The Paranormal Database

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.

A stylised cast-iron mermaid.

Mermaid Curse

Location: Colmonell (Ayrshire) - Knockdolian Castle
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mistress of the castle ordered the destruction of a black rock which stood just a short distance away, to prevent a mermaid sitting upon it and singing. As revenge, the mermaid cursed the family, ensuring they all died without leaving an heir for the estate.

Bloody Handprint

Location: Condover (Shropshire) - Condover Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Sixteenth century onwards
Further Comments: Knyvett, lord of the manor, was murdered by his son even though the finger of blame was pointed at the butler. Just before being hanged, the manservant cursed the descendants of Knyvett's family, vowing that they would not prosper while living in the hall. Knyvett's bloody handprint, left on a wall where he fell, could not be washed away so the stone was chipped away. More recently, the sound of footsteps and doors closing have been at night, and a couple dressed in Victorian clothing spotted.

Lost Monk

Location: Coombe (West Midlands) - Coombe Abbey (currently a hotel)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Twentieth and twenty-first centuries?
Further Comments: Seen by witnesses as he floats around the grounds of the abbey, this monk is thought to have been murdered in 1345. Phantom footsteps have also been reported on the stable yard cobbles and are thought to belong to a young gypsy girl who cursed the family after they mistreated her. A maid dressed in old-fashioned clothing reportedly stares out of a window. Finally, a phantom cyclist, thought to be a Victorian woman, has been observed on the road just by the former abbey.

Chair

Location: Coventry (West Midlands) - Private residence, Kenilworth Road
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown if still present
Further Comments: The artist John Heritage-peters lived at this site and threatened to haunt anyone who removed a chair from the gallery. The artist died in 1965 and subsequent house owners honoured his wish. When offered for sale in 1988, the house featured in the local press, complete with chair and associated folklore.

Duellist

Location: Coxwold (North Yorkshire) - Newburgh Priory
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom figure is reportedly a duellist who once fought (and lost) here. Another ghost, that of a woman, drifts around near the lake, and is thought by some to herald tragedy in the family. G Bernard Wood wrote that the priory was cursed by its last Prior, and that if anyone completed the decorating in an unfinished room upstairs, they would suffer a death in the family.

Witch

Location: Craigie (Ayrshire) - Dead tree (exact area not known)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With her dying breath, a witch hanged from this tree cursed the area around it, ensuring nothing would ever grow.

Curse of Crowland

Location: Crowland (Lincolnshire) - Crowland Abbey
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 870
Further Comments: The monks here embraced pagan ideals, and for their sins, the Devil appeared and told them that a new abbey would soon be built on the site, but all present would die before it became so. Soon after, a Viking raid levelled the building, and all the monks died.

White Owl

Location: Cwmcarvan (Gwent) - Hill in the area
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: An unnaturally large white owl took to hunting over an ancient battlefield, leading locals to believe the creature was magical and should not be interfered with. A visitor to Raglan castle who laughed at the story and killed the owl, himself died a few hours later, choking to death at a dinner table.

Witch's Leg

Location: East Somerton (Norfolk) - Church of St Mary (ruins) and tree known as the Witch's Finger
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Perhaps a recently created piece of folklore, one story says that a witch with a wooden leg was buried alive in the church; from the leg grew a tree and the church fell to ruins soon after.

Cursed Building

Location: EC4 (Greater London) - 71 Queen Victoria Street
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1990 onwards
Further Comments: After several unconnected and violent deaths of people who worked at 71 Queen Victoria Street, the company which was based at the address closed.

Curse of the Mummy

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - 15 Learmonth Gardens
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: The figure of an ancient priest was seen in the building after the family returned from a trip to Egypt - it was said that the ghost had accompanied a bone that had been illegally removed from a tomb by a family member. When the piece of skeleton was destroyed, the haunting stopped.

Poor Curse

Location: Ettrick (Borders) - Ettrick Hall (no longer standing, was located top of Ettrick Water)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1700 onwards
Further Comments: Legend has it that James Anderson demolished several cottages to clear space for the construction of the hall. Left homeless and penniless, the villagers cursed the building, saying that the structure would not stand for long. Indeed, all trace of the hall has long been removed.

