The Paranormal Database

Built for a Soul

Location: Kirkby Lonsdale - Devil's Bridge
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still stands
Further Comments: The Devil built this bridge, in return for the soul of the first who crossed it. Alas for him, a local woman let her dog run across it first, and so Satan left with his new pet. A more recent story concludes by saying that when a new bridge was constructed in 1932, Satan was so upset that he delayed the opening by creating heavy rain, hail, and snowstorms.

Rock Hit

Location: Kirkby Lonsdale - Devil's Punch Bowl
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Depression still present
Further Comments: Old Nick appears to have taken a liking to Kirkby Lonsdale - he once threw a large boulder at a church here, scoring a direct hit. The rock created the depression now known as the Devil's Punch Bowl, and the church is said to be intact but buried deep underground.

Blind Lord Wharton

Location: Kirkby Stephen - A685 between town and Ravenstonedale
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wharton was struck blind (some say by God, for punishment for his sins) as he travelled home - his phantom now walks erratically, attempting to find its footing.

Flitting Lights

Location: Kirkby Stephen - Angill Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: When the castle was sold in 1897, a newspaper published a story describing residents close to the castle being awed by the flittering lights which could be seen while the building stood empty.

Pendragon

Location: Kirkby Stephen - Pendragon Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Castle still stands (on private land)
Further Comments: Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur, resided here until he and a hundred of his men were poisoned by the Saxon invaders. Some believe Pendragon's ghost remains here. Another ghost, that of Sir Hugh de Morville, haunts the building as punishment for murdering Thomas Becket. Finally, a hoard of treasure hidden here is protected by a phantom black hen that replaces the soil of any hole dug just as quick as it is removed!

An old postcard of Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria.

Mustard Grinders

Location: Kirkby Stephen - Skinkrith Bridge and River Eden
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: According to local legend, anyone who places an ear in an opening to the rock can hear a low grumbling that was thought to be employees of the Devil crushing mustard seeds. Jingling Annas also haunts the bridge - her hands reduced to stumps by the manacles she was forced to wear.

Footfalls

Location: Kirkoswald - Former Nunnery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: These footsteps reportedly belong to the nuns which once resided here.

Sunken Church

Location: Kirksanton - Village Green
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The church of the village sunk beneath the ground - whether God's hand or earthquake is unknown. One is said to be able to hear the bells if an ear is placed on the earth, while another version of the story says the ringing only occurs on Christmas Day.

An old sketch of a skull (public domain).

Reappearing Skulls

Location: Lake Windermere - Calgarth Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Sixteenth century?
Further Comments: Belonging to a married farming couple, the skulls came back to haunt the person who framed them for a crime that resulted in their execution. No matter how they were destroyed, the grinning skulls always returned to the hall, until the death of the man they cursed.

Crier of Claife

Location: Lake Windermere - Ferry Nab
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While the spirit is reportedly exorcised, some still say they can hear ghostly screams and cries coming from the lake late at night. The cause of the commotion has been seen only once, and the witness died of shock a few days later, without ever speaking a word.

An old postcard of Lake Windermere.

Tizzie-Wizzie

Location: Lake Windermere - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: This creature, reportedly part hedgehog, part squirrel, and part bumblebee, has been reported on and off over the past one hundred years.

An old postcard of Lake Windermere in Cumbria.

White Horse

Location: Lake Windermere - General area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A legend says that when evil or misfortune is en route to villages alongside the lake, a white horse appears and crosses the water.

An old postcard of Lake Windermere in the Lake District.

Giant Eel

Location: Lake Windermere - Waters of the lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 2006, and February 2011
Further Comments: In 2006 Steve Burnip and his wife observed an eel-like creature, estimated to be up to six metres long, in the waters of the lake. Steve said the creature had a little head and two humps which protruded from the water. In 2011 Tom Pickles photographed a multiple humped creature in the lake, although the image looks like waves caused by the wake of a boat.

Led off the path by a will'o the whisp (public domain).

Death by Fairy

Location: Lamplugh - No exact area given
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1656-1663
Further Comments: Cumbria Archives reported discovering an old manuscript that recorded deaths in Lamplugh between 1 January 1656 and 1 January 1663. During this timeframe, four people were 'frighted to death by faries', three 'old women drowned upon trial for witchcraft', and one 'led into a horse pond by a will of the whisp'.

Boggles

Location: Lanercost - Banks of the river
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Pre-nineteenth century
Further Comments: These northern fairies would play merry havoc near the rivers, frightening horses and riders alike.

Luck of Eden

Location: Langwathby - Eden Hall (aka Edenhall) - demolished 1934
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present (but in the Victoria and Albert museum)
Further Comments: Stolen from fairies by a former butler, the fifteen centimetre tall cup was locked away deep within the house, before being moved to the V&A - a curse placed by the little folk in retaliation for the theft states that if the beaker breaks, so does the Eden Hall's luck. The hall was also reputedly haunted by an elderly lady, who may have been a maid, who had a habit of appearing as a reflection in a mirror.

Yellow-eyed Creature

Location: Leece - Road through the village
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Winter, late 1990s
Further Comments: While driving through the village, a married couple spotted a large black animal in the middle of the road. They were forced to stop the car, as the creature did not move. It was about two metres high and just under a metre tall, covered in black bristly hair and yellow coloured eyes. One of the witnesses reported that the beast resembled a large cat but was not feline nor dog. The creature eventually moved slowly from the road and stood on the grass verge, enabling the witnesses to drive off.

Hooded Figure

Location: Little Orton - Gypsy Lonning - area where monastery once stood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2004
Further Comments: A six foot tall, cloaked figure was observed gliding towards a wooded clearing. Animals in the area acted strangely, making a great deal of noise.

A circle of witches dance around a central figure, from an old woodcut.

Meg & her Daughters

Location: Little Salkeld - Long Meg stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still standing
Further Comments: A collection of standing stones, these are said to have been a coven of witches turned to stone for their sins.

Top Hats

Location: Lowther - Askham Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to 1956
Further Comments: The peel tower was once home to ghostly footsteps, and several guests at the property reported, at different times, seeing two phantom men wearing top hats in a bedroom carrying a box. After the removal and destruction of a black cat found mummified in a wall space, the ghostly presence left.

An old postcard of Lowther Castle in Cumbria.

Sir James Lowther's Coach

Location: Lowther - Lowther Castle
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown - Middle Ages?
Further Comments: Sir James was blamed when poltergeist activity sprung up around the castle a few days after his death. The entity caused a little disruption at the funeral (in the form of knocking emerging from the casket). The carriage Sir James travelled in during life was seen and heard moving along the roads near the castle at dangerous speeds, glowing in the dark. This ghost has not been reported since an exorcism was performed.

Unlucky Tree

Location: Lowther - Parkland
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A tree is this park has its branches propped up - a legend says that if the branches ever touch the ground, ill fortune will befall the Lowther family.

Floating Woman

Location: M6 - South of Lake District
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer (year not known), 22:30h
Further Comments: A ghostly woman was reported on the hard shoulder, appearing to float just off the ground, as her feet were not there. The apparition was dressed in old fashioned clothing and the witness who drove past said the phantom looked as if she was watching out for something.

Murdered Girl

Location: Martindale - Henhow Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: Both this girl and her unborn child were poisoned by the father, a local preacher. A local man spoke to the entity, who told him she had been murdered, and was obligated to haunt the area for one hundred years.

Crying Baby

Location: Maryport - Dearham Bridge railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man once threw his new-born child under a train here, killing the infant. The father was hanged for the crime. Now, as a train is now about to enter the tunnel, the child can occasionally be heard screaming before being hit.