover by the riverside.
Golden Plough
Location: Belton - Mill Hill (Belton Common)
Type: legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This barrow was once thought to contain a golden plough.
Monk in Black
Location: Binham - Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Monk unknown, singing in 2010 and 2012, footsteps in 2012
Further Comments: Though not seen in recent years, a monk dressed in black once walked from the ruined priory to Walsingham, slightly over three miles cross-country. The ghost was blamed for the disappearance of a fiddler who tried to investigate the nearby tunnels. Singing or chanting has been heard at the rear of the structure, and fast moving footsteps heard crossing gravel, although the nearby path was tarmac. In 2008 a ghost hunting team had to leave the site after three members experienced discomfort.
Inverted Mushroom
Location: Bircham Newton - Skies over Bircham Newton
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This strange flying machine passed overhead here.
Three Airmen Playing Squash
Location: Bircham Newton - Wartime Airfield (owned by Construction Industry Training Board)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s onwards
Further Comments: Many ghosts are said to exist here, mostly coming into being during the Second World War. During the war, a car full of 'merry' (ie, very drunk) pilots crashed into a hangar, killing the driver and all the passengers; the scene is now re-enacted at irregular periods. Another group of ghosts were called into being when a bomber that crashed on the landing strip lost three of its crew - they now return to play their favourite racquet game! The sound of a squash ball echoing in the deserted building, and that of soft footfalls are more common than seeing the airmen, though one man in officer's clothing has been seen a few times.
Old Shuck
Location: Blakeney - Long Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lane is another site where the black shuck was said to wander after dark.
Hytersprites
Location: Blakeney - Marshes in the area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Children were once told that these creatures, resembling abnormal spiders with very long legs, would attack anyone who strayed into the marshland. Another account is much kinder, with Hytersprites described as more like traditional fairies with sandy coloured skin and green eyes, who could take the form of Sand Martins and would save lost children.
Fiddler
Location: Blakeney - Guildhall
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A secret tunnel was said to connect the Guildhall with a friary which once stood close to the church. A fiddler volunteered to explore the tunnel and wandered in, playing his instrument as he walked. Eventually the fiddling could no longer be heard, and the explorer was never seen again.
Black Dog
Location: Blakeney - Little Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lane is a favoured haunt for the black shuck. The same lane is reportedly haunted by a ghostly horse and carriage.
Anne Boleyn
Location: Blickling - Blickling Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: To mark the anniversary of her death, a coach pulled by four headless horses pulls up on the driveway, with a decapitated Anne on a seat, her head in her lap. After Anne's headless white ghost arrives, it is said then to climb out, before inspecting each room of the Hall (the place of her birth and childhood). On the same date, Sir Thomas Boleyn is said to drive a team of headless horses in this area, cursed to cross twelve Norfolk bridges (including those at Aylsham, Coltishall and Wroxham).
Black Dog
Location: Blickling - Forests in area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 17th Century onwards
Further Comments: Not a shuck, but the ghost of a hunting dog mistakenly killed after the death of its master.
Duelling Knights with Fiery Swords
Location: Blofield - Path leading from Blofield church to St Michael's at Braydeston
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Returning to this realm once a year, the knights are said to be Sir Thomas Boleyn (father of Anne) and Sir Thomas Paston. Their shades battle with burning swords, and Lady Anne watches from a nearby carriage, pulled by headless horses.
Round in Circles
Location: Bodham - The Round House
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The building was constructed in a circular shape after Old Nick appeared night after night and pulled the partly constructed four walls down. The shape confused the Devil, and he left the area.
Coach
Location: Bradenham - Bradenham Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The father of author Sir Henry Rider Haggard is said to have told the story of a phantom coach that would be heard to travel towards the hall on Christmas Eve, though it could never be seen.
Sir Thomas Boleyn
Location: Braydeston - Bay's Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This bridge is said to be one of several which Sir Thomas passes over in his coach on the anniversary of his daughter's death.
The Two Sir Thomas
Location: Braydeston - Exact area not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Thomas Paston and Sir Thomas Boleyn are said to duel in this area, with the latter killing the former.
Sir Thomas Boleyn Drives Headless Horses
Location: Breckles - Breckles Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The father of Anne Boleyn is said to be cursed with driving his coach over forty (or eleven) Norfolk bridges. One of the passing points is Breckles Hall, where the spectre once scared a poacher to death (another version states that the poacher was taken by the Devil because of his constant law breaking). Locals say that anyone who views the coach is dragged down to hell.
Sounds of Horses
Location: Briningham - Mission Hall Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10.30pm, irregular, (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sounds of horse hooves have been heard moving around the house at night - at one time the property was a stable. The sitting room has experienced sharp falls in temperature, accompanied by strange smells.
Opening Door
Location: Briston - John H Strachey Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost here, possibly that of an old man, is heard walking along the landing and opening the bar door.
Mistletoe Bough
Location: Brockdish - Brockdish Hall
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hall is one of several sites which is supposedly the site of the legend of the Mistletoe Bough - a bride who died on her wedding day after being locked in a chest during a game of hide and seek was found many years later in skeletal form.
Golden Gates
Location: Bromholm - Tunnel between Bromholm Priory and Gimingham hall
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local legend once said a secret tunnel ran between these two sites, with golden gates set within.
Claudia
Location: Brooke - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to radiate extreme beauty, the phantom Claudia is missing a hand that her husband accidently severed as he fought in a duel.
Old Woman in Long Green Dress with White Hair
Location: Brooke - Old house, once two cottages but now knocked into one
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century, no longer reported
Further Comments: The old woman has been seen sitting in the living room - the ghost is believed to be one of the old teachers who once taught at the school.
Bishop of Brundall on Barge
Location: Brundall - River
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Varies: 24 June & 18 September (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sailing up the river, the Bishop's barge contains 28 rowers and is covered with fine cloth and silk. The Bishop is said to bless any ill people that he sails by.
Sir Thomas
Location: Burgh - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ghostly coach and four passes over this bridge once a year. It is said to be driven by a headless Sir Thomas Boleyn and is one of eleven (or twelve, or forty) bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.
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