The Paranormal Database

Miller and Wife

Location: Cabrach (Moray) - Former mill near the town converted into a house named 'Milltown', close to Cabrach parish Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After the death of the miller, the sounds of footsteps and dragging could be heard coming from the empty mill. When the building was converted, locals hoped that the haunting would stop, but it was not the case. The miller's wife has also been seen at least once, standing outside the building.

The Murder Stone

Location: Cadoxton (South Glamorgan) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Stone still present, sighting of ghosts pre 1920s?
Further Comments: A stone monument was erected in the churchyard in memory of Margaret Williams, whose murdered body was found on nearby marshland in 1822. Because she was pregnant at the time of her death, it was widely believed her lover and her killer were the same man. Nonetheless, Margaret's killer was never caught. Two ghostly forms were reported by the stones, thought to be of Margaret and her former lover.

Organ Player

Location: Caister (Lincolnshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: Recorded in the 1960s, this entity was heard to play the organ and pace the empty church.

Calverley Rises Again

Location: Calverley (West Yorkshire) - St Wilfrid's churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local boys are said to have once believed that the ghost of Walter Calverley could be summoned by chanting 'Old Calverley, Old Calverley, I have thee by the ears, I'll cut thee into collops, unless thee appears'. After this, pins and crumbs would be sprinkled across the ground before one person would walk up to the church door and whistle through the keyhole.

Parson Richards

Location: Camborne (Cornwall) - Parish church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1800
Further Comments: Two miners spotted Parson Richards outside his church, wailing while rattling chains. Concerned for his wellbeing, the miners approached, only to be berated by Richards who claimed to be chasing an evil spirit to hell. The church also contained a well that bestowed wisdom to the villagers, although when mines were sunk nearby, the water drained away.

White or Black Figures

Location: Camborne (Cornwall) - St Martin and St Meriadoc Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: Two women passing by the church late at night both spotted something strange but did not mention it until they reached their destination. One said that she had seen a couple of white figures appear by the tower and disappear by the rectory, while the other woman claimed to have seen a procession of figures in black wearing Quaker hats.

Black Tom

Location: Camerton (Cumbria) - St Peter's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Black Tom may have had the title of 'lord', but as a folk hero some compared him to Robin Hood. Tom is said to have constructed secret tunnels around Camerton, where the lord and his whippet now haunt.

Witch in Poke Bonnet

Location: Canewdon (Essex) - Between church and river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Moonless nights
Further Comments: A faceless witch wearing a poke bonnet is reported to appear on moonless nights and travels through the west gate heading towards the river. Once there, the entity walks across the water. A stone is said to fall from the church tower every time a local witch dies.

Woman in Blue

Location: Canewdon (Essex) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring), blue woman seen 1987
Further Comments: A woman in a blue dress was briefly glimpsed in 1987, though quickly vanished when the witness jumped up from her seat. Legend also says if you round run the church three times anti clockwise on 31 October, you travel through time.

Happy Man

Location: Canterbury (Kent) - Unnamed church residence along Burgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: A property along this road was haunted by an unhappy man who made himself frequently seen. A skeleton was discovered the area, after which the phantom took on a cheerier disposition.

James Murrell Gathering Herbs

Location: Canvey Island (Essex) - Hadleigh Castle, Little Norman Church area?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: 'Cunning' Murrell, the local wise man/warlock, died in 1860 and was buried at the church. His ghost has been reported in this area, picking herbs and placing them in a basket.

Children Singing

Location: Capel St Mary (Suffolk) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: A witness staying nearby heard children singing 'Ring a Ring of Roses' at half past midnight, though could not find anyone when she investigated further.

Cyhyraeth

Location: Cardiff (South Glamorgan) - Church, St Mellons
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-eighteenth century
Further Comments: A herald of death, the cries of the Cyhyraeth would be heard moving towards the church, the route of the entity denoting the direction the body would be taken.

Pulling of Clothes

Location: Cardiff (South Glamorgan) - Cottage between Parish Church and Baptist Chapel, Lisvane
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: November 1882
Further Comments: Occupants in this home had bed clothes pulled off during the night by an unseen agency. Chairs would be heard scraping across floors, and bottles and crockery smashed.

Sitting Figure

Location: Cardiff (South Glamorgan) - Stone cross near the church, St Mellons
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A ghostly figure was said to sit on the cross.

Stone of Dismissal

Location: Carlton (Nottinghamshire) - Devil's Stone (outside the church?)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: In a reversal of the normal tale associated with these stones, if a witness spotted the Devil nearby, she or he had to run around the stone to dismiss Old Nick. The stone was also said to be haunted by a woman in white who had been sacrificed on it.

St Peters Church, Carlton Colville.

Voice calling 'John'

Location: Carlton Colville (Suffolk) - St Peters Church, the area of
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Over the period of a week, the residents of the neighbourhood could hear a female voice calling out 'John! John!' The voice was slowly heard less, until it was heard no more.

Pale Girl

Location: Castle Combe (Wiltshire) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The shade of an unknown girl walks around the gravestones of this church.

Father Dougal

Location: Castle Donington (Leicestershire) - Church of St Edward King and Martyr
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 1950
Further Comments: A brother and sister, visiting the church to arrange the altar flowers, spoke at length to a vicar who they did not recognise. The man told them that he was once based at the church but left in 1906. When the pair later returned home, they discovered that the vicar died in 1906.

Old Lady

Location: Chalfont St Peter (Warwickshire) - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom woman in a mob cap was said to have ceased appearing at the village pub and started manifesting in the local church.

Drowning by Boggart

Location: Chapel le Dale (North Yorkshire) - Hurtle Pot, a pool located near the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghost here would be blamed if anyone drowned in the pool's deep water.

Grey Lady

Location: Chardstock (Devon) - Area between the churchyard and the vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This little grey lady occasionally moves between the two buildings.

Edgeborrow

Location: Chatham (Kent) - Hill House (demolished late eighteenth century, site was north of Chatham Church, now Medway Council Offices)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa mid seventeenth century
Further Comments: Kenrick Edisbury, nicknamed Edgeborrow, was Surveyor of the Navy between December 1632 and September 1638. After Edgeborrow died, he was said to haunt his former bedroom. Samuel Pepys spent a night in this room but did not see the ghost (although he was briefly unnerved by a pillow).

A sketch of a phantom cowled figure by Wayne Lowden.

Abbot of Croxden

Location: Checkley (Staffordshire) - Checkley Church and churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: A cowled figure that was seen standing at the altar of the church was also thought to haunt the churchyard, though he was felt and not seen whilst outside. The vicar, after observing the entity, thought it could be the Abbot of Croxden who was buried within the building.

Toppling Tower

Location: Chelmondiston (Suffolk) - St. Andrew's church
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Varies (see below)
Further Comments: St. Andrew's church tower was cursed by a local witch. First it burned down, and when rebuild was struck by lightning and burned down again. To prevent this from happening a third time, a large square tower was built, only to be hit by a bomb during the Second World War.