The Paranormal Database

Mr Jenner

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Jesus College
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1910
Further Comments: Two students claimed to have seen one of their teachers walking around at one night, between the chapel and dining hall, before vanishing through a brick wall - it later turned out he was visiting friends many miles away at the time.

Man with Cap

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Keble College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early March 1936
Further Comments: A Canadian student spotted a ghostly figure with a cap covering its face huddled at the end of a corridor. The witness initially did not talk about the encounter, until others claimed they had seen the phantom figure on or near a staircase. The apparition was thought to be a man who had been expelled from the college four years previous.

An old postcard showing Magdalen College in Oxford.

Figure in Black

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Magdalen College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987
Further Comments: This dark, stealthy figure was observed several times, but never heard, as it ran about the college. When cornered by staff, the figure would suddenly vanish.

An old postcard showing Merton College in Oxford.

Bedroom

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Merton College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1920s?
Further Comments: Now part of the library, a bedroom that once stood on campus was reportedly so haunted that no one could sleep soundly while staying in it. The library here is also thought to be haunted by Colonel Francis Winderbank, shot after surrendering to Cromwell in 1645.

An old postcard showing New College in Oxford.

Pale Faced Man

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - New College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1962
Further Comments: The chapel is haunted by a figure, possibly a priest, with an unnaturally pallid white face.

Mr Bonnell

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Queen's College
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 18 November 1750
Further Comments: Bonnell's ghost appeared in the college a couple of hours prior to his death, his face bloated and red. He had been bed ridden for several days, and it was impossible for him to move. The upper library is said to be haunted by a clergyman known as Cuthbert Shields - he believed himself to be the reincarnation of Saint Cuthbert.

An old postcard showing St John's College in Oxford.

Bowling Archbishop

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - St John's College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Beheaded in London in 1645 and his body returned to St John's in 1663, Archbishop William Laud now haunts the building - his ghost is renowned for pulling his head from his neck and rolling it at any witnesses. He is also said to drift 20mm from the ground, where the pavement has worn down since his death.

Twins

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - St Peter's College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This college was founded by the Bishop of Liverpool, and the ghostly male twin undergraduates who haunted the building are thought to be his sons.

An old postcard of Trinity College in Oxford.

Mother in Black

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Trinity College
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1959
Further Comments: Appearing to her son only once, this shade made an appearance to the verger as he was patrolling the grounds at night. There is another report of the New Court being haunted by a ghost dressed in hunting kit.

Obadiah Walker

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - University college
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Walker was a master at University three hundred years ago, and is said to continue to haunt the room he resided in. His footsteps can also be heard walking the eighth staircase.

White Monk

Location: Oxford (Oxfordshire) - Wadham College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 December 1968
Further Comments: Often heard moving around, this ghostly monk has been seen a couple of times, most recently by a night porter at the chapel doors.

Heavy Footsteps

Location: Paisley (Renfrewshire) - Art College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Two teachers at the college heard heavy footsteps walking in a locked room. When investigated, they found nothing, but the footsteps repeated their movements twice more over the following half hour. Whispering in empty rooms was also common, and one teacher found heavy clays moved around his work area - it took three people to lift the clay back to its original position.

Monk at a Desk

Location: Penwortham (Lancashire) - Secondary School
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter 1968
Further Comments: Peter Moss, in 'Ghosts over Britain' mentions the image of a two dimensional monk sitting at a writing desk on a wall in a classroom. The figure was like a white shadow, though some details of the figure could be made out. Several years later, the witness discovered another person who had seen the same apparition during her time at the school.

Cloaked Man

Location: Porterstown (County Dublin) - Old schoolhouse (may no longer be standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This former school building is reputed to be haunted by a figure dressed in a cloak.

Silent Vulcan

Location: Preston (Lancashire) - Sky near to the university campus
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: Christened the 'Silent Vulcan' by students because of its similarity to a Vulcan bomber (but without any sound), this large aircraft was seen by a student in the skies of Preston. He stated the object shot off towards the dock area, moving at incredible speed.

Knocking

Location: Rawdon (West Yorkshire) - Rawdon Baptist College
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: August 1909
Further Comments: The handful of summertime residents were disturbed during the day and night by knocking from within the walls. Items such as potted plants were moved without explanation.

Woman

Location: Reagill (Cumbria) - Former School House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1959
Further Comments: After moving in, Mr and Mrs Anderson both spotted a female figure wearing a stiff necked top with her hair pulled up in their bedroom. The figure walked around the bed before vanishing at its foot.

Footsteps

Location: Salford (Greater Manchester) - Adelphi Building, University of Salford campus
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: A member of the facility said that some security guards would not enter parts of this building because they could hear disembodied footsteps at night.

Cowled Figure

Location: Saltwood (Kent) - Brockhill School area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghost sees fit to step in front of oncoming cars, vanishing just before impact. A woman in grey has also been seen here, and it could be the same entity interpreted differently by witnesses.

Knocker

Location: Sauchie (Ayrshire) - Unknown private house, and school
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early 1960s
Further Comments: An eleven year old girl became to focus of this poltergeist, who accompanied her everywhere. Knocks and taps were heard both at home and at school, while furnishings would move untouched by human hands around her.

Slamming Doors

Location: SE1 (Greater London) - Site of Waterloo Necropolis Railway, now a training school
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990 onwards
Further Comments: Some staff at this railway training school allegedly now refuse to work at night in 'A' block, due to classroom and other doors slamming shut by themselves.

Nun

Location: SE26 (Greater London) - Sydenham High School for Girls
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once the site of a convent, this phantom nun is the only thing that remains. She is blamed for the mild poltergeist activity which occurs here.

Norah the Maid

Location: Sheffield (South Yorkshire) - Firth Park Brushes (former school), Barnsley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The maid, who committed suicide on the site two hundred years ago, is still said to wander the area. When the high school stood on the area, cleaning staff reported lights that would turn themselves on, amongst other strange phenomena. A priest was called to exorcise the land in 2003; there have been no reported incidents since.

Life Saver

Location: Sheffield (South Yorkshire) - Flat, School Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1981/82
Further Comments: The family that tolerated a poltergeist in their home for almost a year were eventually thankful for the entity - one night it banged so loudly the whole family awoke only to find their rooms full of smoke. They managed to escape as the fire engulfed their building.

Old School Boy

Location: Sheffield (South Yorkshire) - Rowlinson Comprehensive School
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is claimed that a boy dressed in old fashioned clothing has been observed by students and teachers, standing on the playing fields.