The Paranormal Database

Chanting

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Private residence, Abbeygate Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972-1976
Further Comments: While living at this site, a family reported encountering chanting monks at night, as well as witnessing taps turning on and off unaided, chairs being thrown, and balls of light which passed through walls.

Clock

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Private residence, Oakes Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1974 - 1975
Further Comments: Over a two-year period, a clock in the sitting room would be found wrapped around and hanging from the curtain. Initially the occupants blamed their six-year-old son, although they changed their minds after the clock moved when he was not at home.

Old Man

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Private residence, St John's Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Objects would move around this flat, the married couple living here blaming each other. One night as they sat and spoke, the woman watched as the man's voice turned into that of someone much older, and for a split second, she saw someone else sitting with her. After a double take, the man's appearance returned to normal, and he had no idea what had just happened.

Nurse with Wounded Soldier

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Railway Arch, near Mustow Street, Eastgate Street, Great Barton Rd (now the site of the A14 bridge)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1870s onwards
Further Comments: This reoccurring scene dates from the Crimean War. A wounded soldier based at a nearby hospital fell in love with a local nurse, and both tried to elope. The nurse's father found out and tried to stop them, killing the soldier in the process.

White Lady

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Rushbrooke Hall (3.5 miles from Bury)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1579 onwards
Further Comments: Different stories exist for the same ghost. The first states that the White Lady was the wife of a former owner, murdered by her husband. She floats around the moat, the place where she drowned. The second tale places the murder in the hall, this time by persons unknown. The body was then thrown into the moat from the battlements.

Faceless Figure

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Salon along Hatter Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1975
Further Comments: Hairdresser Dennis Taylor encountered a brown figure with no face on the upper floor of his salon.

Revolving Lights

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Sky over the Cathedral
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 29 November 2008, 22:30h
Further Comments: Several people, including a member of staff at the Cathedral, reported observing a luminous grey UFO over the area. One witness contacted the police.

St Mary's Churchyard, Bury St Edmunds.

Maude Carew

Location: Bury St Edmunds - St Mary's Churchyard
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 24 February, 23:00h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Cursed by a monk after Maude murdered the Duke of Gloucester in 1447, her shade is now said to appear once a year. The alleged ghost often brings dozens of people to the area in the hope of seeing her.

The ruins of St Saviour's Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.

Grey Lady

Location: Bury St Edmunds - St Saviour's Hospital (ruins), and Tesco store, Fornham Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1954 (hospital), and early to mid 2000s (Tesco)
Further Comments: This grey lady was seen within the ruined hospital several times during the mid-twentieth century. More recently, poltergeist-like activity has been reported at the adjoining Tesco store's canteen, with some people speculating that the Grey Lady may have returned.

Headless Horses

Location: Bury St Edmunds - The old Bridewell (now Moyse's Hall)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After departing Thetford and passing through Great Barton, a phantom coach pulled by headless horses was said to 'often' arrive at the Bridewell to collect the souls of any deceased prisoners.

Grey Lady

Location: Bury St Edmunds - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The theatre is home to the Grey Lady, who may be the same entity seen in various other places over the town. Disembodied footsteps and the sounds of a piano have also been heard in empty parts of the building.

Butley Priory, Suffolk.

Robert Brommer

Location: Butley - Butley Priory - gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1509 (?) onwards
Further Comments: Robert Brommer committed suicide in Ipswich after falling heavily in debt to the king. After a couple of burials and removals, his remains were finally laid to rest at a crossroads along the nearby Hausen Street. His spirit took exception to the movement and has since been reported in the gatehouse. A piece of local folklore says the third Earl of Suffolk, who died at Agincourt, is buried in a silver coffin somewhere on site.

Figure on Stairs

Location: Butley - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This building is home to a former owner who shot his wife (she feigned death, avoiding a second and more fatal shot) before turning the gun on himself while standing at the top of the stairs. It is at this spot that he is seen standing. The nearby pig farm is also reportedly haunted by a figure dressed in green, wearing a mask - he was a worker killed in farm machinery.

Man in Long Coat

Location: Buxhall - Rattlesden Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: frosty nights or when snow is on the ground in February
Further Comments: The silhouette of a man in a long coat has been spotted walking around this road, carrying a lantern at waist height. The same witness reports his dog behaves strangely when taken past the woods close to Cockerells Hall Drive.

Cold Spots and Damp Patches

Location: Buxhall - 'Rawmarsh' House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Considered by locals to be an unlucky house, occupants have reported incredibly cold spots located in the building which are unaffected by any amount of heating. Damp patches have also appeared on the ceilings of the rooms, disappearing with incredible speed.

Children Singing

Location: Capel St Mary - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: A witness staying nearby heard children singing 'Ring a Ring of Roses' at half past midnight, though could not find anyone when she investigated further.

Little People

Location: Capel St Mary - Old house on edge of woods
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fairies were once said to frequent this locale.

Neighbourhood of St Peters Church.

Voice calling 'John'

Location: Carlton Colville - St Peters Church, the area of
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: Over the period of a week, the residents of the neighbourhood could hear a female voice calling out 'John! John!' The voice was slowly heard less, until it was heard no more. In the churchyard itself, a folktale says running around the 'Pirate's Grave' a set number of times would summon the Devil.

Rotation

Location: Chediston - Cedd's Stone (aka Chediston Hall stone)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Folklore says this stone acted as an altar to Woden and could rotate unaided.

Richard Howarth

Location: Chelmondiston - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: After the death of Reverend Richard Howarth, the vicar was said to have been heard walking around his former abode, appearing on one occasion in 1890.

Toppling Tower

Location: Chelmondiston - St. Andrew's church
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Varies (see below)
Further Comments: St. Andrew's church tower was cursed by a local witch. First it burned down, and when rebuilt, was struck by lightning and burned down again. To prevent this from happening a third time, a large square tower was built, only to be hit by a bomb during the Second World War.

Rumoured Polt

Location: Clare - Half Moon public house (no longer operational)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late 1950s?
Further Comments: The Bury Free Press newspaper mentioned that this pub had a poltergeist prior to closing in the late 1950s.

Switching Lights

Location: Clare - Stone Hall (Council building)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 21 November 1961
Further Comments: People arriving at the site found lights turned on, even though the caretaker had switched them off. Previously, lights had switched themselves on and chairs moved apparently unaided.

Wealthy Farmer

Location: Clopton - Farm next to Clopton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a farmer whose wealth was never discovered is said to still be around the area, waiting for a person willing to follow him to the hidden money.

Corton beach, Suffolk.

Fog Bank with Flag

Location: Corton - Beach
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 29 March 1890
Further Comments: In what could be an early UFO sighting, a man walking along the beach watched a localised 'fog bank' sitting on the sand, with a huge flagpole sticking out. After ten minutes, the object rose and faded from view.