The Paranormal Database

Woman in Black

Location: Great Longstone - Little Church Lady House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The woman dressed in black who haunted the house was only visible to children who referred to her as the 'Little Church Lady'. Their parents, as a sign of affection, renamed the house after her.

Twelve Headless Men

Location: Great Longstone - Shady Lane, between Great Longstone and Ashford in the Water
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lane is haunted by twelve headless men carrying an empty coffin - it is said that the coffin is for whomever meets the ghostly entourage.

White Car

Location: Gresley - Cadley Hill roundabout
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter 2011, between 22:00h-23:00h
Further Comments: A motorcyclist spotted a white 1970s car heading in the opposite direction, turning on the roundabout. The rider turned his head to have a better look at the old car and see which direction it had gone, only to watch the vehicle vanish.

Old Ned

Location: Grindleford - Stoke Hall (currently a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Headless woman 1880s, other sightings not known.
Further Comments: Ned hanged himself in a barn close to the hall, though he first tried to tie the rope around the branches of several nearby trees which all broke under his weight. His shade can be seen running around the trees, repeating the search for a suitable hanging location. Author Wayne Anthony says that the hall itself is reputedly haunted by Fair Flora, murdered nearby by persons unknown, and a headless lass who was seen walking down the stairs in the 1880s.

Scared Shuck

Location: Grindlesford - Longshaw moorland
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While this shuck is said to be just as terrifying as his brethren in other parts of the country, a good loud shout is reportedly enough to drive him away with his tail between his legs.

Quaker

Location: Hadfield - Mason's Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970-1973
Further Comments: A member of the cleaning staff would bring her young son with her while working in this pub. Several times she would hear him talking to someone, but when she looked, no one would be near the child. At home one morning, the son pointed to a box of Quaker Oats and told his mother that the man he would speak to was on the packaging. It was later discovered that the area was home to Quakers in the seventeenth century.

Navvy

Location: Hadfield - The Lamp public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: The male presence here was attributed to a worker who may have died while engaged in digging a nearby tunnel.

Turn Around

Location: Hallam Moors - Head Stone (also known as Stump John)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown, but stone still stands
Further Comments: This six metre tall stone is reputed to turn over when it hears the crowing of a cockerel.

White Child

Location: Handley - Road running through village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 March, 1960s or early 1970s
Further Comments: Four friends driving through the village all saw an off-white, child sized entity with no head. The apparition was waving its arms in such a way that one of the witnesses said it had no joints. Frightened, they drove off but returned thirty minutes later, by which time the phantom had gone.

Dancing the night away.

The Grey Ladies

Location: Harthill Moor - Stone circle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It was reported that these boulders transformed into women at night, who danced until the cock crowed.

Horse

Location: Hartington - Hill (exact area not known)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1962
Further Comments: Three members of the Royal Observer Corps reportedly watched a ghostly horse run up a hill.

A ghostly Cavalier at Hassop.

Cavalier

Location: Hassop - Eyre Arms public house, and road passing the pub
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom Cavalier has been seen both inside and outside the pub. He is said to have been the cause of several near accidents as drivers swerve to avoid him.

Cavalier

Location: Hassop - Road running through the hamlet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The road is said to be the location of two hauntings; a phantom Cavalier lurks by the roadside, while a ghostly coach and horses travels at other times.

Little John

Location: Hathersage - Churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The grave of one of Robin Hood's merry men, Little John, is said to be in this place of rest - the area where the body lies is three meters long. His longbow was once on display in the church but was removed in 1729.

Gabriel Hounds

Location: Hathersage - Clough Dell
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: To hear the howl of this demonic dog indicated the imminent death of a family member, although on one occasion, the howling came from a farmer's son who then eloped with a woman in a Scooby-Doo-esque ruse that is too convoluted to summarise here.

Horse and Rider

Location: Hathersage - Fields around Brookfield Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Misty mornings in autumn (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Nothing more is known about this ghostly horse and rider which enjoy a gallop on atmospheric mornings.

Little John's Femur

Location: Hathersage - Hathersage Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Circa 1784
Further Comments: James Shuttleworth reportedly dug up the nearby grave containing the remains of Little John, removing a femur measuring seventy-two centimetres in length. However, he was struck by misfortune soon after, which vanished after he reburied the bone.

White Woman

Location: Hathersage - Highlow Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: A farmer reported seeing this pale spectre on several moonlit nights crossing the stable yard - he would always tip his cap to her! The ghost was also observed entering the front door in the hall itself and drifting up the staircase. The rustling of her dress could be heard moving down corridors at night. Another phantom reported her is the ghost of a mason caught playing dice instead of working - he was executed!

Pale Woman

Location: Hathersage - Moorseats Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s, 1970s
Further Comments: This white spectral woman moves around the orchard and is said to take the form of whoever is currently living in the hall. Another phantom haunts a bedroom and asks guests from the darkness whether everything is okay.

Pale Horse

Location: Hathersage - Sicklehome Hollow, between Hathersage and Bamford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom white horse is said to roam the area but only visible to those with second sight.

Portrait of Charlotte Bronte, by George Richmond.

White Lady

Location: Hathersage - Vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 February (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Even though the phantom white lady has not been observed for around one hundred years, she still opens a single door on one night per annum. A 1927 newspaper report claimed the figure to be Charlotte Bronte and that the appearance upset the family's dog, although the vicar denied the story.

Pedlar in the Well

Location: Hayfield - Highgate Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A peddler who was murdered and whose body was hidden in a well at the hall was not impressed - his ghost came back and haunted the location to such an extent many refused to go near the hall after dark. The haunting ceased after the well was sealed.

Mermaid

Location: Hayfield - Mermaid's Pool, near Kinder Reservoir
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Easter Sunday Eve at midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Anyone who sees the creature is said to gain immortality. One man who came here once a year lived to be 104 (so the story goes)!

Dragging

Location: Hayfield - South Head Farm, and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman was murdered by her lover; her body was dragged down the stairs before being dumped in a pool at Stoney Ford. Many people have reputedly heard the bumps of her body as it descends the staircase. The area around the farm is said to be haunted by a woman in white, most likely to be the murder victim in a state of unrest.

An animated corpse, from a Scottish chapbook.

Flying Corpses

Location: Hayfield - St Matthew's Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: 31 August 1754
Further Comments: On this fateful day, hundreds of bodies in the churchyard left their graves and flew into the air, singing as they headed toward the clouds (and one assumes heaven).