The Paranormal Database

Growing Hound

Location: Uplyme (Devon) - Lane near Black Dog public house
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The black dog here increases in size until it matches the height of the local trees, after which it turns into vapour and vanishes. A local tale reports it haunted a farmhouse that once stood nearby - the farmer once chased the dog away, and it vanished into the ceiling of one of the rooms; on examination, he found much gold hidden in the roof where it disappeared.

Knife Thrower

Location: Upminster (Essex) - Masons Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: April 2009
Further Comments: The East London Paranormal Research Society visited this site after staff reported poltergeist activity, including a butter knife which was thrown from an empty kitchen. The society claimed to establish contact with a sixteenth century witch and a young boy.

Lady in Red

Location: Upper Halling (Kent) - Black Boy public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: While the normal pub poltergeist activities also apply here (visitors have been poked and electrical appliances have been unplugged), there have also been sightings of a woman in red drifting silently near the staircase and of a child in the upper part of the building.

Crying Girl

Location: Upton Snodsbury (Worcestershire) - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a month (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This young girl was killed by the head of the household, who grew sick of listening to her constant crying. He threw the child out of the window, and she died immediately. The sounds of crying are now heard, abruptly ending with a short sharp scream.

Red Eyed Man

Location: W1 (Greater London) - John Snow public house, Broadwick Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This man with red eyes looks as if he is in terrible pain and sits alone in the furthest corner of the bar. Just outside the pub, a phantom water pump was seen several times, though it has vanished since a real one was installed.

Prisoners

Location: W1 (Greater London) - Rose and Crown public house, Old Park Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once housed in the basement of this pub prior to hanging, the shades of those killed are still lurking here.

The Condemned

Location: W2 (Greater London) - Mason's Arms public house, Upper Berkeley Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cellars of this public house were once used to hold prisoners due to be hanged from the nearby Tyburn Tree (now only marked by a plaque). Their presence lingers on.

Bar Walker

Location: W5 (Greater London) - West Five public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: A former employee at this pub recalled how staff would see someone walking through the bar out of the corner of their eye, even though the area would be empty. The same event would also occur in the cellar.

Man in Dark Clothing

Location: Waddington (Lincolnshire) - Horse and Jockey public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The ghost of a man dressed in dark clothing and having a nasty streak was reported by workers in the pub during the 2000s. Another story says the site is home to a green lady.

Bangs

Location: Wakefield (West Yorkshire) - Black Horse public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: After reporting bangs on the walls and the sound of footsteps, the pub called in the 'Soul Reaper' paranormal group who claimed the site was haunted by 'Hannah', killed by a bear close to the site.

Falling Glasses

Location: Wakefield (West Yorkshire) - Griffin public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: The pub is said to be home to a non-threatening entity which occasionally throws glasses from the shelves.

Maybe Bill

Location: Walsall (West Midlands) - Spring Cottage Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1978
Further Comments: After several customers encountered the pub's ghost, landlord John O'Connell attempted spirit writing. John scribbled the name 'Bill', the year 1855, and sketched an 'act of violence'. It would later be discovered that the landlord of the pub in 1855 was William Meddlicott.

Ethel

Location: Walsall (West Midlands) - Starting Gate public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February 2003
Further Comments: This entity, named by locals as a former Black Country landlady, has been known to clean and tidy up after messy customers have left.

Old Car

Location: Ware (Hertfordshire) - Ware High Street at the roundabout in front of 'The Waterfront' public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: A very old fashioned car driven by a determined looking man materialised along the road here, causing a female motorist to perform an emergency stop. The vehicle then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving one very puzzled witness.

Man and Young Boy

Location: Warrington (Cheshire) - Barley Mow public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Killed in an accident on the road outside, the pub is now home to an older man and a young boy. Staff have reportedly observed figures who disappear into empty rooms. Mild poltergeist activity, such as glasses being thrown off shelves, has also been observed.

Dick Peabody

Location: Warrington (Cheshire) - Lower Angel tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly figure is blamed whenever a member of staff has their bottom pinched...

Drinking Man

Location: Warrington (Cheshire) - Marquis of Granby public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2018-2020
Further Comments: A male figure moves through an area off-limits to customers and sits with a pint of beer before vanishing.

Sailors

Location: Warton (near Wrea Green) (Lancashire) - Boggart House (no longer standing), on the road leading to the riverside public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights (pre-Second World War)
Further Comments: Before the house was demolished to make room for landing strips for wartime aircraft, locals believed it to be a haunt for dead sailors who lost their lives in the nearby Irish Sea. It was also reported that a murder occurred in the house, and the screams of the victim could still be heard.

Floating Woman

Location: Watnall (Nottinghamshire) - Nuthall to Moorgreen road, just before the Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1964
Further Comments: A witness on a motorbike narrowly avoided hitting a woman who crossed the road on a bend. Turning around to shout at the woman, the witness then realised she was floating across the road.

Sheppard

Location: Watton-at-Stone (Hertfordshire) - George & Dragon public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Footsteps and moving objects have been reported in this pub, where James Sheppard died on the stairs in 1833 after being shot nearby by a police officer.

Mabel's Tavern, London.

Mabel

Location: WC1 (Greater London) - Mabel's Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards
Further Comments: Mabel was a former landlady who is now said to return to the tavern. She has moved boxes in the cellar, and been heard calling out the name of the newer landlady and operating a dumb waiter, even though the equipment had previously been removed from the pub.

Catholics

Location: WC1 (Greater London) - Ship Tavern, Gate Street, Kingsway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once a secret meeting place for Catholics, it is thought the ghosts of those executed nearby still returned for their rendezvous.

Fruity

Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Cheshire Cheese public house, Little Essex Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The polt at work in this pub is reputed to move the fruit machine.

Unlucky Place to Drink

Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Fleece Inn Tavern (demolished 1820, thought to have stood on Catherine Street), Covent Garden
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre-1820
Further Comments: After a string of murders on the property, the site gained a reputation of being unlucky until it was demolished.

Whistling

Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Halfway 2 Heaven public house (was the Golden Cross), Duncannon Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013
Further Comments: Whistling and other noises have been reported in this 300 year old pub after it has closed.