The Paranormal Database

The devil at work.

New Shoes for the Devil

Location: St Nicholas (South Glamorgan) - Dusty Forge Inn
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This inn was once a forge, where the Devil was caught making new shoes for himself.

Woman in Black

Location: Stamford (Lincolnshire) - London Inn (closed in 2010)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Tuesday evening in December, early 1990s, around 19:30h
Further Comments: Together with a friend working behind a bar in an otherwise empty inn, this witness reported watching a young woman in black walk from the back of the pub and enter the toilets. They waited for her to emerge, wanting to comment to her not buying a drink but using the facilities, but after fifteen minutes one witness grew concerned and went to see if she was okay, but the toilets were empty...

Cat Lover

Location: Stanbury (West Yorkshire) - The Old Silent Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The rear of this public house is reportedly frequented by a spectral old lady who fed all the local stray cats. The ringing of phantom bells has been heard coming from nearby moorland.

Party

Location: Stanley (Durham) - South Causey Inn
Type: Other
Date / Time: 15 October 2009, around 23:45h
Further Comments: While in this pub with her friend, this witness heard a large group of people enter the building. The witness turned and noticed the group were wearing bright clothing, with one woman sporting a turquoise coloured outfit with lots of feathers. The witness briefly turned to her friend intending to point at the crowd, but when she turned back, the colourful group had vanished.

Gassy Ghost

Location: Stapleton (North Yorkshire) - Bridge Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1993
Further Comments: The poltergeist here managed to terrify the landlord by turning the cooker gas taps on during the night. Disembodied footsteps could be heard late at night.

Henry Trigg

Location: Stevenage (Hertfordshire) - National Westminster Bank, High Street (once Old Castle Inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Trigg lived in the building in the early eighteenth century, and requested that after he died, his body to be concealed in the loft. This happened, but over the next 250 years, dozens of morbid souvenir hunters removed the bones from the coffin, leaving only a lonely shade that now looks for his remains.

Turpin

Location: Stilton (Cambridgeshire) - Bell Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: It was once believed that the ghost of Dick Turpin passed by this inn on Wednesday nights - the thud of horse's hooves could be heard, and some people reported seeing a man on horseback just outside of the building.

A medieval cat.

Piano Cat

Location: Stoke on Trent (Staffordshire) - New Inn, Basford (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: When the piano keys could be heard striking without human intervention, a ghost cat would be blamed. The phantom feline was said to be appeased when a small amount of beer would be left out for him.

Alice

Location: Stoke Prior (Worcestershire) - Navigation Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Alice either committed suicide or was murdered during the nineteenth century, in the old kitchen which is now the ladies' toilets. People have heard the breaking of plates, though nothing is ever found broken, and thuds and bangs in one of the toilet's cubicles. The disturbances stop if Alice is acknowledged.

Smart Man

Location: Strood (Kent) - Three Crutches Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in fine clothing, this phantom gentleman is said to walk through a wall in the dining room. Another ghostly figure has been observed sitting at an upper floor window.

Sailor

Location: Strumpshaw (Norfolk) - The Goat Inn (currently the Huntsman)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1960s?
Further Comments: A supposed haunting caused by the spirit of a drowned sailor from the Second World War, at least one previous landlord has reported seeing ghostly figures and hearing the piano playing by itself. One story connects the phantom sailor to a goat's head once kept in the pub, considered cursed after ill-fortune befell owners and anyone who touched the object. The location of the goat's head is currently unknown.

Suicide

Location: Sturminster Newton (Dorset) - Swan Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: An inn keeper who took his own life in the late eighteenth century is said to keep an eye on his former establishment.

Woman

Location: Sturminster Newton (Dorset) - White Hart Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The White Hart is said to be haunted by a woman who quietly goes about her business in the bar area.

Green Lady

Location: Sunderland (Tyne and Wear) - Jolly Sailor Inn, Whitburn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The ghostly green lady that walks the hallways is said to have pined away after failing to impress her suitor. There may also be a smoke-like grey lady on the site, and a pink lady. A piece of folklore says there is a secret passage from this inn leading to the Marsden Grotto, a little over two miles to the north.

One Man and his Dog

Location: Surlingham (Norfolk) - Ferry House inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghostly man and his dog were said to empty any half-finished glasses of beer if left out overnight.

Mary McDonnagh

Location: Sutton Cheney (Leicestershire) - Hercules Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Mary McDonnagh had her hands cut off for stealing brandy. She has been reported to be seen wearing a white cap, wandering through the restaurant area. Staff to this day report sightings, and objects have been seen to move from place to place.

Man in Red Cloak

Location: Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands) - The Gate Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This brightly cloaked figure is one of two figures which haunt this building - the other is named as a lost cavalier.

The Ship Inn, Swanage.

Shadowy Figure

Location: Swanage (Dorset) - Ship Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2011
Further Comments: A shadowy figure briefly appeared on the CCTV, but could not be seen in the corresponding area within the pub.

Shadowy Figure

Location: Swinton (South Yorkshire) - Ship Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980
Further Comments: A dark insubstantial figure was blamed when the landlord moved his family out. Glasses would also break without reason, and doors would lock and unlock themselves.

A headless ghost.

Cromwellian Victim

Location: Tarvin (Cheshire) - Bridle path near The Headless Woman inn, running from Hockenhull Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old servant woman was decapitated by agents of Cromwell, after she refused to hand over the location of her master's fortune. The woman's ghost made so many appearances that they named the nearby public house after the entity.

Argument

Location: Taunton (Somerset) - Naval and Military Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A group of three ghost hunters were apparently scared away from the haunted room here, when the sounds of a phantom argument grew too strong.

Hugger

Location: Tavistock (Devon) - Whitchurch Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1979
Further Comments: Feeling someone hugging her, the landlady turned to see who it was - but found no one there. The spirit is also blamed for moving bottles and personal items.

Lady in Blue Dress

Location: Tebay (Cumbria) - Cross Keys Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s - 2020s
Further Comments: This ghostly entity has been seen in a bedroom (where they move makeup and toiletries around) and in other parts of the building. Staff have reported being touched by something unseen and heard unexplained knocks and running footsteps. One piece of folklore named her as Mary Baynes, a local witch who died circa 1811, upset with a former landlord after his dog killed the Mary's cat. Dogs bark while looking at an unremarkable corner of the ceiling.

Chained Figure

Location: Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) - Ye Olde Black Bear Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: As well as being chained, stories also state that this tragic figure has no head. It has been speculated that he is a Lancastrian soldier executed near to the inn.

Footfalls

Location: Thame (Oxfordshire) - Birdcage Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The source of the loud nocturnal footsteps has never been traced, though a misty figure was once seen prior to them beginning. One story says the entity is a leper who was stoned to death on the property, while another says it is the ghost of a French soldier held prisoner in the cellar.