The Paranormal Database

Boadicea

Location: Quidenham (Norfolk) - Low mound, around 300 metres from the church, known as Viking's Mound
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: This site has been named as another contender for the final resting place of Queen Boudicca.

Christopher Bloor

Location: Rainham (Kent) - Lane leading to Bloor Place (no longer standing) and near church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Christopher Bloor had a reputation for being a seducer of women. This proved to be Christopher's undoing - he was decapitated by a posse of local men with wives with whom he had slept. The lane was haunted by the headless Bloor, who reputedly drove his coach pulled by headless horses, and ghostly hoofbeats heard around the church.

Wild William Darrell

Location: Ramsbury (Wiltshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Midnight
Further Comments: It is reported that if anyone counts one hundred studs on the north door at midnight, Wild William Darrell will emerge.

The Coronation of the Virgin with the Trinity,

Armless Woman

Location: Rathkeale (County Limerick) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Woman unknown, Virgin and Child 2009
Further Comments: A female spectre which haunted the churchyard was so terrifying that all who looked upon her died soon after. A local man banished the shade by slicing off her arm with his sword and praying for the rest of the night. In 2009 the Times newspaper carried the story that a tree stump contains the image of the Virgin Mary and Child, and that hundreds of visitors had come to the area to pray.

Pennies from Heaven

Location: Reddish (Greater Manchester) - St Elizabeth's Churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: May 1981
Further Comments: Witnesses heard dozens of coins rain down in the churchyard, falling from an empty sky, though some were quite deeply embedded in the earth.

Sound of Horses

Location: Redditch (Worcestershire) - The Lane, Church Hill South
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the phantom horses heard in this area belonged to Roman riders who fell into a large pit trap dug by their enemies.

Woman on Path

Location: Reigate (Surrey) - St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: A ghostly girl has been seen on the pathway leading up to the church. Singing has also been reported when the church has been locked up.

Cockatrice

Location: Renwick (Cumbria) - Church
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1733?
Further Comments: This mythical creature, made up of pieces of dragon, serpent, and cockerel, took up residence in the church when it fell into ruin. A local man named John Tallantire (or Tallantine) killed the creature using a branch from a rowan tree (or hawthorn), though some locals say it is still seen flying about at dusk.

The Giant's Grave

Location: Rhayader (Powys) - St Clement's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A mass grave in the churchyard reputedly contains a thighbone that measured over a metre in length.

Tall Man

Location: Rhos-y-garth (Dyfed) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: One of several churches in Wales where the Devil was once said to have appeared in the form of a man with an evil looking face (or the head of a dog), with his appearance causing illness to witnesses.

An orchard haunting.

Lydia Atley

Location: Ringstead (Northamptonshire) - Old orchard & near the churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1850 onwards
Further Comments: Rumoured to have been murdered by the village butcher (though it was never proven), the restless spirit of Lydia was seen around the area where her body was discovered. The spirit would also sometimes be seen moving towards the churchyard but would always turn around just prior to reaching it.

Roman Soldier

Location: Risca (Gwent) - St Mary's Church Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: A local theatre troupe that used the hall for rehearsals and productions reported a phantom Roman soldier and hearing a voice that would call their names.

Relocated

Location: Rochdale (Greater Manchester) - St Chads church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twelfth century
Further Comments: Construction of the church was originally planned on the other side of the river, but supernatural forces (possibly taking the form of 'strange-looking men') had other ideas and the materials were moved to the site the building now stands.

Baum Rabbit

Location: Rochdale (Greater Manchester) - St Mary's Churchyard (no longer present)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century?
Further Comments: A ghostly bunny haunted this area for many years and was reportedly shot at least once - the buckshot passing straight through its body. The ghostly figure of a man was also reported at the churchyard, drifting slowly above the ground.

Thin Outline

Location: Rochdale (Greater Manchester) - Toad Lane, and area around St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: The shady outline of an unknown man is said to have appeared here several times during the 1970s.

Mrs Dyer

Location: Rodbourne Cheney (Wiltshire) - Church area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen moving towards the church, this spectral lady carries in her arms a small baby. She is said to be Mrs Dyer, a local woman convicted and executed for infanticide.

Headless Horsemen

Location: Rodmarton (Gloucestershire) - Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This church was said to have been relocated due to the intervention of headless horsemen.

No Females

Location: Roscrea (County Tipperary) - Inishnameo, ruined church (may also be known as Monahinsha?)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two islands could be found here. On the larger island, it was said that no female of any species could land upon it. On the smaller island, no one could die - the sick would become worse until they could not stand the pain, only dying after being removed from the site by friends.

Lychgate

Location: Rostherne (Cheshire) - St Mary's Church
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Newly married couples avoided passing through the Lychgate as it was believed the marriage would fail, either by discontent or death.

Seath Mor's Stones

Location: Rothiemurcus (Highland) - Churchyard (aka Old Doune Church Burial Ground)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The stones resting on Seath Mor Sgorfhiaclach's grave are said to be cursed, with misfortune befalling anyone who touched them. An iron cage now covers the grave and stones; while some say it is to protect against people accidentally invoking the wrath of the curse, the cage's placement may be due to the stones being stolen (and later recovered) in the 1980s.

The Rudston Monolith

Location: Rudston (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Churchyard
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The tallest monolith in the UK, one tale states the stone was thrown by the Devil with the intent of knocking down the nearby church. Another tale states that the rock was dropped from the sky, killing one or two people intent on desecrating the graves.

Rainaldus the Chaplain

Location: Runwell (Essex) - Our Lady of the Running Well parish church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January - April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Rainaldus is said to have practiced black magic, and that the Devil came for him (with the north door of the church still showing the scorch marks created by the Devil's hands). Now the ghost of a monk with a scarred face, dressed in black, haunts the area; and the old Chaplain is blamed.

Two White Ladies

Location: Ruston (Northamptonshire) - Site of St Peter's church (demolished 1799)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa early twentieth century
Further Comments: One of these phantoms was said to be a jilted Italian princess, and the other Lady Cullen, cursed by the former woman while they both lived. There were also stories of the site being haunted by a coach and horses, which once a year tore through the area and would vanish at Lady Cullen's grave.

Headless Woman

Location: Ruswarp (North Yorkshire) - Churchyard wall, Prospect Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This headless phantom sits upon an old wall here.

Misty Horseman

Location: Ruyton (Shropshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sometimes, around midnight, a thick mist rolls into the churchyard. Soon after, a headless horseman rides in, vanishing into the mist, heading towards an old castle keep.