The Paranormal Database

Maghull in Lancashire, taken by Peter Crawley.

Sounds of Battle

Location: Maghull (Lancashire) - Exact place not known, but south of the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One would have hoped that this Jacobite battle would have finished by now, but it is not the case. The occasional headless horseman is reported in the area. Image (c) Peter Crawley.

Headless Coachman

Location: Maidenwell (Lincolnshire) - Ostler's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: A headless coachman, his missing cranium in a box besides him, drives his coach and four along this lane.

The Ruins of Mallow Castle.

Coach

Location: Mallow (County Cork) - Mallow Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Pulled by a team of headless horses, a phantom coach travels around the castle grounds. Another ghost story says the site is haunted by two former residents who walk around at dusk. A more demonic story claims that Sir John Norreys, Lord President of Munster, sold his soul to the Devil and died in the castle when the debt required settling.

Barlow and Others

Location: Manchester (Greater Manchester) - Barlow Hall, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, but servant on clear moonless nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Several ghosts were reputed to haunt the hall. Saint Ambrose Barlow is said to walk the upper part of the hall, as is a (sometimes headless) woman. A servant who drowned in the lake after poorly executed practical joke went wrong sometimes returns to run towards the Mersey. A poltergeist-like entity carries coal and moves other items between rooms.

Headless Hound

Location: Manchester (Greater Manchester) - Cathedral area, & bridge over the Irwell towards Salford
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1825
Further Comments: A tradesman spotted the spectral dog outside the cathedral and the creature jumped up at him. The phantom creature was finally exorcised under the bridge over the Irwell.

Headless Monk

Location: Manchester (Greater Manchester) - New White Lion public house, Middleton Old Road (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was believed that the headless monk which haunted this pub was connected to Blackley Hall, a short distance away.

Headless Cat

Location: Manchester (Greater Manchester) - Private house along Lower Seedley Road, Seedley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa late nineteenth century
Further Comments: For a two month period, until they finally moved out, a family endured the sounds of a cat in terrible pain. During the haunting, the lady of the house was found unconscious - she said she had encountered a headless cat which pawed at her legs.

Headless Woman

Location: Manifold Valley (Staffordshire) - Throwley Hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: A farmer reported seeing a headless female standing amongst the ruins of the hall, a large bloody stain running down her front. The hall once belonged to the Cromwell's, and it is thought the ghostly figure had been beheaded after upsetting the family. Another phantom reported on the grounds is a ghostly coach and horses, which charges along the former driveway.

Golden Coach

Location: Manningford Bruce (Wiltshire) - The Hatches
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 January (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Pulled by a team of four headless horses, this golden coach appears at The Hatches.

Headless Dog

Location: Manton (Wiltshire) - House (since demolished) along Preshute Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Pre-First World War
Further Comments: This headless dog would have been silent if not for the chain dragging on the floor which dangled from its neck. The owner of the property was never afraid of the entity.

Headless Coachman

Location: Mappowder (Dorset) - Lane connecting Ansty and Hazelbury Bryan
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The headless coachman and his team of horses would cause mortal horses to stop along this lane.

Headless Figure

Location: Marden (Wiltshire) - Pond (now filled in) at woodland once known as Pook Shipton?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A figure carrying their head was said to emerge from a pond and walk along a footpath.

Headless Soldier

Location: Market Bosworth (Leicestershire) - Lanes of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having been decapitated in the Battle of Bosworth Field, this fighter wanders the roads and lanes looking for his missing head.

Coach

Location: Marlborough (Wiltshire) - Granham Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Last sighting unknown, but said to appear at midnight
Further Comments: This coach, driven by a decapitated horseman, manifests on the stroke of midnight and travels through a tiny gap in a hedge.

The phantom white deer of Savernake.

Headless Girl

Location: Marlborough (Wiltshire) - Savernake Forest
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Riding through the forest on a horse galloping way too fast, this lass lost her head on a low branch. Her spectral, headless form is still said to haunt the area. A large black dog is also reputed to haunt the area, as is a white deer.

Headless King Charles

Location: Marple (Cheshire) - Marple Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The headless ghost of King Charles has been seen here, though he never visited the place. The nearby river Goyt is haunted by a wailing woman who once lived at the hall - her lover was drowned in the river, and she waits and cries near the spot.

Mr Greatrix

Location: Marton (Lancashire) - Whitegate Lane area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A farmer murdered on the way back from market, Greatrix' headless shade came back and haunted his killer until the man committed suicide. Not content with revenge, the ghost remained earthbound for many years after.

Headless Man

Location: Melksham (Wiltshire) - Snarlton Lane (once called Chalk's Lane?). Exact location may be in dispute.
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth or early twentieth century, around midnight
Further Comments: A man walking along the lane encountered a figure holding an umbrella walking ahead of him. As the witness approached the figure, the umbrella was lowered, revealing a stump where a head should have been. The witness later spotted the figure twice more, and eventually refused to travel along the lane.

Female Form

Location: Melsonby (North Yorkshire) - Ladywell (aka Lady Well)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area around here is haunted by a headless woman, whose history is unknown.

Headless Woman

Location: Melsonby (North Yorkshire) - Lanes and church near Lady Well (likely no longer present)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A local myth said the well close to the churchyard was haunted by a headless white lady.

Headless Man

Location: Meopham (Kent) - Route between public house and church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Walking the route, this ghostly figure has been observed with no head.

Headless Woman

Location: Messingham (Lincolnshire) - Area south of Bridge over Bottesford Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Not much is known about this headless woman. Other than one witness mistook the reflection of the moon in water as the entity.

Sometimes Headless

Location: Michaelchurch (Hereford & Worcester) - St Michael's Church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The shuck which haunted this churchyard sometimes appeared headless.

Coffin

Location: Milborne St Andrew (Dorset) - Cowleaze Barrows
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Barrow still present
Further Comments: One of these barrows (there are three) is said to contain a golden coffin. A storm is said to blow in if anyone starts to dig for it. Some sources mention that headless phantom coffin bearers haunt the area, which may only be visible to the D'Urberville family.

Headless Horseman

Location: Millbrook (Bedfordshire) - Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom rider is named as local highwayman Galloping Dick.