Norfolk Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Sounds of Fighting
Location: Burgh Castle - Roman castle
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 27 April (fighting) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a year the sounds of clashing swords and Roman and Saxon screaming can be heard in this area. Another ghost reportedly observed here during dark nights is a figure that plummets from the ramparts.
Old Scarfe
Location: Burgh Castle - Ruined Castle
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The shuck is known locally as Old Scarfe, named after the Baron Rudolf Scarfe who was a thirteenth century villain who lived near the castle. Old Scarfe haunts the castle grounds and the Yarmouth Road, his single eye glowing red and yellow.
Phantom Coach
Location: Burgh St Peter - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly coach is driven across the bridge in the village, although to whom it belongs is unknown.
Old Nick in Waiting
Location: Burgh St Peter - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 02 May reoccurring (skeleton appears)
Further Comments: The builder of this church is said to have sold his soul to finish the construction. The Devil is said to still wait for the soul due to him, while the old man's shade lurks protected within the church grounds. There is one report that says the builder now takes the form of a clothed skeletal figure and appears once per year.
Getaway Boat
Location: Burgh St Peter - River Waveney
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Captained by a thief, this boat is said to be rich in stolen gold. It appears once a year, though sources do not appear to know the exact date.
Phantom Coach
Location: Buxton - 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 bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.
Patting the Fading Dog
Location: Buxton - Churchyard
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1930
Further Comments: While passing the church, a man saw a large black dog. He reached out to pat the hound's head, but the creature disappeared into thin air. The man later learnt that his brother had died at the exact moment he saw the dog.
Coach Circling the Courtyard
Location: Caister-On-Sea - Caister Castle, one mile west of Caister-On-Sea
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Warning of a death in the family
Further Comments: Warning about the encroaching death of a family member, a horse drawn hearse driven by a headless horseman passes through the gates of the castle and circles the courtyard seven times.
Rugby Ball
Location: Caistor St Edmund - Caistor Hall Country Club
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1965, around 16:00h
Further Comments: While stopping at the club to pick up a coat, Stanley Taylor watched an object hovering in the sky. He said it was the shape of a rugby ball and around the size of two double-decker buses. The dull silver object gave off a hum and, with a sudden 'whoosh' flew off, quickly becoming a dot in the clouds. Another person nearby was said to have heard the sound but did not witness the object.
Headless Horseman
Location: Cantley - Road into village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Emerging from a deep pit near to Cantley, this headless spirit on horseback rides off towards the nearby village.
Queen Isabella's Crazy Laughter
Location: Castle Rising - Keep area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Cold winter nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Edward III held his mother here for twenty seven years - she was accused of assisting in the murder of her husband Edward II in 1328. Rumoured to have lost her sanity towards the end, people have heard her laughter and screams on cold winter nights. More recently, witnesses have reported the eerie sounds of children playing and singing nursery rhymes.
Clash of Swords
Location: Cawston - Duelling Stone at Crossroads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A duel once fought here can occasionally be heard re-enacted many years later.
Brown Cat
Location: Claxton - Exact location not known
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 09 June 1996
Further Comments: A large brown alien cat was reported in this area in 1996.
Evil Oppressive Atmosphere
Location: Colney - West of Norwich - Breckland, beyond Colney. Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Autumn 1971
Further Comments: Two women visiting the church described how the atmosphere quickly became dark and frightening. One blamed witchcraft.
Phantom Coach
Location: Coltishall - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring) (coach)
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 bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution. A headless Black Shuck is also reputed to cross this bridge once per night.
Headless Hound
Location: Coltishall - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The black shuck which walks this area is instantly recognisable as the creature is missing a head.
Screams Plummeting to the Ground
Location: Corton - St Bartholew's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that a man who once jumped from the tower can still be heard screaming as he plummets towards the ground.
Reading Monk
Location: Costessey - Presbytery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This monk was doomed to search the library for a book in which he had scribed a confession.
Shuck
Location: Cromer - Cliff Paths
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Many people have reported seeing the black shuck in this area of Norfolk, with the local populace claiming the creature is the ghost of a dog whose master drowned just off the Cromer coast.
Shipden
Location: Cromer - Off coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Prior to storm
Further Comments: The church of Saint Peter is reputed to exist off the coast of Cromer, where a town called Shipden once stood before being taken by the sea. The church bells could be heard ringing just prior to a storm.
Black Retriever Drowning Child
Location: Cromer - Off the coast of Cromer
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local child befriended a 'stray' black dog and took the creature swimming in the ocean - while out over deep water the dog changed into a human and tried to drown the youngster. Another version of the tale states the dog does not transform, by merely barks and growls, preventing the child from swimming back to land. In both versions, the child is saved by the intervention of sailors.
Dick Condon
Location: Cromer - Pier
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century / 2000s
Further Comments: An Irish impresario, Condon's shade has been reported at the Pavilion Theatre, located on the pier, while ghostly members of a lifeboat crew have been reported on the wooden boards outside.
Fast Feline
Location: Crostwick - North Walsham road, Crostwick near Norwich
Type: ABC
Date / Time: February 1996
Further Comments: A large cat quickly ran off after being seen standing around seven metres from a witness.
Funeral Procession
Location: Croxton - Road between Croxton and Thetford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A murdered gamekeeper whose body was hidden in a ditch is said to receive a phantom procession. A phantom hearse and pallbearers emerge from where the corpse lay and travel down the road a short distance, before turning around to return the gamekeeper to his ditch.
White Woman
Location: Dickleburgh - Wooded area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hanging white woman was said to haunt this piece of woodland, her dress always blowing in the wind to her left.
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