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Church Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Misty Woman

Location: Langley (Berkshire) - Old almshouse near the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1940s
Further Comments: A woman and her three children living at this almshouse heard knocks and bangs at night. A misty figure was also seen standing by a bookcase and standing over one of the children's beds. A medium, Mr Plume, managed to calm the spirit and it was never seen or heard again.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-06-10 | Last updated: 2026-05-16 | ID #7574

Reverend John Arundel-Radford

Location: Lapford (Devon) - St Thomas's Church and neighbourhood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1867 onwards
Further Comments: This psychotic Reverend murdered his curate (but was later acquitted) and demanded that his own body be buried inside his church after his death. This was not to be, and as revenge the Reverend's ghost now stalks the area.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-05-14 | Last updated: 2002-05-14 | ID #947

Footsteps

Location: Laughton (8 miles south of Scunthorpe) (Lincolnshire) - All Saint's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Mysterious footsteps, belonging to a small group of ghostly people, have been heard coming down the staircase in the church tower. A builder repairing the tower refused to work alone after twice encountering the footfalls.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2005-03-19 | Last updated: 2005-03-19 | ID #5956

Kergrim

Location: Launceston (Cornwall) - St Mary Magdalene Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghoul-like Kergrim reportedly frequents this plot of land. Another local myth told of this graveyard is a morbid remedy for a stiff neck - during the last three days of May, the inflected person should visit the grave of the most recently deceased of the opposite sex to collect dew to be rubbed on the sore area.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-12-31 | Last updated: 2002-12-31 | ID #3346


Lawford Church, Essex.

Bride on Other's Photographs

Location: Lawford (Essex) - Church on the hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Appearing on three wedding photographs (though none have been published to the author's knowledge), this ghostly bride is said to have died of a broken heart after discovering her husband had been killed when his horse bolted on route to their wedding. In addition, chanting has sometimes been heard coming from the church as it stands empty.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-09-02 | Last updated: 2000-09-02 | ID #824

Glowing Gravestone

Location: Lawshall (Suffolk) - Churchyard
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Two men reportedly saw a glowing gravestone whilst returning from the pub one evening, though when they returned the following day, they could find no trace of any gravestone that resembled the stone that they had seen.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-09-02 | Last updated: 2000-09-02 | ID #820

Footsteps

Location: Laxton (Nottinghamshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Strange sounds were once heard coming from this church, including footsteps and loud bangs. A ghostly figure was observed by one parson.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-05-11 | Last updated: 2008-05-11 | ID #8570

Voice of Lord Marney

Location: Layer Marney (Essex) - Layer Marney Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Easter (or May) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Legend says that the voice of Lord Marney can be heard echoing around the church.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-30 | Last updated: 2000-08-30 | ID #277

Headless Chicken Runs Blindly

Location: Layer Marney (Essex) - Layer Marney Churchyard
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Christmas (reoccurring)
Further Comments: With an unknown origin, a headless chicken appears and runs blindly around the gravestones.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-09-02 | Last updated: 2000-09-02 | ID #282

Relocated Church

Location: Leake (North Yorkshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Legend says that this church was supposed to be built on top of a local hill, but the Devil insisted on moving the building materials overnight.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2015-11-15 | Last updated: 2015-11-15 | ID #11980

Former Monk

Location: Leatherhead (Surrey) - St Mary and St Nicholas parish church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 1950s
Further Comments: An older church worker told the sexton that a monk-like figure had passed through the church and disappeared through a bricked up doorway in the north wall. The sexton claimed that footsteps would follow him while walking up the aisle, and ceased upon reaching the chancel. Another story claimed a Victorian woman would occasionally appear in the organ loft, looking for the organist who died too bashful to declare his love for her.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-07-11 | Last updated: 2024-04-01 | ID #5244

Two Children

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Private residence near a churchyard, Kirkstall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1993
Further Comments: Two small children appeared at a witness's bedside in the night. Both children were very still and looking at the witness's girlfriend. The witness started to wake her, but terror prevented him. Not wanting to take his eyes off the children, the witness tried to reach the light switch but could not find the button. The children vanished and the witness stayed awake until dawn.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2023-10-29 | Last updated: 2023-10-29 | ID #15157

Golden Haired Woman

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - St Mark's Church, Woodhouse
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa October 1900
Further Comments: A crowd of people gathered to watch a ghostly female figure spotted outside the church, described as having golden hair and sparkling eyes. A woman arrested nearby was named as the 'ghost' and promptly placed in gaol for drunkenness.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2022-04-03 | Last updated: 2022-04-03 | ID #14445

