The Paranormal Database

Two Children

Location: Sunderland - Ship Isis public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The two phantom children seen around this area are said to have been murdered by their mother, Mary Ann Cotton, in tunnels that ran under this building. A Victorian lady that haunts the pub may be Mary herself.

Strange Black Shape

Location: Sunderland - Stadium of Light training grounds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2005
Further Comments: Players from this soccer club stated that they were concerned that their chances for promotion in the football league were under threat by a ghost which haunted their grounds. One player stated that the phantom was an eighteenth century wreaker called 'Spottee'.

Painting Polt

Location: Sunderland - Unidentified house, Bishopwearmouth
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1839
Further Comments: Shortly after Mary, a thirteen-year-old girl, fell seriously ill in the house, a supernatural outbreak caused havoc for the other residents. Unaccountable bangs, clangs, footsteps, and bells could be detected. Mary's medicine would be snatched from the hands of doctors and thrown across the room. Six months after the outbreak started, paintings of the night sky manifested on the girl's bedroom ceiling, returning if whitewashed over.

Hat Removal

Location: Sunderland - Unknown house, area around Newcastle Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A female phantom in this home would appear every night, removing a hat from the bedroom wardrobe and walking out the front door.

Vacuum

Location: Washington - Barmston slip road (west) to A 1231
Type: Other
Date / Time: 01 January 2014, 11:30h
Further Comments: A driver was left startled when, at 25 miles per hour, their car lurched and leaned over to the right and they could hear the air from the car being sucked out from the right hand door. After two seconds everything returned to normal. There was no apparent wind and no tire blow out, which the driver first suspected.

Long John

Location: Washington - Havelock Arms, Fatfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987
Further Comments: A man who loved his evening drinking sessions, this former landlord, a tall man wearing a waistcoat, sometimes returns at evenings to his favourite watering hole. Brian Proudlock may have last seen the entity standing over his bed. Mild poltergeist activity had also been reported by staff.

Annie

Location: Washington - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Shortly after moving into this property, one of the residents awoke to find an old lady standing over their bed. The phantom woman was described as having grey hair in a bun and wore an old fashioned dress with an apron. A couple of days later the visitation was described to a neighbour, who said the description matched that of a former occupier, Annie, who had lived at the house many years previous.

Female in Long Dress

Location: Washington - Washington Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thought to be a member of the Washington family, this woman has been seen on the upper floors, her dress trailing on the ground.

Man in Dark Clothing

Location: West Boldon - Black Horse Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man in seventeenth century clothing, complete with wide-brimmed hat, haunts the bar area and was mistaken for a real person by a manager. A phantom nine year old girl also haunts the site and may be the source of a disembodied voice which has been heard.

Jessica Ann Hargreaves

Location: West Boldon - Wheatsheaf public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Mid 2004
Further Comments: A visiting medium spoke to Jessica's spirit, claiming that the young girl had been raped and murdered in 1908 and her remains hidden in the building. Prior to the visit, members of staff at the pub had experienced classic poltergeist activity, and in one incident found a child's handprint in some jelly though there were no children on the site at the time.

Cleaner

Location: Whitburn - Grey Horse public house (ceased trading, now a Co-Op shop)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 2021
Further Comments: A former cleaner was named as the phantom which haunted the Grey Horse, although the haunting appears to have been limited to creaks and knocks.