The Paranormal Database

Rider

Location: Dorking (Surrey) - Graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A decapitated rider on horseback follows a road that no longer exists - the figure crosses the gravestones and vanishes through a hedge.

Dover Castle, Kent.

Headless Drummer

Location: Dover (Kent) - Dover Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, soldier seen 02 November 2013
Further Comments: The headless drummer boy is said to date from the Napoleonic period. A lady in red and figure in blue have also been reported, while the tunnels under the castle are haunted by Second World War soldiers and operatives, perhaps escapees from Dunkirk - one figure in khaki and with a blurred face was seen walking purposefully along a corridor in 2013. The Arthurian hero Sir Gawain is reportedly buried here.

Headless Woman

Location: Dronfield (Derbyshire) - Place 'where three roads meet' between village and Coal Ashon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Not much more is known about the phantom headless woman who haunts the junction.

Archdeacon Bulkeley?

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Area around Old Bawn Road and the Dodder
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 08 September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Said to either be driven by or containing Archdeacon Bulkeley, a coach drawn by six headless horses containing two passengers together with two footmen, drives through this area of Dublin. Anyone who spots the coach is said to die within 366 days.

Matching Band

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Corkagh Estate (now Corkagh Park)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Easter Monday, 1916
Further Comments: During the Easter Rising of 1916, the family and staff at Corkagh House heard a band playing and the sound of marching feet heading towards the house. Those present thought they would be attacked but the sounds suddenly stopped and nothing could be seen. More recently, the park is reputedly home to a headless horseman and/or the sound of horses hooves' heard along an area known as the 'Devils Passageway'.

Dublin Castle. Process print, 1904.

Invaders

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Dublin Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Men who tried to invade the castle were executed on site and their headless remains buried within the grounds. Sometimes their spirits are said to wander.

Buck Jones

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Jones's Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Riding headless on the back of a white horse, this phantom is named as Buck Jones, former City Sheriff (though the man died in a debtor's prison).

Headless Horseman

Location: Dublin (County Dublin) - Roper's Rest, leading to Love Lane
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This decapitated figure rides along the road once darkness falls, and is thought to be an ill omen for any witness, or one of their family.

Headless Rider

Location: Duddlestone (Somerset) - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This decapitated male wearing a flowing cape passes through the village on an off-white horse.

Headless Dorothy

Location: Duddon (Cheshire) - Roads around village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A story says that young Dorothy was accidentally decapitated by her father as he tried to save her from a group of drunken Roundheads. Her headless form is now reported to drift aimlessly around the village. The local pub is named after her sad tale.

Squire Fulford

Location: Dunsford (Devon) - Roads in area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Driving a coach pulled by four headless horsemen, the squire passes though the village only at certain times of the year.

Headless Soldier

Location: Dunstable (Bedfordshire) - Black Horse public house (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A barmaid was left disturbed after encountering a headless man in the bar area. The decapitated figure wore a Civil War uniform.

Coach

Location: Durham (Durham) - Langley Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen galloping towards the hall, this coach is pulled by four black, headless horses. One legend says the coach contains a coffin.

Annie Chapman

Location: E1 (Greater London) - Hanbury Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s, reputed to be more common in the autumn
Further Comments: Annie Chapman was murdered by Jack the Ripper at 29 Hanbury Street, and it was said that she haunted the area where she was killed, her phantom accompanied by a man. On one occasion during the 1930s, a witness could hear her murder, but could see nothing at the site. A phantom, headless body in the area is also said to be Annie. 29 Hanbury Street has since been demolished.

Headless Airman

Location: East Cowes (Isle of Wight) - Skies above area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen parachuting down from the skies, this decapitated airman is thought to date from the Second World War.

Headless Shuck

Location: East Runton (Norfolk) - Runton Heath, between East Runton and Aylmerton
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Manifesting on dark stormy nights, this shuck brings death to those who see him within a year.

Headless Duke

Location: EC1 (Greater London) - Charterhouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Duke of Norfolk, who spent much of his time and money here, lost his head after upsetting Queen Elizabeth and now ascends the staircase of the great hall. Outside the buildings, a monk has been seen flitting between the courtyards of Washhouse and Masters.

Priest with Black Hair

Location: EC3 (Greater London) - St Magnus the Martyr Church, Fish Street Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This holy man has been observed standing over the tomb of a former bishop, maybe paying his last respects? A headless figure has been reported at least once in the building.

The main entrance of the Tower of London.

Stretcher

Location: EC3 (Greater London) - Tower of London, main entrance
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: During Second World War
Further Comments: A guard on duty reported seeing a group of people in old uniforms walking towards the entrance to the Tower carrying a stretcher containing a headless body. The figures faded away just before they reached the soldier.

Figures

Location: EC3 (Greater London) - Tower of London, Water Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1960s, or 1970
Further Comments: A shocked sentry was found repeating 'Man in Cloak' - after he regained his senses, the guard claimed to have been approached by a headless cloaked figure, the sight of which caused the sentry to panic and run to find help.

Headless Woman with Child

Location: Edinburgh (Lothian) - Site of the Gillespie Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Before the construction of the hospital, the land was given to a mansion that was haunted by a headless lady carrying a small child. When this building was demolished, their bodies were found concealed beneath.

Headless Hound

Location: Eggholme (Cumbria) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The large black dog which brings death and misfortune in this neighbourhood is reportedly headless.

Misty Shape

Location: Egremont (Cumbria) - Tannery, Beck Green (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1950s
Further Comments: A total of nine people, including a retired policeman, watched a headless misty figure with no feet rise from the ground and head off towards the tannery. Outside the building the phantom was joined by another smaller figure before vanishing through a door.

Headless Woman

Location: Ellesmere (Shropshire) - Crossroads along Lyneal Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless phantom woman was blamed for causing horses pulling a cart to panic. The cart they were pulling turned over, killing the driver. Twelve months later, the man's son was said to have been killed in an identical accident caused by the same ghost. The crossroads was said to be the burial place of an unknown man who had a stake pushed through his body to ensure he did not return.

White Lion

Location: Ellesmere (Shropshire) - Lyneal Mill Cottages
Type: ABC
Date / Time: August 1997
Further Comments: This large albino cat was seen close to the cottages and was reported to resemble a lion. The same area is reportedly haunted by a headless white woman.