A plethora of ghostly figures, supernatural apparitions and unearthly happenings have been witnessed throughout the centuries in Sussex.

Hundreds of these instances of otherworldly encounters from the county have been recorded on the Paranormal Database.

At the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings a phantom knight on horseback is said to appear on the anniversary of the battle and the ground is also said to bleed after a storm.

Spectres have been reported on the A23 from London to Brighton since the 1970s.

According to reports one male figure walks in front of a car, only to disappear when hit, while figures dressed in light-coloured clothing have also been observed.

At Deans Place Hotel in Alfriston a woman dressed in blue, who is believed to have been murdered on the site, has been observed on the landing since the 70s. A dog is also said to haunt the car park outside the building.

Also in the village, a tall “phantom lady” is said to haunt the stairway at the Tuckvar house.

An elderly man with grey hair was seen in and just outside of the garage; he is believed to be the man who once looked after the horses on site, and the attic is said to be home to a wispy female figure.

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At the Rectory in Amberley a little girl and old man “accompanied by a sense of evil” have been spotted several times over the last hundred years.

A less malevolent sighting is that of a small ghostly cat which is said to float along the corridor at the Gatehouse Restaurant in Battle.

At 7 New Road in Brighton in the 80s, a knife was thrown through the air by an unseen hand and a set of keys vanished only to reappear in plain view an hour later, when this restaurant was Leadbelly's. Since then, banging has been heard coming from the restaurant when empty, and a member of staff reportedly spotted a phantom old man in the basement.

The area around Churchill Square in Brighton is said to be home to Black Belly, an apparition which is normally observed from the corner of the eye who has been seen from the beginning of the 20th century.

Black Belly has been described as a large bald man, wearing a shirt which does not quite cover his stomach, revealing a bloated and bruised stomach. The figure is also said to hover a few centimetres from the ground.

The database also says that a man called Deryck Carver haunts the cellar of the Black Lion.

He was reportedly burnt in a barrel of tar in 1555 and is believed to have been the first brewer in Brighton and the first Protestant martyr in England to be put to death.

In 2006 the manager of the building claimed to have felt an “unnerving presence” in that area on several occasions. A builder in the upper part of the building spotted a shadowy figure in 1995.

A poltergeist plagued the Blue Gardenia Club in Brighton after owner Harvey Holford was found guilty of manslaughter after shooting and killing his wife in the 60s.

Following his conviction lights in the building would apparently turn themselves on and off and kitchen utensils moved themselves around the room. The poltergeist was said to have left after a medium visited the club, although there are other reports that it may have lingered longer, the database said.

Another poltergeist in the Bugle Inn, Brighton, was christened Charlie after he was blamed for moving furnishings, flicking lights on and off, locking and unlocking doors, and generating other “minor mischief”.

The Argus has also been targeted by the supernatural. 

When the newspaper's office was based in North Road in the 80s the photographic darkroom was said to be home to a paranormal presence which climbed upon the back of a man while he worked.

Another member of staff spotted a man in a tricorn hat in one of the offices.

In 2019, we reported that Brighton Museum captured seemingly paranormal events on CCTV. Footage showed a cup suddenly falling and crashing in the middle of the night.

Moments before the smash, a mysterious flash of light could be seen. 

Digital Manager Kevin Bacon said no one was near the display when it fell at 3am on Wednesday, July 10.

Upon hearing the crash, security rushed to see what had happened and found a cup from the retail display had fallen to the floor and smashed.

In 2021, a Haywards Heath resident was told off by the police after reporting paranormal activity.

On a Friday night, the unnamed caller claimed that a ghost had been sent to their house by a neighbour to haunt them.

"Some reassuring words issued given and also words of advice offered as well around ringing 999 for emergencies only," police said at the time.