The Paranormal Database

Chains

Location: Croxton - Unidentified houses
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: One house was reputedly haunted by something that flung latched doors open and stomped on the staircase, while the neighbouring property could hear the sounds of chains being dragged on the upper floor.

Nurse

Location: Dersingham - Life Wood (was known as Mr Hoste's Plantation)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-Second World War
Further Comments: A local journal mentioned the story of a nurse who, during the Second World War, hanged herself in the wood and subsequently returned looking for her lover.

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.

Twenty Five Clangs

Location: Didlington - Church
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 November 1956
Further Comments: A local policeman reported the bells of the locked church rang 25 times, marking the anniversary of the death of a landowner. The officer entered the church to investigate, finding the bell rope swinging, but no one there.

Missing Church

Location: Dilham - Depression in the ground known as 'Seager-ma-hole'.
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two churches were said to have been built in the village, although one sunk into the earth.

Bottomless Hole

Location: Diss - Diss Mere
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: According to local tradition, the mere is bottomless and either a meteorite crater or an extinct volcano. Unfortunately, none of the aforementioned beliefs are true.

Hazy Woman

Location: Diss - King's Head public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1976
Further Comments: The young daughter of the landlord was said to be in constant conversation with this phantom woman. The parents believed her to be an imaginary friend, until the landlord saw a green, hazy image of the ghost, who said 'I will not harm you'. Bumps and bangs would also be heard, but only when the child was offsite.

Footsteps

Location: Diss - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2000s
Further Comments: An occupant was terrified one night by heavy footsteps walking the upper part of the property while they were downstairs. The footsteps were heard descending the staircase before stopping, only to restart walking in another room upstairs. Once the sun came up the occupant dared to go upstairs and found nothing disturbed.

Dog with Long Shaggy Coat

Location: Ditchingham - Halfway between Ditchingham and the Maltings
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1938
Further Comments: While returning home late one night, a male witness saw a large black dog walking along the same path towards him. He stepped into the middle of the road to let it pass, only to see it disappear once close to him.

Man in Red Coat and Woman Stroking Hair

Location: Ditchingham - Waveney Valley Area, Ditchingham Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01.30h (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Appearing at early in the morning, the history of the red man is unknown, though at least one witness said that they felt as if he had killed someone. A ghostly woman has also been seen in the building, waking a guest by playing with her hair.

Glowing Saucer

Location: Docking - Outskirts of the village
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1969, around midnight
Further Comments: Driving home from his shop, as Robin Peck approached the village his van's engine cut out. He climbed out of the vehicle and as he lifted the car's bonnet, Robin realised that this hair was standing up. It was then Robin realised that a glowing, saucer shaped object was hovering around ninety metres away. After a short while, the object darted away, and the van started working again.

Battlefield Noises

Location: Downham Market - Moat Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1800s
Further Comments: Reports at the end of the nineteenth century claimed that screams and shouting echoed across the fields around moat farm, and that a spooky mist often shrouded the area.

Opening Drawers

Location: Downham Market - Private residence, Barroway Drove area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: October - November 1982
Further Comments: This property featured in the local media after a rector was summoned to bless the home. The family moved out after a child had watched his bedroom drawers open and close unaided, while other family members had seen furniture and crockery animate. The blessing would appear to have been successful as the family moved back soon after.

Eight

Location: Downham West - Bridge Stores
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: A ghost hunter claimed to have detected eight ghosts at the shop and attached house (although only tracked down five or six of them).

Stalking Hound

Location: East Dereham - Between village and (former) RAF Swanton Morley
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: November 1945
Further Comments: Cycling from his home towards the RAF base, John Harries was stalked by a black dog. The hound stopped when Harries stopped, although it vanished when Harries reached the base.

Figure in Black

Location: East Dereham - Cinema at the Corn Exchange
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: While converting the basement into a bar, builders spotted a figure in black which mysteriously vanished behind a column. It was said that some workers refused to work on the site alone.

St Withburga's Well

Location: East Dereham - St Nicholas's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This holy well formed after the saint's body was stolen by monks acting on the orders of the Abbot of Ely.

Golden Cradle

Location: East Harling - Pilgrim's Meadow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With its location now covered now covered by trees, this mythical treasure is unlikely to be found any time soon.

Brown Lady (Dorothy Walpole)

Location: East Rayham - Raynham Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1926, photographed 1936
Further Comments: Said to have starved to death after her children were taken away, Dorothy Walpole is now reported to walk the corridors of the house. Her spirit is reported to wear a brown silk dress and have empty eye sockets. Photographed by Country Life magazine, this ghost has since become world famous. The Brown Lady is also said to warn of the approaching death of the owner of the building.

Two Children, a Spaniel, and the Duke of Monmouth

Location: East Rayham - Raynham Hall - Stone Parlour
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: Never seen and only 'felt', the spaniel's footfalls can be heard moving about the corridors. The Stone Parlour is haunted by a little girl in a frock (nothing is known about her origins), while the Duke of Monmouth haunts one of the bedrooms.

Flower Throwing

Location: East Rudham - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: A worker at the church reported that their dog would become hysterical near the door, although nothing could be seen, and cut flowers would be thrown to the floor.

Moving Child

Location: East Rudham - Unnamed house, Eye Lane
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown, circa 1973?
Further Comments: A local newspaper reported that an unseen hand moved a baby and cot from a bedside to the window.

Doppelganger of Vicar

Location: East Rudham - Vicarage lawn
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: December 1912
Further Comments: Observed by several witnesses, the vicar was seen returning home after a period abroad. As it turned out, however, the vicar did not return home until several weeks later.

Big Cat

Location: East Runton - Railway Embankment
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 19 February 1964
Further Comments: Following up reports of a large cat, the area was combed by police with dogs; nothing was ever found.

Headless Shuck

Location: East Runton - Runton Heath, between East Runton and Aylmerton
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Manifesting on dark stormy nights, this shuck brings death to those who see him within a year.