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

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Strange Creatures from around the Isle

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.


ID #4391, last updated 2003-06-28


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.


ID #5442, last updated 2004-09-16


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.


ID #1785, last updated 2002-07-16

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.


ID #11054, last updated 2012-07-29

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.


ID #4811, last updated 2003-12-24

Scapasaurus

Location: Holm (Orkney) - Deepdale
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: December 1941
Further Comments: The rotting corpse of a basking shark that washed up on the beach was mistaken as a Scapasaurus or sea monster, killed by depth charges.


ID #11095, last updated 2012-08-26


Medieval boar.

Boar

Location: Holmrook (Cumbria) - Forest
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Wild boar have been reported living in this area of woodland.


ID #6811, last updated 2006-04-12

Bigfoot

Location: Hopwas (Staffordshire) - Woodland
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 24 January 2015, 19:15h
Further Comments: According to the local press, a man walking his dogs through this woodland encountered a seven foot (2.13 metre) tall hairy biped. The creature walked across the track ahead of the witness and could be heard moving through the undergrowth.


ID #11743, last updated 2015-02-08

Water Horse

Location: Hoy (Orkney) - Pegal Burn
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This creature would attack anyone using the bridge over the burn at night.


ID #11096, last updated 2012-08-26

Water Horse

Location: Hoy (Orkney) - Runsigill Hill, Radwick
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The water horse that lived on the hill would attack people travelling along the road to Longhope.


ID #11092, last updated 2012-08-26


An old postcard showing the Scapa coastline.

Soft Landing

Location: Hoy (Orkney) - Scapa Flow
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Attack in 1850s, diver sighting unknown
Further Comments: A young lad sitting on the rocks claimed he was attacked by a sea monster with a horse's mane - it tried (unsuccessfully) to clamp its teeth around his legs. Many years later, a diver reported descending to investigate a sunken German ship, only to realise he was standing on the back of a large sea monster that had made its home in the wreak.


ID #4383, last updated 2003-06-28

Thick Necked Creature

Location: Hull (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1927-1930s
Further Comments: While travelling along the coast in heavy fog, the crew of a steamship spotted what they first mistook for a mast jutting out of the water. The 'mast' then moved to the side of the ship, the men realising that it was the neck of a large creature. It then drew a large black body from out the water, then dived and vanished. Sightings of the creature continued for several years.


ID #5440, last updated 2004-09-16

Wallaby

Location: Illkestshall St Lawrence (Suffolk) - Field, and roads near primary school
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 2025
Further Comments: Caught on video hopping across a field, this wallaby would also be spotted near a local school. The creature left the area after residents were asked to call the police or RSPCA if the macropod materialised.


ID #16308, last updated 2026-01-31


Carving of a merman in Chichester's St Mary's hospital.

Sea Folk

Location: Inchkeith (Fife) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area around the island was said to be home to many mermaids and kelpies.


ID #12982, last updated 2018-09-05

Four Metre Eel

Location: Inchnadamph (Highland) - River in the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: November 2003
Further Comments: This oversized eel (or eel-like creature) was seen swimming in the river - locals have claimed the creature has been around for the last ten years or so, both here and by Loch Assynt.


ID #5062, last updated 2004-03-13

Coiled Serpent

Location: Instow (Devon) - Water between town and Bideford Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1911
Further Comments: This creature was seemingly disturbed by a passing boat and swam away, revealing rows of black fins that ran down the side of its twenty to thirty metre long body.


ID #4396, last updated 2003-06-28


The River Ness passing through Inverness, Scotland.

First Nessie Sighting

Location: Inverness (Highland) - River Ness
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: AD 580
Further Comments: Contrary to popular belief, it was in the River Ness and not Loch Ness that St Columba drove away a water monster which had attacked and killed a local man. When told about the attack, the Saint asked one of his followers to swim across the river to fetch a boat on the opposite bank. As the creature surfaced to eat its latest victim, St Columba made the sign of the cross and the creature fled.


ID #5411, last updated 2004-09-13


London Road in Ipswich.

Kangaroo

Location: Ipswich (Suffolk) - London Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 12 September 2011, around 16:00h
Further Comments: A driver and passenger reported seeing a young kangaroo travelling along a busy Ipswich road.


ID #10566, last updated 2011-09-17

Man Eaten

Location: Isle of Arran (Ayrshire) - Thirty miles (south?) from Island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 08 February 1827
Further Comments: A Quebec trading vessel claimed to have had a man consumed by a sixty-foot (18.3 metre) long serpent, as thick as a hogshead cask.


ID #14929, last updated 2023-05-23

Resting Creature

Location: Isle of Arran (Ayrshire) - Unknown beach on the island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1931
Further Comments: This sea monster was observed resting on rocks - it was described as looking like a seal, though it had a parrot-like beak and was bigger than an elephant.


ID #4389, last updated 2003-06-28

Long Necked Creature

Location: Isle of Canna (Highland) - Off the coast, and around surrounding islands
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 1808
Further Comments: This creature, mistaken for a rock when first observed, was seen at various times by up to thirteen fishing boat crews. It was described as between 70 and 80 foot in length (21 - 24 metres) and possessing a long neck which it kept underwater whilst swimming.


ID #5289, last updated 2004-08-13

White Figure

Location: Isle of Canna (Highland) - Sea, about quarter of the way between island and Skye
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1804
Further Comments: Neil McIntosh, steering a boat between the two islands in stormy weather, glimpsed a white human figure in the sea. McIntosh thought the creature to be a mermaid, although admitted he did not have much of an opportunity to examine it.


ID #16010, last updated 2025-07-26

Dead Creature

Location: Isle of Hunda (Orkney) - Hope of Hunda
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: February 1942
Further Comments: The remains of a creature some 8.5 metres long were originally named as being that of a Scapasaurus, although later revealed to be a carcass of a basking shark.


ID #11094, last updated 2012-08-26

Serpent

Location: Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides) - Broad Bay area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa February 1830
Further Comments: A sea serpent spent a couple of weeks at this location, playing in the water. The creature, described as between 18 and 24 metres in length, had a mane like a horse and appeared white in colour.


ID #14933, last updated 2023-05-24

Feolagan

Location: Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides) - Kebock Head
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown (traditional)
Further Comments: The Feolagan was a small mouse-sized creature (or fairy) that would paralyse sheep by walking across the animal's back. The sheep would die unless the Feolagan was forced retrace its steps, or, if many sheep were affected, by capturing the Feolagan in a jar filled with salt and using the grains to cure the sheep.


ID #10931, last updated 2012-06-10

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