Dark shadowy figures, the jangling of keys, a woman dressed in Victorian clothing and a phantom monk are just some of the sightings reportedly spotted by locals in this city.
A disembodied left hand on a field near the railway line at Werrington was logged as recently as 2009, and in 2007 at Sutton Heath Road, one man reportedly watched a figure driving a horse and carriage emerge from a bush on the right hand side and cross the road ahead of him.
Poltergeist activity tells of broken cups and plates scattered across the kitchen of an Eastfield guest house in 1960, and from 1891-92 at a house in Mayor’s Walk “bedsheets would be thrown on to the floor, doors violently shaken and crashing so loud it was if parts of the house were falling (although nothing would be found out of place).
"Neighbours tried to stay the night to discover the source of the activity but would flee before dawn.”
Even the former RAF Peterborough airbase at Westwood – now covered in housing and HMP Peterborough – is still said to be haunted by “the sound of old engines flying overhead and airmen dressed in old uniforms.”
The website, Paranormal Database, is described as “a serious ongoing project to document locations with folkloric, paranormal and cryptozoological connections with more than 13,400 entries” – including this collection in Peterborough:
1. Paranormal activity
Haunting Manifestation: The Cherry Tree pub on Oundle Road (now closed) is said to be haunted by a man wearing Victorian clothing. Photo: David Lowndes
2. Paranormal activity
Haunting Manifestation: The Bull Hotel - Footfalls and the sound of keys have been heard here, but the source never seen. A ghostly dog is also said to haunt the building. Photo: David Lowndes
3. Paranormal activity
Haunting Manifestation: Peterborough Cathedral - Several ghosts are said to haunt the cathedral. The sounds of an invisible choir have been reported, while phantom monks appear in the graveyard (one of whom vanishes through a closed side doorway). A light resembling a candle has been spotted floating around the upper floors at the front of the building. Finally, an old piece of folklore says that if a hare makes a lair in the building, the city would be destroyed by fire within a week. Photo: David Lowndes
4. Paranormal activity
Haunting Manifestation: St John's Church - Concerning the bells of the church and the cathedral, an old rhyme says, 'when the church and the abbey they strike together, they'll either be a death or change in the weather'. Photo: David Lowndes