The Paranormal Database

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

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Durham Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana


A gathering of fairies.

People in Green

Location: Middridge - Hill near the village
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Seventeenth century, summer nights
Further Comments: Tiny people dressed in green would be briefly seen by locals visiting the site during the summer months. If alone. to catch a glance of the figures would be considered lucky, but if in a larger party, any witnesses to the fairies would be struck with ill-fortune. When the hill was being cut by railway engineers, the banks would collapse at night. Fairies were blamed for the disruption and navvies requested additional money in dealing with the paranormal problem (which was granted).

Pitchfork Hurlers

Location: Middridge - Middridge Grange and surrounding area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The fairies found here are full of mischief; the critters once chased a visitor to the village, who managed to seek shelter within the grange just before a pitchfork embedded itself in the door.

Woman with Child

Location: Neville's Cross - Lane in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The lane is home to a phantom woman murdered on the site. She is said to be sometimes accompanied by a strange looking child who possesses an oversized head. During the nineteenth century she was said to appear in or on waggons and carts passing through the area.

Sounds of Battle

Location: Neville's Cross - Neville's Cross (ruins)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Circa nineteenth century
Further Comments: A local piece of folklore once said that whoever walked around the cross nine times before resting their head on the ground could hear the sounds of battle.

Lavender

Location: Neville's Cross - Unnamed private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: It was reported that the presence of a Victorian woman who had killed her own baby was responsible for causing one woman to faint after smelling lavender. A child also present said that she felt hands on her shoulders which prevented her from moving.

Tall Man

Location: Newton Aycliffe - Private residence, Skipton Close
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2013
Further Comments: The local press reported that Adam Maddison claimed his home was haunted by a tall man, spotted moving through the guest bedroom. The entity was blamed for slamming a door so hard that the hinges broke.

Grey Lady

Location: Norton - Kiora Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2022
Further Comments: During restoration, two night workers at the hall fled after being spooked by voices and footsteps. Lavender perfume would also be detected. The hall has the reputation as being haunted by a grey lady and a military officer.

Mavis

Location: Old Cornsay - Black Horse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mavis is said to haunt the pub's cellar and the area in and around the toilets.


Goblin disguised as a pig.

The Picktree Brag

Location: Pelton - Exact location unknown
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A goblin which enjoyed playing tricks on the locals, this creature would normally take the form of a farm animal before creating mischief.

Murder Victim?

Location: Peterlee - Three bedroom council house, Basingstoke Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2007 (actual exorcism on 27 December)
Further Comments: The local council came in for criticism after agreeing to pay 50% of the fee of a medium who offered to exorcise this home. The owners believed it haunted, and the medium claimed to have contacted a poltergeist called Peter who wanted to take over the tenant's young daughter.

Man in Gaiters

Location: Piercebridge - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly gentleman wearing gaiters has been reported standing by an old clock in the hotel. The sound of two people in disagreement has been heard coming from the empty bar.


The freaky Peg Powler.

Peg Powler

Location: Piercebridge - River Tees
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa nineteenth century?
Further Comments: Referred to as a goddess in some cases, Peg Powler was said to drag children playing near the edge of the river to a watery grave. She was said to be particularly active on Sundays.

Murdered Girl

Location: Pittington - Lady Peace Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The daughter from the local manor house was murdered along this lane, and now she has returned, her screams can be heard from the nearby village.


An old image of Raby Castle.

Henry Vane

Location: Raby - Raby Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen in the library, the only part of Vane's body observed is the head and shoulders. A figure resembling Lady Barnard has been seen along the corridors after dark (with one story claiming she knits as she walks, her knitting needles glowing red), while a third ghost can be seen entering the castle from outside, vanishing as he reaches the gate. Charles Neville, the Sixth Earl of Westmorland, drifts up the staircase to the Baron's Hall.

Chained Child

Location: Redworth - Redworth Hall Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lord Surtees had his mentally ill child chained to the fireplace - the youngster can be heard crying and wailing.

Drowning Entity

Location: River Skerne - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This river, like several in the northern part of England, was said to contain an entity which would drag the unwary under the water.

Singing Lady

Location: River Tees - Cauldron Snout waterfall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farm girl who killed herself once a relationship with a local miner ended, her pitiful shade can now be heard singing.

Peg Powler

Location: River Tees - Waters of the river
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This water entity would pull under anyone who swam too close to her home - witnesses would only see her green hair seconds before their friends who would be pulled under the water.

Mrs Rokeby

Location: Rokeby - Rokeby Hall, Mortham Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A former owner of the hall believed his wife to be having an affair. He severed her head and tried to conceal his crime by hiding the body in the local river. Her ghost followed him home, however, and the headless shade has haunted the building ever since.

Doctor Stirling

Location: Rowlands Gill - Clump of trees and undergrowth along Smailes Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Likely to be pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: Doctor Stirling was murdered along the road, his body dumped in a spinney, his killers never brought to justice. Around fifteen years after his murder, the doctor could once again be heard moaning and calling for help from the spinney. Two figures were also seen in the area, with pale faces and bright eyes, named by some to be the doctor's killers.

Unhappy Countess

Location: Rowlands Gill - Gibside Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Gibside is another location that made it into the National Trust's top ten haunted locations in 2007. The site is said to be haunted by an upset female form thought to be a Countess.

Man in Bowler Hat

Location: Rowlands Gill - Private residence, Sherburn Towers Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s-2012
Further Comments: Residents of this property are said to have observed a dark haired man wearing a bowler hat who stands at the bottom of the staircase. Sounds of banging have been heard and items move around.

Most Not Haunted?

Location: Ryhope - Cherry Knowle Hospital, Laurels Block
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: Ghost hunters were said to be putting their lives at risk by breaking into this former hospital, and local newspaper Sunderland Echo named it 'the most haunted hospital in the UK'. Unfortunately, there is a distinct lack of historic ghost stories relating to the structure, and one cannot help but to think a modern myth is in the making.

Ada Harrison

Location: Ryton - Private building off Main Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2011
Further Comments: Ada is said to have died of tuberculosis in 1907. Her ghost was reported to have been seen in a residence, sitting on a bench during a dinner party. She is also blamed for opening cupboard doors, turning on taps and moving objects around.

Anne Isabella Milbanke

Location: Seaham - Along the cliffs
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: During stormy nights, a grey lady is reputed to walk along the cliff tops, pausing close to Seaham Hall. She has been named as Byron's former wife.

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