Drifting Nun

Location: Fawkham Green (Kent) - Pennis Lane
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Autumn (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Appearing at dusk, the figure of a nun has been reported floating down this lane. Her skull is housed at Pennis Farm and it is said if the object is ever removed a great curse will befall the valley.

Groom's Curse

Location: Fossaway (Perth and Kinross) - Former Mercer family home (unknown whether building still stands) and holly tree near village green
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A groom was hanged from the holly tree after stealing a small amount of corn. Before dying the groom cursed the Mercer family, saying that they would never have a son inherit their family home. The curse is said to have lasted for several generations.

Friar's Curse

Location: Great Malvern (Worcestershire) - Ragged Stone Hill
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Falling insane after penance took its toll, a friar cursed the church and anyone who stood in its shadow. Another tale reports it is the rock summit of Raggedstone Hill that casts the cursed shadow.

Craven's Curse

Location: Hamstead Marshall (Berkshire) - Morewood House
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still active in twentieth century
Further Comments: A curse placed on the Craven family by a pregnant servant girl kicked out of the household states that no earl will survive beyond their fifty-eighth year. The family sold the house to try to rid them of the ill fortune during the late twentieth century.

Mother Ivey's Curse

Location: Harlyn (Cornwall) - Field near the Hellyer's farmhouse, Harlyn Bay
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Sixteenth century
Further Comments: Mother Ivey (or Ivy), a local wise woman, cursed this land after pilchards that could have been used to feed starving villagers were used to fertilise the field. She reportedly said if the soil were broken, death would soon follow. Whoever digs up any of the field is reputed to suffer soon afterwards. The story was carried by the popular UK press once it emerged that Conservative leader David Cameron had booked a holiday on the 'cursed' land.

Little John's Femur

Location: Hathersage (Derbyshire) - Hathersage Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Circa 1784
Further Comments: James Shuttleworth reportedly dug up the nearby grave containing the remains of Little John, removing a femur measuring seventy-two centimetres in length. However, he was struck by misfortune soon after, which vanished after he reburied the bone.

Drowning Curse

Location: Helston (Cornwall) - Loe Pool
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that the body of water will take a life every seven years. There are also reports that a phantom ship is occasionally seen here.

Luck of Hintlesham

Location: Hintlesham (Suffolk) - Hintlesham Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A cursed mannequin was once stored here - if removed, it was believed disaster would soon follow, and the owner would lose possession of the hall. Other stories associated with the hall include the ghost of a female Lloyd family member walks the stairs and library, eternally suffering for letting her stepson starve to death. The sound of a baby crying was also said to haunt a room but stopped after the remains of a young child were recovered from a fireplace.

Dafydd

Location: Holywell (Clwyd) - Flacgnallt Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The skull of Dafydd Prince of Wales is housed in a box at the hall. A curse is said to befall the owners of the building if it is ever removed from the property.

Glint of King Edmund's Spurs

Location: Hoxne (Suffolk) - Goldbrook Bridge
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 870 onwards
Further Comments: Discovered hiding under the bridge after the glint of his spurs attracted the attention of a pair of newlyweds, Edmund was taken and beheaded. The glint is still seen, and it is considered unlucky for newly wedded couples to cross the bridge.

The Ex

Location: Jedburgh (Borders) - Jedburgh Abbey
Type: Curse
Date / Time: October 1285
Further Comments: A piece of folklore says that Yolande of Dreux had a former boyfriend murdered so she could marry King Alexander III of Scotland. After the wedding, the boyfriend's phantom appeared and issued a curse that Yolande would be killed by misery (it is worth noting she did not die for another 45 years). A remarkably similar story is told of Jedburgh Castle.

Howgill's Revenge

Location: Kendal (Cumbria) - Grayrigg Hall (no longer standing, though some of the original buildings used by a local farm)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: The hall's owner, Magistrate Duckett, sentenced the Quaker Howgill to spend time in Appleby prison. The Quaker cursed Duckett, saying his name would vanish from history and his house would be home to owls and jackdaws. Sure enough, Duckett's children died without bearing children of their own, and his home was reduced to rubble, used by only birds.