The Paranormal Database

Horse Worrier

Location: Icklingham - Hill near Deadman's Grave (now an SSSI)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a man and his horse, supposedly buried under the hill, were blamed for worrying other horses after dark, preventing them from using tracks through the area.

Headless Shape on Horseback

Location: Icklingham - Icklingham Way, southern corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Archbishop of Sudbury (or another senior religious figure) was decapitated near to this point by his enemies, the man now returns on dark nights to retrace the route of his death. Another story names the headless horseman as a highwayman, or one of three rebels executed nearby for the murder of the Archbishop.

Unearthly Forms

Location: Icklingham - Site of possible small Roman town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1871
Further Comments: Prior to the discovery of Roman stone coffins in 1871, the site bordered a field which contained a so-called witches' path. 'Unearthly forms' seen in a gap on the edge of the field after dark were blamed when a horse threw its rider, the accident killing the man.

Cromwell's Treasure

Location: Icklingham - Three Hills (round barrows)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend said that Cromwell had concealed a wealth of treasure within one of the barrows.

The Church of St. Botolph, Iken, Suffolk.

Marsh Devils

Location: Iken - Church of St. Botolph (original destroyed circa AD869)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Ninth century
Further Comments: St Botolph was said to have battled the strange creatures and demons of the Iken marshes while constructing a place of worship in the ninth century. The entities may have been banished, but Viking raiders laid the site to waste a few years after its construction. In 1977 a piece of stone cross was discovered nearby, thought to be from Botolph's original church.

Wallaby

Location: Illkestshall St Lawrence - Field, and roads near primary school
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 2025
Further Comments: Caught on video hopping across a field, this wallaby would also be spotted near a local school. The creature left the area after residents were asked to call the police or RSPCA if the macropod materialised.

Eagle Street, Ipswich.

Robert

Location: Ipswich - Eagle Street - undisclosed house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 14 December 1952 (date of exorcism)
Further Comments: The local vicar of St Michael's was called in to exorcise this entity which threw items through the air and scattered an unknown powder around rooms. The entity briefly paused its antics after the service, but started again a few days later. The family would appear in court a month later for non-payment of rent, the landlord claiming the haunting started just after he had issued a summons against the occupants.

Foxhall Road, Ipswich.

A Very Black Cat

Location: Ipswich - East Ipswich (Felix Road, Foxhall Road areas)
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 21 August 2006
Further Comments: The local paper reported that two people had seen a large cat, 'very black' in colour, in separate incidents. The first was along Felix Road at around 03:30h, followed by the Foxhall Road sighting two hours later. One witness said that the cat was not as big as a panther but was much larger than a normal cat.

Crying Baby

Location: Ipswich - Flat along Foxhall Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February 2003-July 2004
Further Comments: A medium who came to cleanse the flat failed to do so and the tenants finally moved out. They had reported poltergeist-like activity, loud bangs and footsteps, the muffled sounds of a baby crying, and black and grey shadowy figures.

Poltergeist

Location: Ipswich - Former Lakeland Plastics building
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: Believed to be the ghost of Mother Lakeland, a wise woman/witch who once lived in the area, this entity has been blamed for moving displays around the shop. As a side note, contained within the shop is a fifteenth century chapel that remained undiscovered for many years. It is now open to the public.

Gippeswyk Hall, Ipswich.

White Lady

Location: Ipswich - Gippeswyk Hall (currently occupied by Red Rose Chain)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of the full moon (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This ghostly white lady has been seen by several witnesses in the upper part of the hall. One person reported a strange mist emerging from the chimney, though no fires were burning within.

Great White Horse Hotel, Ipswich.

Grey Lady

Location: Ipswich - Great White Horse Hotel (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly woman who has been observed walking through a wall is said to have died in a fire on the site.

Ipswich Film Theatre, Suffolk.

Figure

Location: Ipswich - Ipswich Film Theatre (Cinema), Town Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Several staff at this building reported a shadowy figure walking around the rear corridors near the protection booths.

Isaacs public house on the docks, Ipswich.

