The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Derbyshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana


Dwarves, while not common in the UK, pop up occasionally.

Dwarf with Pointed Hat

Location: Alderwasley - Hill just past Alderwasley
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The witness to this encounter stated that they once bumped into a four foot high figure wearing a green pointed hat feeding the plants.

Singing

Location: Alderwasley - St Margaret's Chapel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Though disused, locals have reported singing and bell ringing from this aging chapel.

Footsteps

Location: Alfreton - Alfreton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: The sound of footsteps on wooden floorboards walking down an empty corridor was heard, even though the area is carpeted. The haunting is said to date back to the 1940s.

Cloaked Figure

Location: Alfreton - Doehole Lane, Ashover
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December 2015
Further Comments: A driver was forced to brake hard as he and his passenger watched a transparent cloaked figure with a hood covering its head cross the road. The figure vanished before reaching hedgerow on the verge.

Dancing Ladies

Location: Alport - Nine Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This set of four (not actually nine) stones, also called the Grey Ladies, was thought to come alive at midnight (or midday) and dance on the nearby moor. Others have said that hundreds of fairies come to the stones to dance and party.

Boggart

Location: Arbor Low - Arbor Low Stone Circle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locals talk of a boggart that haunts the area of the circle - whomever spends time here after dark risks upsetting the entity.

Headless Man

Location: Ashbourne - Hanging bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that the bridge is said to be haunted by two ghosts. A headless figure is sometimes seen standing on the bridge, while another ghost is seen leaping off the edge into the River Henmore.

Twelve Pallbearers

Location: Ashford in the Water - Shady Lane, near Thornbridge Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These twelve men carrying a coffin are said to be headless. The coffin is also empty, the space reserved for any witnesses to the spectral sight.

Mrs Towndrow

Location: Ashover - Church and churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1890
Further Comments: The headless entity spotted in this location was believed to be the Mrs Towndrow who was murdered in 1841 by her husband John shortly before he killed himself. A local legend states that of you thrice circumambulate an empty stone coffin found in the churchyard before sitting in it, you can hear the restless dead.

Mrs Jessops the Third

Location: Ashover - Overton Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1956
Further Comments: The wife of a pastor moved out of this hall complaining it was haunted. At the time locals believed the ghost was the third wife of Mr Jessops, a former owner of the property, which appeared to enjoy walking over the grassy forecourt.

Only at Dawn

Location: Ashover - The Turning Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: At certain times of the year (but when, no one knows for certain) this large stone turns itself over when the cockerel crows.

Jim Marlowe

Location: Bakewell - Castle Hill (boarding house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every Friday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Marlowe was a butler who shot himself one Friday night to escape his nagging wife. His footsteps reputedly can be heard once a week leaving the pantry and ascending the staircase to the room in which he died.


An old postcard showing Haddon Hall in the village of Bakewell.

Dorothy Vernon

Location: Bakewell - Haddon Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that the ghost of Vernon has been sighted on the steps which now bare her name, running down them as if being chased. Other ghosts on this site include a blue woman, a young boy and a phantom monk.

Talking Tree

Location: Bakewell - Hassop Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A beech tree once stood on the grounds of the hall and would whisper the name of the true owner of the property. The hall is also reputed to be haunted, though nothing is said of the form the ghost takes.


A phantom miner.

Old Miner

Location: Bakewell - Magpie Mine
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1940s
Further Comments: A survey team in the mine spotted a man holding a candle who vanished down a shaft. A photograph taken by the team reportedly shows a figure standing on top of a deep pool of water.

Victorian Boy

Location: Bakewell - St Anselm's School
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown - mid-twentieth century?
Further Comments: During a social event at the school, some of the guests were photographed by a master on steps in the garden. When the photograph was developed, a boy in Victorian clothing could be seen standing with the guests, though no one could recall him being there at the time.

Farmer

Location: Bamford - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom farmer holding a lantern is said to haunt this bridge, though he has not been seen for around one hundred years. Another witness encountered a ghostly animal, 'neither dog or ram', which blocked his path.


A phantom Collie-like dog.

Black Collie

Location: Barberbooth - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom dog stands as tall as a very large collie and is said to belong to the fairies.

Colour Shifting Woman

Location: Barlborough - Barlborough Hall (currently Mount St Mary's College)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of the Full Moon (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that a phantom woman, reported as being grey blue or white, haunts this Elizabethan hall. A room in the upper part of the building is home to a ghostly blood stain belonging to a murdered priest - the story says it took many decades to be cleaned up, and even now it periodically returns. The hall was also once home to Robin Hood's long bow, now kept at Renishaw Hall, and local tradition has it that Robin and Marian were married in a nearby church.

Screaming Lady

Location: Barlow - Private farm near Barlow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s - present
Further Comments: A screaming woman holding a child was said to haunt this location, although she has not been seen for many years. A former worker at the site said he had seen phantom old man in a corner of a room and had experienced poltergeist activity.

Sunken Village

Location: Baslow - Road from village heading towards Sheffield, was fenland known as Leachfield
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A village which once stood here was said to have quickly sunk into swamp while watched by an occupant who stood on a nearby hill.

Turning Rock

Location: Baslow Edge - The Eagle Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that this large rock will sometimes slowly turn itself over when it hears the cock crow.

Hob the Boggart

Location: Beeley - Hob Hurst's House (Bronze Age Barrow)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This helpful entity was renowned for making boots for local people he liked.

Darting Large Cat

Location: Beeley - Moor
Type: ABC
Date / Time: March 2016 (cat), phantom horseman on first full moon in March
Further Comments: A cat, reportedly the size of a small horse, darted out in front of a car. The previous year, a panther was observed on the moor, from which the witnesses fled. The moor is also said to be haunted by a phantom horseman who appears once a year.

Cloaked Man

Location: Belper - Car park by the Mill House public house
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 09 March 2014, around 17:30h
Further Comments: A man in black old fashioned clothing with a cloak and hat was spotted standing by the fence of this car park. The bottom half of his face was covered by a scarf.

Records 1 - 25 of 328

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