Hooded Figure

Location: Leicester (Leicestershire) - Cathedral Church of St Martin (aka Leicester Cathedral)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Figure unknown, bells circa 1800
Further Comments: This hooded phantom was said to glide around the churchyard and periodically kneel with its head on the ground, as if listening to the earth. Around the start of the nineteenth century, two houses on the site became home to bells which would ring without visible cause.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2015-10-24 | Last updated: 2015-10-24 | ID #11960

Changing Shape

Location: Leicester (Leicestershire) - Freewheeler Club, Churchgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: An exorcist was summoned to this building after staff reported seeing a strange ghost which would change shape.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2005-03-19 | Last updated: 2005-03-19 | ID #5981

Woman

Location: Leicester (Leicestershire) - St Margaret's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1964
Further Comments: One 1960s psychical researcher claimed the church tower to be haunted by a woman who had fallen from the structure.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2024-04-01 | Last updated: 2024-04-01 | ID #15319


Leiston Churchyard, Suffolk.

Gallytrot Leaping over Wall

Location: Leiston (Suffolk) - Near Churchyard
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen by Lady Rendlesham and Lady Walsingham, the shuck appeared at midnight, leapt over the low churchyard wall, and disappeared towards the sand hills.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17 | Last updated: 2000-08-17 | ID #30


An old magic lantern slide showing the inside of Lelant church.

Relocation

Location: Lelant (Cornwall) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During construction, the Devil moved the stones each night to where the church now stands. The church was also said to have been the site of a fairy funeral, witnessed by a fisherman returning home late at night and drawn to the church after seeing the lights on.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2013-01-05 | Last updated: 2013-01-05 | ID #11234

Man with Goatee

Location: Lenton (Nottinghamshire) - Church of St Anthony
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-to-late-twentieth century
Further Comments: This church was said to be home to a phantom man with a goatee. An exorcism performed on the site was said to have been unsuccessful.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-05-05 | Last updated: 2008-05-05 | ID #8491

Evil Short Man

Location: Leominster (Herefordshire) - Grange by the Priory Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Mid 1970s, summer
Further Comments: Something 'male, short and see-through' was said to have jumped on a wall here, scattering the parents and children playing in the area. One witness was said to have called the thing 'absolutely evil'.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2012-12-31 | Last updated: 2012-12-31 | ID #11207

Monk

Location: Leominster (Herefordshire) - Priory Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A hooded figure was observed by one woman. She said that the figure's face was unseen, but the entity's sandals were highly detailed.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2013-03-31 | Last updated: 2013-03-31 | ID #11318

Black Monk

Location: Leonard Stanley (Gloucestershire) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Face concealed under a large hood, this shade frequents the graveyard, though has not been seen in recent years. A nun was also said to haunt the site.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-02-12 | Last updated: 2024-03-30 | ID #3804

Busy Madam Gould

Location: Lew Trenchard (Devon) - Countryside around area, Galford Down, and village church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1800s
Further Comments: A hard worker during her life, after death she was seen on a plough in a field that she once owned. She has also been seen sitting under a tree in her garden, crossing Galford Down, chasing people who stole apples from her lands, chasing the man who disturbed her tomb in the local church, and frequenting the edge of a nearby mine shaft.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-07-03 | Last updated: 2002-07-03 | ID #1572

Thrower

Location: Lewes (Sussex) - All Saint's Church Hall
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Summer 1974
Further Comments: A drummer was left to lock the building up after he and other musicians had used the hall for practice. As the man packed up his drum kit, the hall suddenly became very cold, and the drummer had the urge to flee as quickly as possible. Leaving his kit, the man approached the hall doors where something pushed him in the small of the back. He was sent flying out the doors, landing on the outside pavement.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2005-03-28 | Last updated: 2005-03-28 | ID #5990

Stone Carrying Cat

Location: Leyland (Lancashire) - Site of St Andrews church (not the original church in the story)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Twelfth century
Further Comments: Locals in the nearby village of Whittle-le Woods wanted to build a church, but night after night their stones vanished and reappeared in Leyland. Two villagers stood guard one evening and watched as a large black cat picked up the stones and carried them away. One of the men tried to fight the cat off, but the creature killed him. The villagers gave in and built the church where it stands today.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2009-05-25 | Last updated: 2025-08-02 | ID #9343

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