The Paranormal Database

Arabelle?

Location: Leyland - Ley Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2007
Further Comments: A ghost hunting group videoed a table that violently moved as they attempted to contact the spirits that haunt the inn. They contacted a spirit named Arabelle, who claimed to have been murdered by James Silcock, who in turn was killed by Arabelle's father.

CCTV Man

Location: Leyland - LG Kitchens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: While viewing CCTV footage, Manager Leo Tommony came across the image of a silhouetted man standing in a ring of light. Footsteps have been heard in the upper part of the building after everyone has left, and lights have turned themselves on.

Stone Carrying Cat

Location: Leyland - Site of St Andrews church (not the original church in the story)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Twelfth century
Further Comments: Locals in the nearby village of Whittle-le Woods wanted to build a church, but night after night their stones vanished and reappeared in Leyland. Two villagers stood guard one evening and watched as a large black cat picked up the stones and carried them away. One of the men tried to fight the cat off, but the creature killed him. The villagers gave in and built the church where it stands today.

Cold Hands

Location: Limbrick - Black Horse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that a pair of freezing hands sometimes grab customers from behind on their way from the bar.

Victorian Cyclist

Location: Longridge - Clitheroe Old Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: A man and his daughter driving home passed a woman dressed in Victorian clothing riding a bicycle. The man turned the car around to have another look, but the figure had vanished.

The headless woman, from James Bowker's Goblin Tales of Lancashire.

Long Stone

Location: Longridge - Written Stone Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Still visible
Further Comments: Local tradition state that this stone was laid to rid the Radcliffe family of a ghost. This may be the case, though the lane is still felt by many to be a place of evil, with a black shape moving around in the darkness. One account says the lane is still haunted by a decapitated old woman who keeps her head in a basket under one arm.

Mr Anderton

Location: Lostock - Lostock Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unscrupulous landowner, Anderton refused to take rent money owing to him so he could reclaim some land he wanted, at the cost of a family living there - he was cursed to haunt that area for his sins.

Spinner

Location: Lostock - Spinning Mill (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa January 1887
Further Comments: A former spinner took to haunting this mill. Workers refused to enter or work alone.

Galloping Horse

Location: Lower Bebington - Orchard Cottage (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Demolished in 1934, the surrounding land of the cottage is haunted by a horse which could be heard quite distinctly, though never seen.

Joshua Rigby

Location: Lowton - Common land
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This misty figure could still exist in protest of his killer never being found.

White Lady

Location: Lytham - Lytham Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of several ghosts to be found in the hall, this unknown Clifton family member has been seen in various parts of the grounds. One bedroom is said to be particularly haunted, the manifestation complete with clanking chains and stomping feet.

Tall Man

Location: Lytham - Ship and Royal Hotel, Clifton Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Materialising several times, this ghostly male also reportedly disturbed paperwork and played about with the telephone.

Beast of Lytham

Location: Lytham St Anne - Green Drive area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: April / May 2005
Further Comments: Described as being the size of a collie dog, light in colour with large ears and a huge mouth, this large cat was spotted by more than twenty people over the period of a few weeks.

Maghull in Lancashire, taken by Peter Crawley.

Sounds of Battle

Location: Maghull - Exact place not known, but south of the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One would have hoped that this Jacobite battle would have finished by now, but it is not the case. The occasional headless horseman is reported in the area. Image (c) Peter Crawley.

Mr Greatrix

Location: Marton - Whitegate Lane area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A farmer murdered on the way back from market, Greatrix' headless shade came back and haunted his killer until the man committed suicide. Not content with revenge, the ghost remained earthbound for many years after.

Old Woman

Location: Mawdesley - Between old hall and the Black Bull inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hall itself was said to be haunted by this old woman who would every now and then head up the road as if after a quick drink, though she would vanish just before reaching the public house.

Hunters

Location: Mellor - Moorland in the area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The fairies that frequent this remote area dress in green and often carry hunting weapons - the last one seen possessed a whip. It was once said that under the site was a lost city which sunk for some unnamed reason - church bells could be heard on still nights.

Mrs Sykes

Location: Mellor Brook - Sykes Lumb Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: For years, the restless spirit of Mrs Sykes haunted the farm and countryside - all those seeing the ghost ran away. Finally, a farmer stood his ground and watched the ghost point to an area of dirt; he dug there, found a small fortune in gold, and Mrs Sykes was never seen again.

Best not to date mermaids (public domain).

Mermaid

Location: Mersey Estuary - Black Rock
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A sailor once fell in love with a mermaid here. The woman gave him a golden ring, informed the sailor that she would be back in five days to meet him. Five days later, the man died.

Grey Lady

Location: Middleston Sands - Rooftree Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity was reported several times lurking around the bar.

Land of Ever Day

Location: Morecambe - Bay
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While following the sound of music, a fisherman ran his boat ashore in the isle of fairies. After conversing with the tiny islanders (who sang their home was Ever Day) and partaking of their food, the fisherman tried to escape with pockets full of fairy gold; the fairies beat him up and left the man on the shore of Morecambe.

Grey Lady

Location: Morecambe - Clarendon Hotel, West End
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity has been observed as it drifted along a corridor on the first floor.

The Press-Ganged

Location: Morecambe - Golden Ball public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This site is said to have been a popular place to press-gang sailors and is still home to phantoms who object to being forced to sea.

Drifting Figure

Location: Morecambe - Midland Hotel, West End
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Several reports exist of something strange occurring in and around the elevator of this hotel, including one involving a thin, ghostly figure observed within the lift.

Organ Music

Location: Morecambe - Royalty Theatre (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During the demolition of this building some workers reported the ghostly sounds of an organ being played. The shopping centre that has replaced the theatre may have inherited the ghost, though no one can say for certain.