The Paranormal Database

Cromwellian Troop

Location: Codnor (Derbyshire) - Codnor Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A stray soldier from Cromwell's army was seen in the ruins of this castle, appearing tired and in need of a shave.

Colchester Castle.

James Parnell, Quaker Martyr

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Colchester Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1653 onwards
Further Comments: Quaker James Parnell found himself arrested in 1652 for the heinous crime of being 'idle and disorderly' after upsetting a local priest. Parnell was imprisoned in Colchester Castle, where folklore says he was placed in a small room and forced to climb a rope each time he wished to eat. After a few months of this punishing routine, Parnell eventually slipped during his daily climb and suffered injuries which killed him. Parnell's ghost haunted the dungeon (although it is worth noting that he was imprisoned in a crevice in the castle wall). There is a story that a foolhardy man once stayed the night in the dungeon as a wager, only to emerge the following morning a gibbering wreck. Another tale states that the castle is haunted by a headless nun, although her story is not known.

Viscount Dundee

Location: Colinsburgh (Fife) - Colinsburgh Castle
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Late seventeenth century
Further Comments: Killed during the battle of Killiecrankie, Dundee appeared to Lord Balcarres shortly after his death. Edinburgh Castle also claims this event for itself.

Pippa

Location: Collooney (County Sligo) - Markree Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A mischievous ghostly child nicknamed Pippa who would lock doors and drop items can be appeased by giving her gifts. The cellar is home to another paranormal entity.

A stylised cast-iron mermaid.

Mermaid Curse

Location: Colmonell (Ayrshire) - Knockdolian Castle
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mistress of the castle ordered the destruction of a black rock which stood just a short distance away, to prevent a mermaid sitting upon it and singing. As revenge, the mermaid cursed the family, ensuring they all died without leaving an heir for the estate.

Golden Calf

Location: Compton (Berkshire) - Perborough Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Buried under this Iron Age hillfort is reputed to be a golden calf.

An illustration of a ghostly monk by Wayne Lowden.

Grey Monk

Location: Conisborough (South Yorkshire) - Conisborough Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: Sightings of this spectral figure date back to the 1770s, when he was first seen drifting among the ruins. Reports also exist of sightings of a white woman, and the sounds of quiet voices and bumping.

An old postcard showing Conwy Castle.

Figure in Cloak

Location: Conwy (Clwyd) - Conwy Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Figures unknown, photograph taken in 1908
Further Comments: Walking around the battlements of the castle, this shadowy cloaked figure has been glimpsed by tourists. One story says the castle is haunted by a bridegroom who searches for a lost ring. In 1908, a visitor to the castle took a photograph which showed a ghostly 'young man in picturesque ancient costume', but what happened to this image is not known.

Fowl Smelling Maid

Location: Conwy Valley (Clwyd) - Gwydir Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir John Wynn murdered a maid at the castle after she threatened to make public their affair. He bricked her body up in a chimney, but the smell of the rotting corpse hung around the room for months afterwards. Her ghost is said to secrete the same stench. Sir John also continues to linger around the building, as does a large dog and several crying children.

Floating Candles

Location: Coolderry (County Offaly) - Leap Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: Strange lights were constantly reported floating around within the building before conversion into a family home in 1991. Since then, other ghosts have been reported within, including an old man seen sitting by the fireplace and a woman in a red dress.

Coote?

Location: Cootehall (County Roscommon) - Castle Coote
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The upper part of the tower attached to the house is said to be haunted by a man from the Cromwellian period, possibly by the name of Coote.

An old picture of a ghostly child standing by a bed.

Radiant Boy

Location: Corby (Cumbria) - Corby Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring), 1800s onwards
Further Comments: Appearing early in the morning, and/or Christmas night (although not every year) this ghostly child has golden hair and glows like an angel. Some believe that those who see him are blessed with wealth and power but also cursed with a violent death. Drumming is also said to be occasionally heard; it is speculated that the radiant boy creates the sounds.

