The Paranormal Database

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

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Strange Creatures from around the Isle

Charging Beast

Location: Gare Loch (Argyll and Bute) - Mouth of the loch
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1918, and pre-1527
Further Comments: Two fishermen out collecting lobster pots reported seeing an unidentified creature which rose thirty feet out of the water and charged towards them. They quickly rowed ashore. A sixteenth century text states that a water horse the size of a greyhound emerged and killed three men with as many swipes of its tail; the remainder of the group survived by running away or climbing the trees.

British Bigfoot

Location: Gentleshaw (Staffordshire) - Wooded area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 2007
Further Comments: A small group of teenagers sitting in a car spotted a hairy humanoid in woodland close by. They drove off at speed, only to be pursued by the creature, even though it remained in the tree line.

Dead Sea Serpent

Location: Girvan (Ayrshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 1953
Further Comments: When fishermen discovered the rotting body of a creature just under ten metres in length, possessing a head of a camel and a neck resembling a giraffe's, the media immediately compared the creature with the Loch Ness Monster. However, natural history scientists dismissed the creature as either a decaying whale or basking shark.

Fachan

Location: Glen Etive (Highland) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown (Fachan), late eighteenth century (MacChallum)
Further Comments: This mythical creature has set up home in Etive, though it is said to travel for miles around the area of the Glen. It is described as possessing only one leg, a single hand which protrudes from the middle of its chest, and a solitary eye in the centre of the head. The famed hunter MacChallum a Chronain made his home in the Glen and was reputedly the last man to understand the fairy ways, using his skill to track a woman who had been kidnapped by the little people.

Beithir

Location: Glencoe (Argyll and Bute) - Ben Vair (aka Ben Vehir), in a mountain to the south of the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A beithir is an unknown savage animal, sometimes thought to be a serpent or dragon. One such creature was said to have made its home in the mountainous region.

Drowned John

Location: Glenelg (Highland) - John MacInnes' Loch (six miles out of village)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Struggling to maintain his farm, John MacInnes was told by a strange being that help would be provided, but certain conditions would have to be followed. John agreed, and a short time later found a stray horse which he used to plough his land. He would bless the creature every evening and it continued to work, but unfortunately on one occasion forgot. The horse picked John up and dashed into the loch, where man and beast vanished forever.

Humped Creature

Location: Glenelg (Highland) - Waters between town and Lochourn
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 20 August 1872
Further Comments: A party of seven people rowing across the water encountered a black, multi-humped creature. It was described as moving almost erratically, sometimes showing six humps, sometimes only revealing its head. The beast moved quite close to the small boat, startling one of the passengers to such an extent that she refused to make the return journey by sea and walked the thirteen miles journey back home by moonlight over wild tracks. The creature was reported several more times during the same month by other witnesses.

Rhino-Like Creature

Location: Glinsk (County Galway) - Lough Dubh, aka Black's Lake, between Glinsk and Roscommon
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: March 1962
Further Comments: A cow-sized creature was hooked by a man and his son out fishing along the river - the monster emerged from the water after the younger of the two snagged it with his hook. The strange beast was described as having short stumpy legs, small ears, and a single horn protruding from its nose.

Water Horse

Location: Glyn Neath (West Glamorgan) - Area where rivers meet
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A traveller once climbed on the back of a white stallion in this area, which flew him many miles before fading into mist and dissipating.

Yellow Monster

Location: Golspie (Highland) - Sea of Dunrobin coastline
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Early 1870s
Further Comments: Several witnesses reported seeing a long necked sea monster along this coastline. It was estimated to be between twelve and fifteen metres in length, and brown and yellow in colour.

Turtle-like Monster

Location: Goodrington (Devon) - Off coast at Saltern Cove
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 27 July 2010, around 15:30h
Further Comments: This creature was described as turtle-like, having large front flippers, small back flippers and a shell, but was also said to have a small head on a thin, two foot long neck. It was around 27.5 metres off the coast, and it was said that fish beached themselves to escape the creature.


