The Paranormal Database

Pooka would often take the form of a horse.

Pooka

Location: Poulaphouca Reservoir (County Wicklow) - Beneath the waters
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Pre-1944
Further Comments: This valley may have been home to a pooka before being flooded to create the reservoir.

Rotting Sea Serpent

Location: Praa Sands (Cornwall) - Beach
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1933
Further Comments: The body of what was thought to be a sea monster was later identified as a rotting basking shark.

Strange Dog

Location: Preston (Lancashire) - Exact area not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: December 1847
Further Comments: Following the death of sheep in the area, a large number of people hunted and killed a strange dog of 'unusual size and very strongly made'. The creature also had forelegs as thick as a man's wrist.

Serpent?

Location: Preston (Lancashire) - River Ribble
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 1999
Further Comments: Sheila Smith reported seeing a serpent in the waters of the river. It was thought that the creature was likely to have been an eel.

Black Shape

Location: Red Wharf Bay (Gwynedd) - Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: February 1975
Further Comments: Staff at the Minydon hotel watched a ten meter long black shape swim by, both the front part of the creature and the end of the tail protruding from the water. Several other sightings of strange sea creatures were reported in the area throughout the year.

Fake Bear

Location: Rendlesham (Suffolk) - Green in the forest
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: March 2009
Further Comments: In what was later to be revealed to be a hoax, local press carried a story that a family spotted what they first thought was a large dog moving through the trees. As they watched it, they realised that the creature was larger than any dog. Experts talking to the local press said it was unlikely that a bear could survive in the forest.

Pond in Rendlesham, Suffolk.

Rake

Location: Rendlesham (Suffolk) - Pond shaped like an 'S'
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This freshwater mermaid was reputed to be armed with a rake, ready to drag in any children who strayed too close.

Portrait of a rather cross cockatrice.

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.

Beast of Bodalog

Location: Rhayader (Powys) - Area around Bodalog Farm
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: September 1988 to December 1988
Further Comments: Thirty five sheep were killed over several months by an unknown creature which dispatched livestock with a bite just below the neck. It was speculated that the creature came from the nearby river at night. Due to flattened grass around the kills, some speculated it was the work of a large snake.

Mermaid

Location: Rinns of Islay (Argyll and Bute) - Small island off Rinns of Islay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: There are several entities said to haunt this small island, including a mermaid, the sound of rattling chains, and water horses. A woman supervising cattle on the island was attacked by something tall and hairy, with no skin upon its face. She managed to survive by throwing boiling water over the entity and creating a magic circle, remaining inside it.

Afanc

Location: River Conwy (Clwyd) - Llyn yr Afranc (aka Beaver Pool)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Afanc was a monster, thought to resemble a beaver, which attacked locals and dragged them to the bottom of the river. The beast was defeated after being tricked into sleeping by a fair maiden.

River Gipping, Suffolk.

Gipping Girl

Location: River Gipping (Suffolk) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mermaid that frequented the Gipping would prey on children who played near the deeper waters of the river.

Strange Animals

Location: Rochester (Kent) - Blue Bell Hill and surrounding area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: An ostrich was seen by a driver during the 1990s near the haunted hill, but when he stopped to investigate, the creature had changed into a large black cat which ran away. The cat (or a similar one) had been previously seen in the area, as has a large hairy beast, thought by the witness to be a gorilla. During the same decade, a UFO was reportedly observed above Blue Bell Hill; on a summer evening, a descending light swerved and vanished above some trees.

Howard Pyle, The Mermaid, 1910.

Mermaid

Location: Rostherne Mere (Cheshire) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Easter Sunday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Her motivation unknown, this mermaid returns once a year to sing and ring a bell hidden deep underwater.

Rothesay

Location: Rothesay (Argyll and Bute) - Shoreline within a mile of town
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 19 (or 12) July 1826
Further Comments: Three men spotted a mermaid carefully combing her long black hair along the shoreline. One of the witnesses also reported a large sea monster nearby, which had the body of a man 'but with the head of a brute'.

Horse o' Hillaroo

Location: Rothiesholm, Stronsay (Orkney) - Mound of Hillaroo
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A winged horse was said to be found atop of the mound of Hillaroo. The horse would swoop down on unlucky travellers, favouring children, and carry them off to an unknown fate.

Nuggle

Location: Rousay (Orkney) - Loch of Knitchen
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Appearing as a beautiful black horse, this creature would hide amongst 'real' horses near the water's edge. True to water horse form, if anyone mounted the beast it would head straight for the water to drown the unsuspecting rider.

Kentish Apeman

Location: Royal Tunbridge Wells (Kent) - Tunbridge Wells Common
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1940s onwards, last seen October 2012
Further Comments: A two and a half metre tall hairy hominid with glowing red eyes has periodically been reported in this area since the Second World War.

Lizard

Location: Rufford (Lancashire) - Woods around the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It has been reported that woodland around this area is home of a green and red lizard the size of a large dog. The creature is also said to have been seen digging in the parish church...

Water Horse

Location: Rysa (Orkney) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Legend says this island was home to a water horse, although nothing more is known.

Cockatrice

Location: Saffron Walden (Essex) - Exact location unknown
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This medieval creature which killed people with its eyes took up residence near the town, only to be defeated by a man wearing mirrored armour.

Barking Beast

Location: Salcombe (Devon) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 1970
Further Comments: A serpent like creature which was reported in the area was claimed to be a large conger eel, though this would not explain the strange barking sounds that were also accredited to the sea monster.

Catgarookey

Location: Salisbury (Wiltshire) - Laverstock area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 2005
Further Comments: This sixty centimetre tall creature, christened 'Catgarookey' because it looks like a cat-kangaroo-monkey hybrid, was spotted several times in the region. The fact that the animal possessed a black and yellow tail with a white tip suggests the 'beast' is little more than an escaped racoon family member.

An old woodcut of a hairy man.

Wild Man of the Woods

Location: Salisbury (Wiltshire) - Woodland near the town
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1877
Further Comments: A wild man who lived in the woods was shot at when he attacked and tried to kidnap a local farmer's wife. The creature was never seen again.

Headless Bird Man

Location: Saltwood (Kent) - Sandling Park
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: November 1963
Further Comments: A group of teenagers ran from a creature that emerged from behind a tree and approached them. It was described as man shaped but headless, completely black, had webbed feet, and a pair of large bat wings. Prior to this, they had watched a mysterious light flickering about the sky.