The Paranormal Database

Moaning Children

Location: St Ouen (Jersey) - Greve de Lecq, rocks known as the Paternosters
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Prior to a storm
Further Comments: A ship on route to Sark collided with another boat and sank with all on board drowning. Several of the dead were children, and it is said that these youngsters can now be heard moaning when a storm front is moving in.

Brown Creature

Location: Stonehaven (Aberdeenshire) - Sea close to Dunnottar Castle
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late September or early October 1906
Further Comments: A large crowd witnessed a huge, brown creature in the sea. Short fins could be seen emerging from the water and the creature, some 46 metres long, moved at around six miles per hour.

William

Location: Sutton (County Dublin) - Coastline
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ship William was lured onto the rocks by wreakers operating in the area, 78 people dying as the ship was torn to pieces on the rocks. The phantom ship still passes by the coastline, while on land, strange lights dance around.

Spanish Sailors

Location: The Burren (County Clare) - Beach near Doonagore Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The beach below the castle is haunted by the ghosts of Spanish sailors from a shipwrecked Armada ship. Those who did not drown were quickly put to death by Boetius Clancy, the Sheriff of Clare.

Strange Woman

Location: The Lady of Avenel, aka The Virgo (Yorkshire) - Destroyed off the coast of Bridlington circa 1939
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1925-1930s
Further Comments: The Lady of Avenel was the last brigantine to fly the British flag, and reports of a phantom woman being spotted on board began in the 1920s after the ship was almost trapped in ice. A woman's ghostly arm was seen turning down an oil lamp, and a lady would be heard talking and walking along the poop deck.

The Minch, Outer Hebrides

Storm Kelpies

Location: The Minch (Outer Hebrides) - Waters of the sea
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These blue entities patrol the waters between Lewis and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink.

Off the coast of Thorpeness, Suffolk

Creature with Many Humps

Location: Thorpeness (Suffolk) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1931
Further Comments: Witnessed by three women sitting on a lawn, this sixty-foot long sea creature with an estimated thirty humps was said to move at great speed.

Sam

Location: Tilbury (location as of 2008) (Essex) - Ross Revenge (home of Radio Caroline)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1983 onwards
Further Comments: This former pirate radio station is reportedly home to 'Sailor Sam', a phantom in yellow oilskins who appears all over the ship.

Sea Serpent

Location: Tintangel (Cornwall) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1907
Further Comments: A student and a chaplain watched a large sea beast swim by while watching from this point.

Lizard-like Creature

Location: Tiree (Argyll and Bute) - Waters off the island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 19 July 1934
Further Comments: A fishing boat reported being attacked by this creature, resembling a lizard but fifty foot (fifteen metres) in length with a long neck. The creature took a bite out of the boat before retreating into the deep.

Spanish Girl

Location: Torquay (Devon) - Old Spanish Barn, King's Drive, and seafront in area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dying of illness while being held prisoner immediately after the destruction of the Spanish Armada, this teenage girl now haunts the area near where her life was lost.

Snake

Location: Trusthorpe (Lincolnshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late 1930s
Further Comments: A boy reported seeing a large snake-like creature a few hundred metres off the coast.

Mer-creature

Location: Unknown (Suffolk) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: November 1750
Further Comments: A five foot (1.5 metre) long creature found in the sea was described as having a head like a dog, beard like a lion, tail of a fawn, and four hand-like fins. A contemporary account of the encounter stated the creature was most likely a bearded seal.

Fire

Location: Vale (Guernsey) - L'Ancresse Bay - large stone (no longer standing)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown - pre twentieth century
Further Comments: Despite dire warnings from locals, Mr Hocart of Belval had workers cut this former monolith into stone for his new house. The day the building work had finished, a fire broke out, killing two servants. Two ships which carried spare stone to the UK sank within the year, and even though Hocart moved into a second house to Alderney, the fire curse followed him, destroying that dwelling also. Hocart finally returned to Guernsey, but just prior to landing, some rigging fell and landed on his head, killing him instantly.

Sea Trows

Location: Ve Skerries (Shetland) - Sea in the area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These water-based troll-like creatures were once believed to swim the waters here, occasionally coming onto land to rest. It is thought they dressed in seal's skin while swimming, pealing it off to resemble humans when needing to leave the water.

Admiral Tryon

Location: W1 (Greater London) - Eaton Place, Belgravia
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 22 June 1893
Further Comments: The solid looking form of Admiral Tryon appeared in front of several of his wife's friends at his home, at the exact moment he was going down with his ship in the Mediterranean.

Pealing Bells

Location: Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex) - Off coast
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Before a Storm
Further Comments: The church at Walton was taken by the sea in the late 1790's, and now its bells warn of incoming storms. The church is said to have reappeared briefly in 1928.

An old postcard of Warrenpoint in County Down

Lord Blaney

Location: Warrenpoint (County Down) - Carlingford Lough
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1916
Further Comments: A Steam-Packet which travelled between Warrenpoint and Liverpool, the Lord Blaney broke in two when it hit a sandbank, sinking with most of its crew and travellers. The ship is said to reappear when a naval disaster is close to hand, such as in November 1916 when the Connemara and the Retriever collided and sank.

Sea Horse

Location: West Wemyss (Fife) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1939
Further Comments: A six metre long monster with the head and mane of a horse and large eyes was spotted by a team of fishermen.

Four Legged Beast

Location: Western coast (Isle of Man) - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1910
Further Comments: The Captain of the HMS Caesar reported seeing a reptilian creature leaping out the sea, which he compared to a 'skinned chow dog'(!), though much larger in size.

An old postcard showing Weston-super-Mere beach

Long Necked Creature

Location: Weston-super-Mere (Somerset) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 02 December 1988
Further Comments: Three witnesses watched for several minutes a strange creature possessing a long neck swimming around in the mist covered sea.

Sea Beastie

Location: Wick (Highland) - Off the coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 21 September 1938
Further Comments: The crew of a cargo ship reported having a strange fish follow their craft for half an hour. It was described as having a three metre long body, 1.2 metre long neck and an oval head.

Trow

Location: Yell (Shetland) - Area around Windhouse, exact spot said to be known to the local population.
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Pre-mid-Eighteenth century, Christmas Eve
Further Comments: A shipwrecked sailor made his way to Windhouse on Christmas Eve, only to find the family in the process of leaving. They explained to the sailor that every Christmas Eve, terrible things would happen, and a death would normally occur. The sailor offered to spend the night in the house, and sure enough, after sunset, the sailor encountered a huge Trow. The sailor grabbed an axe and gave chase, catching up with the creature outside and giving it a whack (or two). When the family returned home, the sailor took them to the spot, where the body had vanished, leaving only bright green holly.

Mathew Trewhella

Location: Zennor (Cornwall) - Church and Sea
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1400s?
Further Comments: A son of a church warden, Mathew Trewhella one day disappeared without trace. A sea captain later told the village folk that Mathew was with a mermaid, living under the sea.