The Paranormal Database

Puma

Location: Crawley - Tilgate Forest
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 10 September 1979
Further Comments: A sleek black cat was seen hiding in the forest.

Mrs Eustace

Location: Cross Bush - Convent of Poor Clares
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 11:55, 24 December 1932
Further Comments: The witness here reported that a friend's sister, Mrs Eustace, had assisted her in finding a seat. However, Mrs Eustace had just died in bed, many miles away.

Dashing Lady

Location: Crowborough - Alice Bright Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy weather
Further Comments: A young woman was found drowned in a stream along this lane early in the twentieth century - now when the weather is right, her shade is seen running down the road in the conditions which lead to her accident.

Bag of Soot

Location: Crowborough - Jarvis Brook Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This unlikely ghost would chase unwary travellers down the road!

Presence

Location: Crowborough - Windlesham Manor
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Windlesham Manor was the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though it is unclear whether the presence felt here belongs to the author.

Coach & Horses

Location: Cuckfield - Butler's Green House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once upon a time, the coach and its team of horses arrived too late to save a girl who committed suicide in the local pond - out of guilt it now makes its return journey.

Auto-Amputating Lime Tree

Location: Cuckfield - Cuckfield Park
Type: Legend
Date / Time: To mark a death in the family
Further Comments: A lime tree in the grounds of the park is said to drop a branch just before a member of the family in the nearby house dies.

Anne Sergison

Location: Cuckfield - Cuckfield Park, B2036
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure reportedly haunts her old house and the area around it - though she died in 1848 and is still seen today, reports suggest her ghost began haunting the area in 1830. The ghost has been mistaken for a real person in the past.

Geranium Jane

Location: Cuckfield - King's Head public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered when a former landlord dropped a pot of geraniums on her head from an upstairs window (though it was never proven to be anything other than an accident), Jane was said to be having an affair with him. Her ghost carries forth this tradition, and reportedly only appears to men who are seeing another woman behind their wife's back. The spirit of a young male child has also been detected in the bar downstairs.

Chambermaid

Location: Cuckfield - Ockenden Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The chambermaid was killed when a secret tunnel she was using collapsed; it led to the nearby King's Head Inn, and her waiting lover. Her shade is now seen moving around in the corridors of the manor.

Fleeting Figure

Location: Cuckfield - Ye White Harte Inne
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: A phantom figure has been spotted in this inn, moving from the front door towards the kitchen area.

Knocking

Location: Denton - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1933
Further Comments: Locals claimed that the presence found in this house was antagonised when the new owners destroyed a set of trees planted by the occupant before them. The spirit proceeded to knock on the doors and walls dozens of times a day, until the owners fled.

Devil's Print

Location: Devil's Dyke - Hillfort, and general location
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: An ancient hillfort, Devil's Dyke is also rumoured to be a popular place with those who practice the dark arts; it was here a large footprint was found in the mud, twice the size of a human's, with only four toes. Legend has it that the Devil tried to dig a large trench across the land to flood all the churches in the region. He was foiled by either St Dunstan or a local man who made all the cockerels in the area crow, fooling the Devil into thinking dawn was arriving.

Choir

Location: Didling - St Andrew's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: Phantom singing heard here includes both a choir and a single solitary voice, heard at different times.

Drumming and Shouts

Location: Ditchling - Clayton Hill (aka Tank Tracks)
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 07 March 2015, 07:00h
Further Comments: A dog walker in the area reported hearing drumming and shouting men. The sounds continued for 15 - 20 minutes before fading, and nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. The witness said it was like being on the set of a movie where an army were about to charge into battle.

Faceless Man

Location: Ditchling - Ditchling Bostall road, near Ditchling Beacon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2004, around 23:00h
Further Comments: A driver slowed down as they passed a man in a wide-brimmed hat and scarf walking along this road. Deciding to stop and see if the man required a lift, the driver watched the figure approach in the wing mirror. As the man draw close to the car, the driver realised that the figure had no face, and quickly left the scene.

Jacob Harris

Location: Ditchling - Jacob's Post (including Royal Oak public house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1734 onwards?
Further Comments: A pedlar by trade, Jacob was hanged here for murdering Richard Mills (after taking a liking to Richard's riding coat). Jacob has haunted the area ever since.

A dirt path on the Downs between Ditchling and Westmeston.

Wish Hounds

Location: Ditchling - Road between town & Westmeston, and nearby downs
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The local shucks, known as wish hounds, reportedly stalk these roads. One of them is said to be headless.

Open Doors

Location: Ditchling - Wing's Place, aka the Old House, aka Anne of Cleves House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building is reputed to be haunted by a female figure that leaves the doors open behind her.

Cowled Monk

Location: Drungewick - Drungewick Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer evening, mid 1990s
Further Comments: A cowled figure was spotted by one man mowing in this area. The man spotted work and approached the figure, only for it to have vanished. The man mentioned the incident to a farmer who told him that he had seen the ghost.

Monk

Location: East Dean - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly monk-like figure has been reported wandering around the headstones.

Excise Man

Location: East Dean - Cliff face
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: Two policemen and a coastguard spotted a man trapped at the base of the cliffs, so summoned a lifeboat to help him. When the rescue teams arrived, the figure was nowhere to be found. The area is where an excise man was lured to his death by smugglers; the figure was speculated to be that of him.

Caroline Osborn

Location: East Dean - Hodcombe Farmhouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in a grey dress and wearing a bonnet, Caroline is said to appear when renovations are being carried out on the house. Caroline and her husband John disappeared after an inquest into the death of one of their children.

Silver Cigar

Location: East Dean - Skies above
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 01 February 2008
Further Comments: A silver cigar shaped aircraft was spotted flying high over East Dean. It left no vapour trail and moved steadily before darting off at an incredible speed.

Footsteps

Location: East Grinstead - Ashdown House, Forest Row
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 06 July (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a year these footfalls are heard as they descend the staircase.