The Paranormal Database

Target Practice

Location: Church Stretton - Robin Hood's Butts (Round Barrows)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hood was said to have stood on here are fired an arrow at Ludlow church, several kilometres away. The arrow missed the steeple but embedded deep into the roof.

Warriors

Location: Claverley - Gatacre Hall
Type: Other
Date / Time: July 1951
Further Comments: The press debated whether the ghosts of uniformed warriors, a poltergeist, or the living were responsible for the damage that occurred at the empty hall, with nearby residents claiming that they would have heard the breakages if performed by mortal hands.

Black Dog

Location: Clee Hill - Kremlin Inn
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The outside of this public house is said to be haunted by a ghostly black dog. The inn took the name 'Kremlin' after people reported hearing Russian voices and music emerge from the jukebox during the Cold War.

Mary

Location: Cleobury Mortimer - Talbot Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mary is said to haunt the inn; her presence often accompanied by blasts of cold air. A tunnel running between here and a nearby church is also reputedly haunted, this time by a group of ghostly parishioners attempting to escape religious persecution.

Bloody Handprint

Location: Condover - Condover Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Sixteenth century onwards
Further Comments: Knyvett, lord of the manor, was murdered by his son even though the finger of blame was pointed at the butler. Just before being hanged, the manservant cursed the descendants of Knyvett's family, vowing that they would not prosper while living in the hall. Knyvett's bloody handprint, left on a wall where he fell, could not be washed away so the stone was chipped away. More recently, the sound of footsteps and doors closing have been at night, and a couple dressed in Victorian clothing spotted.

Said to Be

Location: Corvedale - Thornlands
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1956
Further Comments: A moated house received a brief mention in the local press that referred to the site as haunted, although no other details were given.

Corbet Kynaston

Location: Coton - Coton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1788
Further Comments: Kynaston's ghost became too much for the locals to bear, so they called upon the services of six ministers to banish the spirit. After a long round of praying and candle burning, the holy men convinced Kynaston to enter a glass bottle which they quickly sealed and threw into a nearby pool.

Giant's Droppings

Location: Cressage - The Wrekin
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Angry at the town of Shrewsbury, a giant gathered a mound of earth and set off to dam up the River Severn. After the giant became lost, he approached a man heading home towards the town. The local lied and managed to convince the dim-witted villain it would take months to reach the town. The giant sighed and dumped the earth where he stood, forming the Wrekin.

Humphrey

Location: Dawley - Swan Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing a long coat with untanned leather trousers, Humphrey is said to appear quite friendly. He is said to also walk up and down the corridors, heard outside the bedrooms.

Fiddling

Location: Ditton Priors - Between village and Clee Hills
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: While camping in a small piece of woodland, a couple of women clearly heard fiddles being played. The following morning, they asked the rest of the camp whether anyone else had listened. No one else had heard the music, although one man said he had previously heard the music, and that fairies were responsible.

Fighting Monks

Location: Easthope - St Peter's churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of two monks fighting can be heard in the churchyard, even though both men died as they fell down the stone staircase to the cellar.

Wagon Driver

Location: Edgmond - Lane between Edgmond and Adeney
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1868
Further Comments: A drunk wagon driver killed after being run over by his own cart was said to have returned to the scene.

Tolling

Location: Ellesmere - Colemere (aka Cole Mere, aka Crose Mere, aka Crosmere) lake
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 21 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sunken bells on a long forgotten chapel can still be heard ringing from the mere. One version of the story says they ring to mock Oliver Cromwell, who pulled down the church, while another version say they ring on St Helen's day, the patron saint of the chapel.

Headless Woman

Location: Ellesmere - Crossroads along Lyneal Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless phantom woman was blamed for causing horses pulling a cart to panic. The cart they were pulling turned over, killing the driver. Twelve months later, the man's son was said to have been killed in an identical accident caused by the same ghost. The crossroads was said to be the burial place of an unknown man who had a stake pushed through his body to ensure he did not return.

Jenny Greenteeth waiting underwater.

Jenny Greenteeth

Location: Ellesmere - Lake and deep ponds in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Concealed under floating pond weeds, Jenny Greenteeth waits for unsuspecting children that she can drag down into the deep waters.

White Lion

Location: Ellesmere - Lyneal Mill Cottages
Type: ABC
Date / Time: August 1997
Further Comments: This large albino cat was seen close to the cottages and was reported to resemble a lion. The same area is reportedly haunted by a headless white woman.

White Lady

Location: Ellesmere - Oteley Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Folklore placed the spirit of a white woman within a house chimney on Oteley Park. Another version of the tale places the woman on the banks of the Mere, shouting at people to stop using her water.

Sometimes Headless Man

Location: Ellesmere - Unidentified house at Hampton Wood, and road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After a series of murders occurred at the house, the area became haunted by a man who could apparently choose whether to have a head or not. On one occasion the ghost manifested on a horse which was being ridden through the area. A minister banished the ghost after a three-day battle, forcing it into a glass bottle which was placed inside three iron chests and buried under a barn, to remain for 99 years.

Seventeen Century Boy

Location: Enchmarsh - Road leading through the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 1965
Further Comments: Two men driving through the village encountered a 'colourless' horse and rider standing in the middle of the road. The rider appeared to be dressed in 17th century clothing. The horse then galloped away across a nearby field.

Obrick's Colt

Location: Fitz - Area was known as Cuthery or Cutberry Hollow
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Pre-1841
Further Comments: Robbed of her jewels after death, a wealthy local woman came back post-mortem, taking the form of a white horse. The phantom horse was reputed to be so bold that it would occasionally manifest during the daytime.

Coach and Horses

Location: Frodesley - Area once known as five acre field
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom coach pulled by a team of horses across this area was said to appear every night, although their current status is not known.

Monk

Location: Haughmond - Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen exploring the abbey ruins, this monk has popped up several times over the past hundred years. Other phantom monks have been seen walking through the arched doorways before fading away. (Image copyright 2006 Lawson Clout)

Henry

Location: High Ercall - Former airbase
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spoken about by locals, the ghost known as Henry, an USAF pilot in flying kit, is said to have ginger hair.

Jasper

Location: Hodnet - Bear Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom known as Jasper found in this pub is said to be friendly. One paranormal group said the phantom was Jasper Neilsen, a merchant who died of hypothermia late in the sixteenth century.

Horse Farmer

Location: Hodnet - Unnamed road in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unidentified road in this village was haunted by a farmer who had a horse's head instead of his own.