The Paranormal Database

Intervention

Location: Much Cowarne (Herefordshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This church was due to be built on top of a nearby hill, but an unknown agency relocated the construction materials.

Figure in White

Location: N1 (Greater London) - St Mary's Parish Church, Islington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December 1898 (ghost), January 1899 (large crowd gathers)
Further Comments: After a local paper printed a story concerning the appearance and disappearance of a white figure outside the church on Christmas night, a large crowd of people gathered looking for the entity. A large police presence eventually moved the crowd on.

Cowled Figure

Location: N1 (Greater London) - St Peter's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A grey-white figure with its face covered by a cowl was said to haunt this church.

White Hound

Location: N9 (Greater London) - Edmonton church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The white phantom dog which lurked in this area was harmless unless provoked.

Fire Protection

Location: Nantwich (Cheshire) - Churche's Mansion
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still standing
Further Comments: This house has a salamander carved into the wall to protect it from fire. It appears to have worked; a large blaze in the community in 1583 levelled most of the town but failed to touch the protected home.

Grey Ladies

Location: Napton on the Hill (Warwickshire) - Church
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: While two ghostly Elizabethan ladies traditionally haunt the area, the 1960s sighting of an older lady relates to a woman thought to have died locally about twenty years previous.

Priest

Location: Neston (Cheshire) - Church
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1800s
Further Comments: An unknown priest once arrived here and gave mass before mysteriously vanishing. It was later discovered that his description matched that of a former priest buried in the churchyard.

Bleeding Yew

Location: Nevern (Dyfed) - Yew Tree in churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The second yew tree on the right on entering the churchyard is known as the Bleeding Tree - blood can be seen dripping from the stump left by a severed branch.

Angel, by Giorgio Ghisi.

White Pigs

Location: Nevern (Dyfed) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was due to be constructed close to the river, but an angel appeared and advised that building work should occur at a site where a white pig would be seen. The advice was taken; a white sow and her white piglets were discovered where the church now stands.

Walker

Location: New Ross (County Wexford) - St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 2021
Further Comments: A photograph taken of the church at night revealed a blurred female form walking on a path. Although the 'phantom' is likely a real person caught at a slow shutter speed, several mediums stated the woman's spirit to be trapped in the wall outside the church.

Monk with Long Face

Location: Newby (North Yorkshire) - Newby Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: Another famous photograph of a ghost was taken in this church; Reverend Ken Lord shot an image which showed a tall thin monk with black hollow eyes standing in front of an altar.

All Saints Church, Newcastle.

Jack the Beadle

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) - All Saints Church, Quayside
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Jack was a well-liked member of the community before being caught and tried for removing and selling lead from coffins. A local legend now places Jack's ghost in the churchyard.

Girl in Blue Dress

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) - St Andrew's Churchyard
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A young curate who fell in love with the daughter of a local landowner was now about to set off to see the lass at home when he spotted her walking around the churchyard. The man ran into the churchyard, but she had vanished. The following day he discovered that she had died at home during the night. Though it is said she still walks the area, none have seen her recently.

Newcastle Cathedral.

Knight

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) - St Nicholas Church (now Newcastle Cathedral)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1882
Further Comments: Before this church became Newcastle Cathedral, there were reports of a tall shadowy knight who would walk around day and night, vanishing around corners and pillars. The clank of ghostly armour was also heard.

Detail from Salvator Rosa's painting Scenes of Witchcraft Evening.

Evil Eye

Location: Newchurch (Lancashire) - Local church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This holy building has a large blue eye built into it, to protect against witches and other evils.

Footsteps

Location: Newchurch in Pendle (Lancashire) - St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 12 June 2024, 16:10h
Further Comments: After spotting a black figure standing over one of the graves, a witness started to walk away, only to realise she was being followed down the pathway towards the entrance. The witness heard footsteps close behind so moved to one side, allowing the person to pass. However, when no one appeared, the witness realised the immediate area to be devoid of life.

Invisible Guardians

Location: Newchurch in Rossendale (Lancashire) - Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Invisible workmen, who also guarded the site, worked on the construction of this church. The entities could only be seen by one woman who provided them with water.

Devil's Hoof

Location: Newington (Kent) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hoof print is visible in a stone by the gate. The Devil was once so upset by the sound of the church bells, he climbed the steeple with the intent of stealing them; he slipped and fell, leaving the single piece of evidence behind.

Blue Lady

Location: Newport (Gwent) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A lady wearing a blue dress or veil is seen in a church yard where a local tsunami washed away many of the graves. It is thought that the phantom woman once lived in the village and would look out of the church tower towards the sea, hoping for her sailor husband to return.

Tapping

Location: Newton Longville (Buckinghamshire) - Telephone box outside St Faith's Church graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Users of this telephone box have reported the sound of footsteps walking up to it and someone rapping on the glass, even though nothing can be seen.

Headless Farmer

Location: Ninfield (Sussex) - Churchyard & area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1966
Further Comments: A disagreement between two brothers ended abruptly when one decapitated the other with a scythe in the churchyard here - folklore says the headless brother has been known to make comeback appearances. During renovation work on a nearby building in the 1960s, two workmen reported seeing a tall figure wearing old-fashioned farmers attire, but with a missing face. A plumber working locally around the same time also reported a similar figure.

Ringing

Location: North Benfleet (Essex) - Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 06 May 1958
Further Comments: The church bells were heard to ring, even though they were cracked and the bell rope removed. When investigated, the church was found to be dark and locked.

Ghost in Waiting

Location: North Leigh (Oxfordshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Not as yet!
Further Comments: Two effigies within the church, Sir William Wilcote and his wife Lady Elizabeth Blacket, are said to have once had their hands close together, but now they farther away. When the distance becomes too great, the Lady Blacket will return to haunt the village.

Moved Foundations

Location: North Otterington (North Yorkshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church here was intended to be built closer to Thornton-le-Moor but the Devil moved the stones to where the church was finally constructed.

Rain Summoning

Location: North Uist (Outer Hebrides) - Cross shaped stone near St Mary's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once believed that by raising this stone, rain would fall, which would then cease when lowered again.