The Paranormal Database

Sounds of Dragging

Location: Ryde (Isle of Wight) - Solent Inn, Monkton Steer
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Phantom voices, footsteps, and the sound of heavy items being dragged across rooms have all been reported coming from this public house.

Duel

Location: Rye (Sussex) - Mermaid Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 October (duel) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Several shades haunt this public house. A pair of ghostly duellers have been seen engaging each other with rapiers (the victor then drags the body through the hotel and drops it through a trapdoor), while a female figure dressed in grey haunts the upper part of the building. Room 5 is one of her haunts, while in rooms 10 and 18, a fading man has been seen entering and leaving (often through a wall).

Little Girl Lost

Location: Rye (Sussex) - The Union Inn, East Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: Seen walking in the restaurant and kitchen of this old building, this phantom little girl is often mistaken for someone real. Other ghosts include a young woman in a red dress who was pushed down a staircase and a seaman in a blue jacket.

Little Girl

Location: Saddleworth (Greater London) - Cross Keys Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: This phantom little girl appeared briefly in one bedroom before vanishing. The sound of horses' hooves and of something being dragged have also been reported.

Cromwellian Soldier

Location: Saffron Walden (Essex) - The Old Sun Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A noisy fellow, blamed for moving furniture about, and banging on the walls. Some people have reported feeling uneasy on entering the building.

The Boston Tea Party in Salisbury.

Moving Tools

Location: Salisbury (Wiltshire) - Old George Inn (currently Boston Tea Party)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that when work was carried out on the site, construction tools were moved around the building every night. When locked up on one occasion, the building was found completely open the following day. Although a former manager disliked being on the site alone at night, as it was 'too scary', nothing out of the ordinary has even been seen.

Trapped Shade

Location: Saltersgate (North Yorkshire) - Saltersgate Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The peat fire is said to have burnt continuously for two hundred years, with successive landlords upholding the tradition - the body of a murdered man is hidden under the spot, and it is told that his shade will escape if it ever goes out. The moorland nearby is haunted by the sound of sobbing.

Tom

Location: Sand Hutton (North Yorkshire) - Busby Stoop Inn, road outside
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Tom Busby murdered his father with a hammer - an event which resulted in the public house in which the crime was committed being named after him. Hanged for the crime, his shade now comes back complete with noose, and any who see it are doomed. The shade was once thought to be centred on Tom's favourite chair, though when the chair was removed to Thirsk Museum, Tom stayed pub-bound. The chair itself was thought to be cursed, anyone sitting on it would die soon after.

You

Location: Sandbach (Cheshire) - Lower Chequer Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The only thing known about this spooky entity is that is named only 'You'.

Charlie

Location: Sarre (Kent) - King's Head Inn (closed 2012)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1964 - 1965
Further Comments: Described as a bald short man (although not seen that often), the phantom nicknamed 'Charlie' would pull the bedclothes from beds in the early hours of the morning, tap people on their shoulder, and create footsteps in empty parts of the building.

Thomas Otter

Location: Saxilby (Lincolnshire) - Sun Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 November, 1806-1811?
Further Comments: Thomas Otter was hanged for the murder of his wife, the most damning evidence coming from John Dunkerly who witnessed the crime. The murder weapon was displayed in the Sun Inn, but disappeared twice, each time on the anniversary of the killing. Dunkerly later said he had taken the murder implement, but only because the ghost of Thomas had forced him to do so.

Headless Woman

Location: Scarborough (North Yorkshire) - Three Mariners (formerly an inn)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This headless phantom would appear as a warning to any sailors staying in the building not to go to sea - those who did see her but ignored the warnings normally drowned.

Highwayman's Girlfriend

Location: Scole (Norfolk) - The Scole Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This woman was murdered by a jealous partner after he discovered that she was having an affair with a highwayman; the ghostly lady in white now walks the staircase and the first floor.

Tailless Dog

Location: SE1 (Greater London) - Anchor Inn, Clink Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This inn is haunted by a dog which lost its tail while trying to protect its master from press gangers.

Misty Figure

Location: SE1 (Greater London) - George Inn, George Inn Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The nondescript shape of a female figure has been seen drifting in the bedrooms of this old coach house.

The two figures dropped a body in the river.

Body Movers

Location: SE1 (Greater London) - Unnamed inn, West Street, close to Fleet River (entire area redeveloped, no trace of inn remains)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century
Further Comments: A clergyman heard screams coming from the inn and watched two people emerge from the site carrying a headless body, and head towards the nearby river. After throwing the corpse into the water, the people vanished. The same spot of the river was also said to be haunted by a woman with a slit throat.

Grey Smoke

Location: Sea Palling (Norfolk) - The Old Hall Inn, Waxham Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A weird column of grey smoke was spotted in the inn by the manager's wife during the mid-twentieth century. There are other reports of a ghostly woman wearing grey clothing and the overpowering stench of strong tobacco.

Royalist

Location: Sedgley (West Midlands) - White Lion Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The inn appeared in the local press in 2023 when placed on the market, with one of the unique selling points being two ghosts (a Royalist soldier, and a former landlady).

Floating Seaman

Location: Sefton (Merseyside) - Punch Bowl Inn and nearby churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: Thought to have drowned at sea and his body stored in the inn until burial, this blue clothed sailor has been observed floating around the building. Sometimes only his head and shoulders are visible, protruding from a misty base. The entity was also once seen nearby, appearing to be digging at a grave in the churchyard.

Anne George

Location: Sennen (Cornwall) - First and Last Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Anne was the wife of a fence who profited from smuggling. She turned king's evidence against her husband's 'business' partner but was soon drowned by several villagers who were also involved in the trade. Anne continues to haunt the inn, manifesting in black clothing, and has been observed many times by the current owners.

Highwaymen

Location: Setley (Hampshire) - Filly Inn (formally Fillie Inne)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This inn was built where a much older inn once stood. The latter building was demolished soon after three men were arrested within for a murder and highway robbery. It is said that one of the robbers tried to repent but was hanged regardless. The entity is now said to make his presence known by throwing things around the room.

Mill Worker

Location: Shalfleet (Isle of Wight) - New Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: As well as the normal pub polt activity, the inn is haunted by a worker who died in an accident at the nearby mill.

Girl in Blue

Location: Shanklin (Isle of Wight) - Chine Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two ghosts are reputed to haunt this site - an older man and a young girl in blue. The inn is also said to have a secret tunnel leading to the nearby Vernon Cottage, once used by smugglers.

Little Girl

Location: Shebbear (Devon) - Devil's Stone Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1982
Further Comments: Sometimes seen on site with a man thought to be her father, this youngster is also blamed when pictures fall from the walls. The pub is named after a local stone that is turned over once a year (5 November) to protect the village from the Devil.

Pregnant Girl

Location: Sheffield (South Yorkshire) - Ball Inn, Darnall (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This thin, grey ghost is said to be a member of staff who committed suicide at the inn when she discovered she was with child. She walks the upstairs corridors, while in other parts of the building, strange noises are heard in the night and well secured shelves fall without warning.