The Paranormal Database

The Devil's Shovel Full

Location: Coxbench - Circular earthworks
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This barrow was created by Old Nick after he lost his shoe and was forced to drop a shovel full of earth with which he intended to dam the Derwent in Derby.

Protection Symbols

Location: Creswell - Creswell Crags
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: In 2019, dozens of witches' marks were (re)discovered in the caves. The apotropaic marks are likely to date back hundreds of years and used to trap evil forces and protect people nearby.

Floating Head

Location: Creswell - Creswell Crags, lake and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Head unknown, hooded figure seen in 1821
Further Comments: The floating head is thought to belong to a witch and is seen among the thickets on the water's edge. The hooded figure was watched as it emerged from a cave armed with a sword - the witness ran. Returning to the site later, the witness was not able to find the cave.

An evil tree in Derbyshire.

Crooker

Location: Cromford - Bridge over River Derwent
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Crooker was an evil spirit which took the form of an Ash tree by the Derwent. It would attack travellers as they crossed the nearby bridge, until one man managed to thrust a stick of St John's Wort into the spirit as it tried to kill him. Crooker was never heard of again.

Turning Stone

Location: Curbar - Eagle Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: When the cockerel crows, this stone is said to rotate. A local custom says that men must climb to the top of the rock before being married.

Prior Henry

Location: Dale Abbey - Area around the ruined abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that after it was discovered Prior Henry was involved in counterfeiting money, he committed suicide and was doomed to haunt the former abbey grounds. Plainchant has also been reported from the area.

Peddler

Location: Darley Dale - Ghost Lane, runs past the churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom peddler who haunts this lane is said to have been murdered on the spot during the Seventeenth Century.

Pyromaniac

Location: Darley Dale - Quiet Woman Inn (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1966
Further Comments: An aging legend says that the inn was haunted by a woman with a taste for fire - the inn burnt down several times over the years, and after the final blaze in 1966, no one rebuilt the structure.

Fireman

Location: Darley Dale - Rail station - area around the sheds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a fireman reportedly haunts the sheds at this aging station.

Hob Hurst

Location: Deepdale - Thirst House - cave below Topley Pike
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hob Hurst, the generic name for a helpful yet sometimes mischievous entity in this region, is said to have watched over a healing spring here.

Sad Man

Location: Derby - 2 Brick Street (original building no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1936?
Further Comments: Reportedly as only appearing during the day, this phantom was described as a sad-looking man wearing a black cape and wide-brimmed hat. Just before the demolition of the building, locals descended on the site, throwing stones and fireworks through the windows, perhaps trying to motivate the ghost to manifest (it did not work).

Black Monk

Location: Derby - Friary Hotel, currently the Friar Gate Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: One of the corridors in this building, built on the site of a friary, is haunted by a monk dressed in black robes. Other witnesses claim to have seen more than one monk here, sometimes headless. Another shade is that of a Victorian gentleman, who may have killed himself on site.

Man in Blue Coat

Location: Derby - George Inn (currently Lafferty's)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: This man with long hair is normally seen on the landing. It is unclear whether he is responsible for the poltergeist activity which throws items around the bar and shattering beer glasses.

Pin Striped Man

Location: Derby - Georgian House Hotel, Ashbourne Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom guest of this hotel, the man in the pin striped suit is blamed for slamming doors and falling items.

George

Location: Derby - Green Man public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After several Saxon bodies were discovered under the pub, there was a brief paranormal outbreak - the landlord encountered a figure standing by the piano (which was also moved), a pan containing food flew across the floor (emptying the bar), lights were switched on and off, and banging and thumps at night ensured the landlord had very disturbed sleep.

Alice Wheeldon

Location: Derby - Guildhall, tunnels that run underneath the building
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A suffragette accused (likely falsely) of attempting to poison a Prime Minister, Alice has since been seen lurking in these tunnels. Workers down here have also spotted a ghostly young lad passing though.

Soldiers

Location: Derby - Hair salon, Sadler Gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: The owner of this salon claimed that the sound of marching soldiers could be heard in the shop, the sounds perhaps connected to the legend of secret tunnels running from the area to the cathedral.

Monk

Location: Derby - Jimmy's public house, St James Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While the sound of plainchant haunts this pub, outside a ghostly monk heads towards his monastery that was demolished many years ago.

Black Clad Figure

Location: Derby - MacDonald's restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This entity, wearing a long black raincoat, reputedly emerges from a wall after first appearing in Miss Selfridge clothing store.

Cloaked Man

Location: Derby - Manufacturing site, Alfreton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: During a nightshift, a worker at the site spotted a black cloaked figure glide by a glass door. The figure turned to look at the witness, who said she recognised the ghost as male because she could see his Adam's apple.

Black Clad Figure

Location: Derby - Miss Selfridges clothing store
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This entity, wearing a long black raincoat appears in this store before vanishing into a wall, only to reappear in MacDonald's.

Old Soldiers

Location: Derby - Normanton Barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Squadies tell tales of seeing strange people in the newer buildings who vanish if approached, while outside a phantom horse and cart are occasionally seen.

Drink Obsessed

Location: Derby - O'lafferty's public house (once known as The George), Sadlergate
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This entity, which enjoys switching the barrels off and causing general mischief, could be related to the thousand year old skull discovered in the basement.

Lady

Location: Derby - Old Vicarage, Wilmorton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: The owners of the house claimed to have seen a ghostly lady walking down the central corridor of this building.

Former Workers

Location: Derby - Pickford's House Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A long dead gardener still walks along the lawns he once worked so hard on, while a woman haunts the kitchen. The child seen dancing in the house is thought to be a member of the Pickford family.