The Paranormal Database

Knocking

Location: Pilling - Agricultural Hostel (likely no longer operational)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February 1948
Further Comments: The sound of wind (even on windless nights) would announce the arrival of this noisy spirit, which would rap four times on the wooden walls at regular intervals. The guitar strings of an occupant would also be plucked by an unseen hand.

Scotsman

Location: Poulton le Fylde - Staining Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A ghostly Scot took to haunting this site after being murdered. A tree close to the crime scene developed the smell of thyme, said to be a phantom reminder of the murder.

The Hall Knocker

Location: Poulton le Fylde - Stalmine
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity, now dismissed and contained under a stone in the local church, would help the local farmers with the more boring tasks.

Army Cat

Location: Preesall - Lane (no longer exists)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This strange entity reportedly took the form of a cat which wore a red military uniform.

Cold Spots

Location: Prescot - Shop along Warrington Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s? Mostly during winter
Further Comments: Cold spots and items which have thrown themselves off counters have been reported in this shop. Staff have also reported being shoved on the staircase.

Babysitter

Location: Preston - Cadley Bank, house
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1911
Further Comments: The eldest daughter of the family living here reported seeing the ghost of an old lady holding a candle, standing over her brother's cot. She later drew the entity, and it was recognised by a neighbour as the owner of the house, whom the current family had never met as they were renting through an agent. The old woman was still alive and living in a nursing home in Blackpool.

The Lady Vanishes

Location: Preston - Charnock Hotel, St Annes Street (closed in 2022)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: Owner Mandy Russell reported that items would be moved around the bar at night and beer pumps turned off by unseen hands. One man watched a woman enter the toilets - after several minutes passed and his concern grew, he entered the area only to find it empty.

Window

Location: Preston - Druggists, Friargate
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: December 1877
Further Comments: A large crowd that blocked nearby roads gathered outside the flat of druggist and spiritualist Mr Foster, convinced that a ghost had been seen at a window. After two hours, hundreds of claimed sightings, and a large police presence, the crowd dispersed.

Chaplin

Location: Preston - Fulwood Barracks - garrison church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s-1980s
Further Comments: Killed during the First World War, the Chaplin returned to his base, and stayed ever since. He has been seen leaning against his sword, and heard clapping and breathing heavily.

Headless Dog

Location: Preston - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that the town was once haunted by a headless black hound, appearing when danger threatened the town. Another ghost said to wander the general area of Preston was that of a white woman.

Robert Clay

Location: Preston - George Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: One landlord was driven out of the building because he could not tolerate the mysterious presence of Mr Clay. The entity would manifest in the form of a tall, bearded man with a deep voice, dressed in clothing which dated back two hundred years. Robert Clay is thought to have killed two young children on the site, burying the bodies in the cellar.

Legionnaires

Location: Preston - Penwortham Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A small body of Roman troops still patrol this area, a tall officer in glinting armour heading up the team.

Toilet Flushing

Location: Preston - Private house in the Ashton estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: This ghost was reportedly the previous owner of the house that died, prior to the new tenants moving in. The spirit developed the routine of running its hands over the heads of those in bed, before rattling doors and flushing the toilet during the early hours.

Fairy Feast

Location: Preston - Ribbleton Moor (area since urbanised), area known as Red Scar
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man travelling across the moorland came across a fairy celebration with the tiny attendees including a king and queen, servants, and a band. The fairies ignored the human observer, although when the king demanded the execution of a chef for forgetting the wine, the man spoke up and tried to grab the king; the entire party vanished, leaving only a little crushed grass.

Serpent?

Location: Preston - River Ribble
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 1999
Further Comments: Sheila Smith reported seeing a serpent in the waters of the river. It was thought that the creature was likely to have been an eel.

Ringing Bells

Location: Preston - Site of old monastery (estimated to be A59 / Friargate area)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Local legend says that a church which once stood here sunk into the earth and its bells can be heard to ring on Christmas Eve.

Silent Vulcan

Location: Preston - Sky near to the university campus
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: Christened the 'Silent Vulcan' by students because of its similarity to a Vulcan bomber (but without any sound), this large aircraft was seen by a student in the skies of Preston. He stated the object shot off towards the dock area, moving at incredible speed.

Victorian Woman

Location: Preston - Spindlemakers Arms public house (as of 2017, no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: This phantom woman was said to be a former landlord's daughter involved in a sensationalist scandal.

Flying Discs

Location: Preston - Wellington Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: An entity here was said to have thrown CDs and corkscrews around the site. Electrical items were also known to switch themselves on and off.

School Girl

Location: Rainford - Golden Lion public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This public house is reportedly haunted by a teenage girl, raped and murdered by her headmaster just outside the building. A phantom soldier has also been reported, the son of a landlord who died during a world war.

Legs

Location: Rawtenstall - Craven Heifer public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 26 December 2015
Further Comments: A photograph taken by the landlord in the cellar after it flooded reportedly showed a pair of child's legs, the owner of which could not be accounted for. Taps are also said to turn themselves on.

Jane

Location: Rawtenstall - Railway Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tall, lean woman in grey, this shade likes to haunt the guest bedrooms and the cellar. She is responsible for the strange sounds which occasionally echo around the building at night.

Grey Lady

Location: Rawtenstall - The Old Cobblers Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It has been several years since this public house was last disturbed by the ghost.

Tree Spirit

Location: Ribchester - Hothersall Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghost that pestered this household was laid under a nearby tree - while the plant lives, the spirit cannot escape.

Bloody Man

Location: Ribchester - Osbaldeston Hall (now a farmhouse)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spewing blood from an open wound in his chest, this person was killed in a duel on site, and periodically returns to remind the living. There are floorboards within the building that are still bloodstained, so the legend states.