Corfe Castle, Dorset.

Headless Woman

Location: Corfe Castle (Dorset) - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Woman and horse unknown, male figure seen 15 May 2009, around 01:30h
Further Comments: The terrifying shade of the headless woman walks the hill near the gateway of where this castle stands. The same ghost may also be responsible for the lights that flit across the ruins at night, or they could be caused by phantasmal Royalists that used the castle in 1643. The sound of a galloping phantom horse has been heard at the bottom of the castle hill. A cloaked figure with a brown floppy hat was observed by a local man in 2009 while he was picking worms for fishing. The figure was in the middle of a field but vanished after the witness took his eyes off the man for a few seconds.

Burning Family

Location: Corgarff (Aberdeenshire) - Corgarff Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A family and servants here were caught in a fire and burnt alive - the shades of all twenty-seven people have yet to leave the building and can periodically be heard screaming.

Marquis of Anglesey

Location: Cowes (Isle of Wight) - West Cowe Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Marquis lived here until 1854 and is now blamed when locked doors are found open. A phantom soldier in old fashioned dress uniform also resides in a ground floor room.

Grey Old Man

Location: Craighouse (Argyll and Bute) - Craighouse Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen peering out of the ruins, this grey haired old man was thought to have been involved in the building of the castle.

Starving Boy

Location: Crail (Fife) - Balcomie Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locked in the dungeon some 500 years ago and forgotten about, this child starved to death. He has been briefly sighted around the castle (on one occasion, sitting upon the castle's flagpole), and heard playing an old tin-whistle.

Howling Hound

Location: Cramond (Lothian) - Barnbougle Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to death of the local laird
Further Comments: This dog accompanied his master to the Crusades; the howling was first heard when his owner died on the battlefield.

Image from 'Spectropia or, Surprising spectral illusions' by J H Brown.

Mother with Child

Location: Crathes (Aberdeenshire) - Crathes Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to death in the family
Further Comments: This green woman would appear and move across a room to pick up a phantom child located in the fireplace before vanishing.

Horseman

Location: Crichton (Lothian) - Crichton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This horse backed rider enters the building though the original gate, that is now walled up. The ghost of Sir William Crichton is also said to haunt the site, walking towards castle tower, manifesting on the date of his death (although that date is not certain, only being recorded as prior to July 1454).

Smoky Rabbit

Location: Cromarty (Highland) - Old castle (no longer standing, replaced by Cromarty House)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1770s
Further Comments: Several strange shades frequented the castle, including a rabbit that would turn into smoke, a small pixie-like bearded man, and heavy pacing.

Possibly Mary

Location: Crossford (Lanarkshire) - Craignethan Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mary unknown, other activity circa 1990s
Further Comments: The headless woman reported in the castle grounds could be Mary Queen of Scots, though her relationship with the building appears to be minimal. Workmen on the site claimed to have seen a figure in the ruins and heard voices. A visitor alone in the caponier during the 1990s could hear a woman singing, although another visitor nearby failed to hear anything. Another story says that a Historic Scotland work crew could hear the sounds of a banquet emerging from the hall but could see no one there.

WW2 Soldiers

Location: Cruden Bay (Aberdeenshire) - Slains Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Soldiers dressed in Second World War uniform have been seen around the castle area, and the site is also said to be haunted by a horse and carriage. As a side note, Bram Stoker is said to have been partly inspired to write Dracula after seeing the castle while staying at Cruden Bay.

Wicked Priest

Location: Cullaby (Northumberland) - Cullaby Castle (pseudonym)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost was once bricked up in the castle's walls, however the wall was knocked down, and the spirit freed to create havoc.

Piper

Location: Culrain (Highland) - Carbisdale Castle (aka Castle of Spite)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Though only a hundred years old, the castle is said to be haunted by a traditional piper and a lady in white, the latter named as Duchess Blair (or Betty, for short).