An Irish cryptid.

Water Horse

Location: Gort (County Galway) - Coole Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lake is said to be home of a mysterious water monster resembling a horse.

Giant Eel

Location: Gort (County Galway) - Lough Graney
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: At least one swimmer in the Lough has been chased by a wriggling water monster, named by locals as a giant eel.

Serpent

Location: Gougane Barra (County Cork) - Nearby Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Sixth century
Further Comments: St. Finbarr arrived in this area and found a serpent living in the lake. He caught the beast and threw it to one side. It landed many miles away, the impression of its body in the earth filling with water and becoming Lough Allua.

Rotting Carcass

Location: Gourock (Inverclyde) - River Clyde
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Summer 1942
Further Comments: The decaying body of a strange creature, with neck as long as the body, was discovered by two local council workers. They estimated the length to be around twenty-eight feet (just under nine metres). The men were ordered to destroy the corpse by the Royal Navy, who were using the area at the time. Another serpent sighting in the area occurred in 1913; this time the creature was alive and well and swimming in the river.

Sea Horse

Location: Gower Peninsula (West Glamorgan) - Waters of Fall Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: This creature possessed a long neck (the only part of the beast above the water line), down which a lengthy mane ran. The total length of the monster was estimated to be nine metres.


Wooden carving of a knight fighting a griffin.

Guardian Griffin

Location: Griffydam (Leicestershire) - Old well
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This mystical beast once set up home at the well and attacked anyone who tried to draw water. A wandering knight fought the creature, killing the part lion, part eagle beast with arrows from afar.

Hopping Roo

Location: Guiseley (West Yorkshire) - Hollings Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 27 April 1989
Further Comments: Three motorists reported seeing a 1.5 metre tall kangaroo jumping down the road. The creature narrowly missed a car and vanished over a wall.

Fox-Headed Creature

Location: Hale (Lancashire) - Rivington Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 30 April 2012, 05:00h
Further Comments: Sue Langham reported seeing a creature around the size of a small dog with a fox-like head and muscular body. The witness said the animal was making the sound of a 'strangled wolf'. Earlier in the month the creature (or something similar) was spotted along Belmont Road.

Wild Man

Location: Hangley Cleave (Somerset) - Barrow
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One man reportedly saw a large hairy creature with pale eyes, which resembled a man. Other sightings have come from a nearby quarry. One theory is that these creatures are the ghosts of Neanderthals.

Long Creature

Location: Helensburgh (Argyll and Bute) - Eastern part of the beach, mouth of the Clyde
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: February 1962
Further Comments: Seen as it crossed the beach and vanished into the sea, the creature was said to have a head around a metre in length. Large footprints were left in the sand. A strong unpleasant smell also remained in the air, and the witness's dog was in an 'upset' state after the sighting.


Off the coast of Herne Bay, Kent.

Monster Pursuit

Location: Herne Bay (Kent) - Coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Summer 1935
Further Comments: Crowds of holiday makers watched several boats chase a sea serpent across the bay. The creature was said to be brown and yellow in colour, and about twenty feet (six metres) long. It managed to evade and escape the pursuers.


The lesser-known tree Grampus.

Grampus

Location: Highclere (Hampshire) - Church
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tree in the churchyard was home to a Grampus, a kind of water loving animal like a dolphin. After upsetting the locals (by harassing their teenage daughters), a priest was called in and banished the creature for a thousand years.

Wallabies

Location: Highnam (Gloucestershire) - A40
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 23 July 2012
Further Comments: Police warned motorists to watch out for wallabies on the road, after several reports of the small marsupials were made by motorists.

Long Sea Monster

Location: Hilston (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1945
Further Comments: Two sightseers watched a fast moving long creature in the sea here, with a small head and several humps, travelling northwards.

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