The Paranormal Database

Former Director

Location: Chertsey - Private organisation in northern Chertsey (no longer present)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2012
Further Comments: Following the death of a director notorious for working until 20:00h, office workers would hear his office door slam closed on the top floor, the lift ascend before descending to the ground floor, and the front door finally rattling.

Heavy Person

Location: Chertsey - The George public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This entity, normally blamed for moving furnishings around, was felt by a couple of overnight guests as it sat on the end of their bed.

Headless Monk

Location: Chertsey - Thorpe Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February 2011
Further Comments: A water ride at the park was moved after staff reported encountering a headless monk, amongst other paranormal phenomena. The foundations of the ride were said to have intruded on an ancient burial site. The park has been accused of holding a publicity stunt, having used another ghost story previously to promote its 'Saw' ride.

Faceless Rider

Location: Chilworth - Between Rices Corner and Percy Arms
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1960
Further Comments: While returning from work in the early hours of the morning, a cyclist became aware of another man on a bike a short distance behind him. The second rider finally caught up to the cyclist, who called out when he realised the man who had just overtaken him had no lights on. The figure on the second bike turned his head, and the witness realised the rider had no face, just a blurry area.

Fleeing Nick

Location: Churt - Devil's Jumps (three hills in the area)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Hills still present
Further Comments: Local witch Mother Ludlam had her cauldron stolen by the Devil. As the Devil ran, every step he took created a great mound of earth.

Field Marshal Lord Ligonier

Location: Cobham - A3 near town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 27 November 1965
Further Comments: The musical group Peter Bs reported encountering a ghostly figure while driving along this stretch of road. They said the entity wore an army greatcoat, emanated a strange glow, and had hollow eye sockets. After conducting research, the band thought the figure could have been Field Marshal Lord Ligonier, buried at Cobham church.

Small Lad

Location: Cobham - Church Stile House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A former owner of the property reported encountering the ghost of a young boy in the building.

Hermit

Location: Cobham - Cobham Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a hermit who once lived in the park is said to still walk around.

Blue Donkey

Location: Cobham - St Andrew's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: This strangely discoloured creature is reputed to haunt the churchyard.

Something

Location: Cobham Wood - Darnley Mausoleum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mausoleum and the surrounding woodland were rumoured to be haunted, although the exact details are not known.

Gliding Woman

Location: Cranford - Cranford Park House (no longer standing (demolished 1946) - currently The Berkeley Arms)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1946
Further Comments: Two men with the intent of going out with the gamekeepers followed what they thought was a maid around the corridors of the building - until the figure disappeared at a dead end. The ghost of Sir Roger Aston, barber to James I, also wandered the site.

Maid

Location: Cranford - River Crane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A mother and son walking along the river spotted a maid wearing white perched upon a stone seat by the water's edge. On their return journey they noticed that the maid, perhaps unsurprisingly, had gone, but the stone seat had also vanished without trace.

Thomas More, Holbein sketch.

Sir Thomas More

Location: Cranleigh - Bayard's (or Baynards) Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Executed in 1535, Sir Thomas had his head hidden at Baynard Hall until the heat died down. Still not happy, he drifts without the object in the nearby park.

Passenger

Location: Cranleigh - Dunsfold Aerodrome
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: Workers on the 007 film Casino Royale reported seeing the ghost of a woman moving along the aisles of a 747 they used as a set. It is believed the phantom is of a female passenger who died from a heart attack at least thirty years previous.

Blurred Figure

Location: Croydon - Addiscombe railway yard - sheds (station demolished in 2001)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 11 April 2006
Further Comments: While the buildings stood, one worker witnessed a grey figure walking from the sheds, the apparition's face blurred and distorted. The sounds of machinery being moved at night were also reported, though the buildings were locked. The grey figure has been seen since the demolition, viewed from the fence along Capri Road.

A phantom German pilot in Surrey.

Pilot

Location: Croydon - Area around New Addington, and Queen Elizabeth's Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a German pilot shot down over the area during the Second World War is said to remain in the neighbourhood. One story says that a man looking for his lost wallet along Queen Elizabeth's Drive had the object handed back to him by the pilot, who appeared quite solid.

Boy in an Orange Jumper

Location: Croydon - Council House on New Addington estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A garden attached to a house once owned by a convicted paedophile was dug up after police were tipped off that the bodies of two children were buried there. Though nothing was discovered, another family which once lived there reported they moved out after their daughter saw a ghostly boy in an orange jumper and a girl who would stand at the bottom of the garden.

John Carver

Location: Croydon - Former cafe in Brighton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 May (reoccurring), last encountered 1940s?
Further Comments: John Carver was found not guilty of the murder of his wife, though most of the community believed he was guilty. After leaving court, Carver found himself hounded by a crowd who wanted him dead. Eventually Carver moved far away to escape. Sixty years after the crime, the owner of a cafe reported seeing the ghost of a tall man in grey, minus head and legs, climb the staircase and hover on the landing. In addition, on each 26 May (the date of the wife's death), the breaking of glass could be heard. The cafe was thought to be one of the locations Carver tried to hide before leaving the area.

Pilots

Location: Croydon - Forte Posthouse, Purley Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: post-1945
Further Comments: It was said a chambermaid working at this hotel quit after spotting a phantom RAF pilot. A guest also reported seeing a group of pilots sitting and singing around a fireplace in the restaurant.

Walking Mother

Location: Croydon - Old Croydon Palace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once an orphanage, it is thought the ghost of a woman who walks the corridors is a mother searching for her lost child. It is unclear whether the same entity is to blame for the wailing and screaming also reported onsite.

Archbishop Sheldon

Location: Croydon - Parish Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The grey figure which haunts this church has been variously named as either Archbishop Sheldon or a grey nun. One story says the ghost's visitations ceased once Sheldon's tomb was repaired. A wailing Elizabeth Finch is also said to frequent the site.

George

Location: Croydon - Purley Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: George, killed in 1830 by a rogue beer barrel, was 'released' in 1992 by spiritualists. George was said to have been responsible when the beer pumps failed to work.

Fifty Pence

Location: Croydon - Purley Way
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1970s, 07:30h
Further Comments: A witness walking to the nearby college suddenly realised there was no traffic on the roads. Something made him look up only to see a large a fifty pence (heptagon) shaped craft hovering silently in the sky. It had a red underbelly, bright silver sides and moved from left to right. The witness looked down briefly, during which time the craft started to move away at incredible speed. The witness chased it across the road (traffic had appeared again) but it had disappeared. The witness later found out that he had lost an hour of time.

Preacher

Location: Croydon - Sandrock public house, Upper Shirley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This public house is said to be haunted by an old man with a long beard, dressed as a preacher. He has reputedly been seen by former staff.

Grey Lady

Location: Croydon - Selsdon Park Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: Carrying a candle whilst walking down the Tudor Corridor, this spook is thought to be that of a maid who killed herself during the 1930s. One guest caught the reflection of the entity in a mirror as he sat in the bath.