Footsteps

Location: Ipswich - Isaacs public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December 2017
Further Comments: While alone in the gents' toilets, one man heard the door open and close and heavy booted footsteps approach. Then, after hearing a loud sigh in his ear, the witness turned to see who had come in, but realised he was alone.

Paws

Location: Ipswich - Kelly Road
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: Part of a rash of sightings of ABCs in and around the Ipswich area during 1996. The cat was nicknamed 'Paws' by the local press and a reward was posted for evidence. In the 2000s a witness came forward to say that the 'cat' was a black Labrador which would run freely around the area, and most locals were aware of this at the time.

Mordrid

Location: Ipswich - Large retail building, White House estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 2024
Further Comments: A phantom young girl with brown hair who plays in the building has been named 'Mordrid' by staff. One visitor to the site heard footsteps in the empty building and asked Mordrid to close an open door (catching the closing door on video).

London Road in Ipswich.

Kangaroo

Location: Ipswich - London Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 12 September 2011, around 16:00h
Further Comments: A driver and passenger reported seeing a young kangaroo travelling along a busy Ipswich road.

Halberd Inn, Ipswich

Heartbeat

Location: Ipswich - McGinty's public house (now Halberd Inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Heart from twentieth century, girl in July 2004
Further Comments: If you place your ear on one of the walls of this Irish theme pub, one can hear the faint beating of a human heart. Maybe it was the same entity which once turned all the fuses off at a junction box, saving the landlord from electrocution. In 2004 a visitor staying at the pub awoke to see a little girl in the room, even though the only other person there was the publican. The faint outline of a bricked-up entrance to a tunnel can be seen in the cellar and is said to be part of an underground network of passageways which run beneath the town connecting various manor houses and the docks.

The home of an Ipswich poltergeist.

Plate Smasher

Location: Ipswich - Olde Tudor Cafe (no longer operating)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa November 1950
Further Comments: Eleven members of staff witnessed the strange smashing of cups, plates and a teapot, thrown through the air by hands unseen. A C Henning, of Borley fame, was called in to investigate.

Spinning Lights

Location: Ipswich - Orwell Bridge and the A12 towards Felixstowe, and Nacton Road
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 26 August 2006, around 04:00h
Further Comments: Two dull, spinning lights followed a teenager driving across the bridge for several miles. The lights always remained in front of the car, turning at the same time as the driver. Several other witnesses reported seeing similar lights around the Nacton Road area at roughly the same time.

Teenager

Location: Ipswich - Pipers' Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a teenager who died within. He appears on CCTV cameras but is not visible in the real world.

Area around Ipswich Pet Cemetery, which is no longer operational.

Big Black Cat

Location: Ipswich - Tuddenham Road (near pet cemetery (no longer present))
Type: ABC
Date / Time: June 1996
Further Comments: Seen by a car full of people as it crossed the road, the cat was as large as a tiger with a jet black coat. Locals were unconvinced and named a local dog as the likely explanation.

The Willis Building in Ipswich.

Walking

Location: Ipswich - Willis Buildings, Friars Street and Grey Friars Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s, 2010s
Further Comments: One former worker reported hearing footsteps in empty parts of the building and ascending the escalator when it was turned off for the night. The witness also reported hearing a disembodied scream, all during the 1990s. More recently it has been claimed that the building is haunted by a friar which appears after dark, although the person sharing the story admitted it may be just a tale to unnerve new employees.

The now closed Woolworths in Ipswich.

Stockroom Prankster

Location: Ipswich - Woolworths (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-2008
Further Comments: Staff would feel as if they were not alone in the stockroom and the door would occasionally slam shut and jam.

The Buttermarket Shopping Centre, Ipswich.

Monks

Location: Ipswich - WS Cowell's, now the site of the Buttermarket Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century (monk), 2016 (footsteps and keys)
Further Comments: While the Cowell's building stood here (a monastery was formally on the site), a few employees reported observing an old monk. Two women, on separate occasions, were supposed to have fainted after seeing the figure, and at least one man had fled during a night shift. Phantom footsteps were also heard in the factory, and perhaps more recently by a cleaner at work in the shopping centre, with the sound accompanied by jangling keys. A local legend says that hundreds of years ago, when the monastery was under attack, the occupants hid their treasure down a well on the site - it was never recovered and remains to this day.