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Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Church Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Angry Nun

Location: Chelmsford (Essex) - All Saints Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend persists that if someone is brave enough to quickly circumambulate the church thirteen times at midnight, an angry phantom nun appears.

Bent by the Devil

Location: Chesterfield (Derbyshire) - Church - Crooked Spire
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil, resting against the church, was so taken by the beauty of a bride that he spun around to have a better view, warping the spire in the process. Another story says the first couple to be married in the church were so innocent that they caused the spire to warp. The damage will not be undone until another innocent couple are wed on the site. More recently, people have reported the sensation of being followed as they walk around the church.

The Young

Location: Chesterfield (Derbyshire) - North Wingfield Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: It said that apparitions are occasionally seen carrying young children in their arms.

Disembodied Hand

Location: Chettle (Dorset) - Churchyard and Bloody Shard Gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During a fight with a posse of local gamekeepers, a poacher had his hand severed from his wrist. The hand was buried within the nearby churchyard, but the poacher was sent to London, where he died shortly after. The man's body was never returned to the village, and now his hand is said to crawl around the area trying to find its master.

Former Vicar

Location: Chipping Norton (Oxfordshire) - Church and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged from the church tower for his part in a rebellion, the holy man is still seen walking about his parish.

Roll Call

Location: Chirbury (Shropshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Those who walk twelve times around the church at midnight on this date shall hear the names of the villagers due to die within the following twelve months.


Ruins of Christchurch

Voices

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Christchurch Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: Ghosthunters visiting this site claim to have recorded disembodied voices and orbs that caused large EMP spikes.


Christchurch Priory. Dorset.

Monks

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Christchurch Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The priory and its gardens are said to be home to several phantom monks, including one entity which stands at the top of the tower staircase. During the 1970s, one vicar is said to have watched several ghostly monks carrying a coffin across the graveyard. A local legend says the priory was due to be built on top of St Catherine's Hill, but every night the building materials were moved to the site where the building now stands.


Red House Museum, Christchurch.

Hunted

Location: Christchurch (Dorset) - Red House Museum (was known as Christchurch Workhouse)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This former almshouse is often promoted for its ghost hunting events, although what haunts the site is less well publicised.

Strange Sprite

Location: Church Stowe (Northamptonshire) - St Michael's Church
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: During construction of the church
Further Comments: This religious building was due to be built in a slightly different position, but every night a large fairy appeared and moved the walls. The builders finally gave in and finished the construction where the sprite recommended.

Another Battle Site

Location: Church Stowe (Northamptonshire) - Valley west of Church Stowe
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: John Pegg nominated this area as Boudica's final battle site in 2010 after a landscape analysis.

Relocation

Location: Churchdown (Gloucestershire) - Church upon the hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was due to be built elsewhere, but night after night unseen hands moved the building materials to the top of the hill. The village once self-identified as 'Chosen', perhaps after the supernatural intervention.


The Parish Church of St John Baptist, Cirencester.

Grey Lady

Location: Cirencester (Gloucestershire) - Parish Church of St John Baptist
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A piece of local folklore says that the church is haunted by a grey lady. The ghost, carrying a small posey of newly cut flowers, looks for the grave of her child who fell victim of smallpox.

Drowned Girl

Location: Clacton-on-Sea (Essex) - Baptist Church along Pier Avenue
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1954
Further Comments: The sister of a bride was visible on several photographs, even though she had drowned a dozen years previous.

Woman in Green

Location: Cleethorpes (Lincolnshire) - St. Peter's Avenue (opposite St Peter's Church)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2015, 11:00h (approx)
Further Comments: An older lady in a green coat sat on a bench as a car parallel parked next to her. The driver climbed out of the car, checked they were within the parking zone and turned to comment to the older lady about it being a lovely sunny day. Both lady and bench had gone.

Bells

Location: Cleethorpes (Lincolnshire) - Unidentified church with a well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once believed that bells could be heard ringing deep within the earth if one placed one's ear on the ground.

Indestructible Stone

Location: Cleish (Perth and Kinross) - The Lecture Stone (was quarter mile east from church)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The stone was said to be blessed after three attempts to blow it up with gunpowder failed. It has since been moved to an unknown location.

Nun

Location: Clewer (Berkshire) - Church of England's Childrens Society (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly nun was said to haunt this building, having hanged herself in the dim and distant past. Since demolition of the building, there have been no reports of her in the area.

Anchor

Location: Clonmacnoise (County Offaly) - Unknown church
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During Mass, the congregation at this church were interrupted as an anchor dropped from the sky and caught on the church door. The people investigated and spotted a ship floating above them; one of the crew diving overboard and swimming towards them through the air towards the anchor. The congregation grabbed the sailor, but the bishop demanded that they let him go. As the group released the man, he floated upwards and once on board the ship, someone cut the rope attached to the anchor - the ship sailed off into the sky. The anchor was said to have been on display at the church.

Sophie

Location: Clophill (Bedfordshire) - St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A woman named Sophie is thought to be one of the ghosts that haunt this church. Her coffin was discovered hidden in the nave. A First World War air force mechanic named George is also thought to wander around the headstones, looking for his friend's grave. The church was heavily vandalised in the 1960s and 1970s, with a grave being opened and the human remains placed in a ritual circle - maybe because of this activity, many people report the church has an oppressive atmosphere.

Moved Building

Location: Clowne (Derbyshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was said to have once been located on the opposite side of the road, but unseen hands moved a few dozen metres.


Road between Cobh and Old Church Cemetery.

Funeral Procession

Location: Cobh (County Cork) - Between town and Old Church Cemetery (aka Clonmel Cemetery)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Local white witch Helen Barrett reports that she and others have observed the mass funeral for the victims of the Lusitania as it moves from Cobh to Clonmel.

Small Lad

Location: Cobham (Surrey) - Church Stile House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A former owner of the property reported encountering the ghost of a young boy in the building.

Blue Donkey

Location: Cobham (Surrey) - St Andrew's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: This strangely discoloured creature is reputed to haunt the churchyard.

Charlotte in White Robe

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Charlotte's Well, Berechurch Hall (demolished 1952)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977, winter
Further Comments: Located in a hidden part of the grounds, Charlotte's Well was built for a woman after which it took its name. Charlotte is said to have loved the well so much that she could never leave and is said to have been seen since her death around the bathing pool. She may have last been seen walking around a wooded area in a white dress during the winter of 1977, although there are stories that a phantom woman still appears in the area. A phantom coach is also said to ride around the area.

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