The Paranormal Database

Airborne Battle

Location: Aldeburgh (Suffolk) - Skies over Aldeburgh
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 04 August 1642, 17:00h - 18:00h
Further Comments: A large phantom battle occurred in the skies over Aldeburgh; gunfire was heard and a large stone fell from the sky. What happened to this piece of rock is unclear.

Old Soldiers

Location: Alresford (Hampshire) - Cheriton battlefield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 March, every four years (last in 2024) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: These troops are said to be doomed to return to their former battleground.

Civil War Skirmish

Location: Alton (Hampshire) - St Lawrence's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Royalist Colonel was trapped in the church by a detachment of Roundheads - he and several of his enemy were killed during the short fight. The small battle can still be heard.

Wounded Soldier

Location: Arnold (Nottinghamshire) - Bestwood Lodge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The building, once a barracks, is haunted by the cries and groans of an injured soldier. A grey (or sometimes white) lady is also said to haunt the site, while the chapel was reputedly home to a black hovering shape and a presence.

Fighting Soldiers

Location: Ashdon (Essex) - Fields in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Moonlit nights
Further Comments: Perhaps connected to nearby Linton's Royalist stronghold, the fields in this area were said to be haunted by fighting phantom soldiers from the Civil War.

Moaning

Location: Ashingdon (Essex) - Hill on which Saint Andrews Church stands
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hill is said to be the home of ghostly moans which belong to dying soldiers.

Clashing Blades

Location: Ashmore (Dorset) - Cranborne Chase
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October, late 1920s
Further Comments: A member of the Ghost Club and his partner reported being surrounded by the sounds of men fighting, sword clashing with sword, and the moans of the dying. There are also tales of a golden coffin and stolen treasure buried in the area.

Horseman

Location: Athelstaneford (Lothian) - Ridge behind village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This raggedy horseman is thought to be a remnant from the battle between Picts and Angles in 832.

Phantom horsemen cross a river.

Roundheads

Location: Attenborough (Nottinghamshire) - Riverside, and church area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Readying themselves to cross the body of water, these troops still ride on their phantom steeds.

White Army

Location: Attercliffe (South Yorkshire) - Near the river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1661
Further Comments: A local vicar, while sitting by the river, watched a line of white troops pass accompanied by white horses - he wrote that it took over an hour for the column to pass.

Screaming

Location: Aughrim (County Galway) - Site of Battle of Aughrim
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The battle, fought in 1691, is said to have been the most brutal on UK soil, with up to seven thousand people killed. Folklore says that the screams of dying soldiers can still be heard in the area.

Lady de la Pole

Location: Axminster (Devon) - Shute Barton manor house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged in the garden for being a Royalist during the Civil War, Lady de la Pole now continues to walk the grounds of the building. There are also reports of a phantom feline that looks quite normal, until it walks through something solid.

Muttering Yokel

Location: Barton on Irwell (Lancashire) - Olde Rock House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A royalist fleeing his Cromwellian pursuers disguised himself as a farmer and walked about the area muttering 'Now thus, now thus', until the roundheads had passed. His shade still re-enacts his escape.

Battle Abbey in Sussex.

Black Monk

Location: Battle (Sussex) - Battle Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century and possibly 10 November 2014
Further Comments: The monk appears in several places - the guest house, monks' walk, by the walls outside the abbey... A monk has also been seen at the vicarage of St Mary's Church. Back at the abbey, a woman wearing a large red dress has also been seen in the Common House, while King Harold is occasionally reported, complete with the arrow jutting from his head.

Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

Knights

Location: Battle (Sussex) - Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A phantom knight on horseback appears on the anniversary of the battle, while other figures have been seen more sporadically. The ground is also said to bleed after a storm.

Arms

Location: Battlesden (Bedfordshire) - Lane near the battlefield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 1982
Further Comments: Two witnesses out cycling saw a disembodied pair of arms throw a small log over a hedge - one of the pair swerved to avoid the piece of wood.

Battle of Bovey Heath

Location: Bovey Tracey (Devon) - Bovey Heathfield Local Nature Reserve
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site of an English Civil War battle on 9 January 1646, it is said the sights and sounds of fighting are occasionally reenacted.

Roman Battle

Location: Bowerchalke (Wiltshire) - Between village and Woodminton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Headless horses can be seen, and fierce fighting can be heard - the area was the site of a battle between Roman legionnaires and the Britons.

Footsteps

Location: Bracknell (Berkshire) - Caesar's Camp (hillfort)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Second World War (marching), 2010s (footsteps)
Further Comments: Two women who lived near the camp (in a house no longer standing) heard disembodied marching and voices, though nothing could be seen. A phantom man with red hair was also seen by one of these witnesses, though this was a separate experience to the first. More recently, a witness recalled being followed by things falling from trees, always slightly behind but never ahead, and hearing something moving up and down the path, although nothing could be seen.

Roundhead

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - Stapleton Woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom figure approaches unsuspecting witnesses as if trying to say something - he then proceeds to walk straight through them.

Riders

Location: Buckstones (West Yorkshire) - A640, near the Nont Sarah public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: A policeman returning home after a late shift spotted a small group of horsemen dressed in Cavalier-style clothing riding along this road. He drove past the figures three times to prove to himself that they were not a figment of his imagination.

Sounds of Fighting

Location: Burgh Castle (Norfolk) - 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.

White Horses

Location: Burnham Green (Hertfordshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Galloping around the neighbourhood at night, these creatures are thought to be connected to a battle fought more than a thousand years ago.

Sidney Godolphin

Location: Chagford (Devon) - Three Crowns Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980
Further Comments: A Royalist officer, Sidney died on doorstep of the hotel - he was last seen standing in full uniform at the door of the dining room, by a surprised chef.

Marine

Location: Chatham (Kent) - Old Royal Marine Barracks, former guardroom section, Dock Road (building since demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: Even after the Royal Marines vacated their former barracks in 1950, one of their number remained. A marine who had committed suicide refused to leave and was spotted by Naval personnel who took up residence in the building.