Lancashire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
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.
First added: 2003-05-31 | Last updated: 2003-05-31 | ID #4262
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.
First added: 2002-08-14 | Last updated: 2002-08-14 | ID #2147
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.
First added: 2003-06-01 | Last updated: 2003-06-01 | ID #4307
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.
First added: 2003-09-25 | Last updated: 2003-09-25 | ID #4608
Evil Spirit
Location: Ringley - Vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This building made the news when the vicar announced that he had exorcised a malevolent presence from there.
First added: 2002-08-08 | Last updated: 2002-08-08 | ID #2085
Lancaster Bomber
Location: Rishworth - Saddleworth Moor, along M62
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 August 1995, around 14:30h
Further Comments: A father and daughter driving eastbound spotted a Lancaster bomber flying nearby, smoke coming from a left right hand engine. They passed under Scammonden Bridge, and after coming out were no longer able to see the aircraft.
First added: 2006-06-27 | Last updated: 2006-06-27 | ID #6883
Skriker
Location: River Hodder - Bridge 'near' Chipping
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man who encountered Skriker, the fiery-eyed black dog of doom, standing on the bridge expected his own life to shortly end; unfortunately, it was his eldest son and his wife who died within a few weeks of the incident.
First added: 2025-07-05 | Last updated: 2025-07-05 | ID #15971
Drifting Figure
Location: Rivington - Rivington Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: A team of workmen on site claimed to have seen a strange white figure floating around the castle before it disappeared.
First added: 2003-08-09 | Last updated: 2003-08-09 | ID #4459
Falling Jug
Location: Rivington - Village Green Tea Room
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 31 December 2023
Further Comments: CCTV recorded a small milk jug falling from a shelf in the empty cafe, one of many items to have inexplicably fallen from shelves or work surfaces. One owner claimed to have felt someone move past her and up the staircase.
First added: 2024-01-13 | Last updated: 2024-01-13 | ID #15220
Spaceship Alley
Location: Rossendale Valley - General area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This part of the county has so many reports of strange nocturnal lights that it justifies the dramatic nickname. However, cynics name British Aerospace as a possible source for the displays.
First added: 2003-02-06 | Last updated: 2003-02-06 | ID #3765
Bright White Dog
Location: Rufford - A59 near Solom
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: August 1999, 22:00h
Further Comments: The witness to this entity crashed his car after swerving to avoid the partially transparent dog which ran out into the road.
First added: 2004-11-03 | Last updated: 2004-11-03 | ID #5516
Woman in Blue
Location: Rufford - Area around Rufford New Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman dressed in blue is said to haunt the area around the lake, disappearing if approached. Woodland in the vicinity is also said to be haunted by men in suits and phantom hounds.
First added: 2008-08-03 | Last updated: 2008-08-03 | ID #8680
Floating Figure
Location: Rufford - Canal behind Rufford Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A figure is said to cross the canal, floating in the air where a footbridge once stood which leads to the towpath.
First added: 2009-12-29 | Last updated: 2009-12-29 | ID #9750
Elizabeth Hesketh
Location: Rufford - Rufford Old Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The lady now manifests herself as a grey shade, waiting for her husband to return from a war with Scotland. She may have last been seen by a curator as he sat playing the piano. A shade resembling Queen Elizabeth has also been reported, though her link with the hall is unknown. Ghostly music is also reputed to occasionally be heard.
First added: 2002-10-03 | Last updated: 2023-05-21 | ID #2517
Lizard
Location: Rufford - Woods around the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It has been reported that woodland around this area is home of a green and red lizard the size of a large dog. The creature is also said to have been seen digging in the parish church...
First added: 2011-01-02 | Last updated: 2011-01-02 | ID #10122
Healing Waters
Location: Sabden - Fairy Well
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The one time rendezvous point of the little folk, their magical powers ensured the water of the well cured the sick.
First added: 2003-09-25 | Last updated: 2003-09-25 | ID #4609
Singing
Location: Samlesbury - New Hall Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014 and early 2000s
Further Comments: Filming for a paranormal documentary took place in this public house, inspired by a witness's claims that she had experienced disembodied footsteps and had heard a girl crying when staying at the building as a child.
First added: 2014-08-03 | Last updated: 2014-08-03 | ID #11606
Pair of Lovers
Location: Samlesbury Bottoms - River Darwen
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The relationship between a male Protestant and a female Catholic ended in tragedy when the Catholic woman's brother murdered the Protestant to prevent their relationship enduring. The girl went mad and died soon after - the lovers were reunited in death, their ghosts haunting the banks of the river.
First added: 2004-12-01 | Last updated: 2004-12-01 | ID #5684
Two Brothers
Location: Saxby - The Beeches
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The two brothers had fought over an inherence - the younger killing the elder. This scene is re-enacted in the garden, where the disposal of the body in the pond is also observed. A figure in black is also seen in the house, normally in the bedrooms.
First added: 2002-07-11 | Last updated: 2002-07-11 | ID #1693
Strange Man
Location: Scarisbrick - A570, between Morris Dancers pub and Blue Elephant (now Nellie Indian) Restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 February 2023, approx 20:00h, and Autumn 2004
Further Comments: While walking towards the marina, a witness spotted a man wearing a long woollen coat with a hat, longish hair, and a strange looking face. The witness turned away for a few seconds, during which time the man vanished. The figure may have been seen by another witness, who reported seeing a very similar figure along the same road in 2004.
First added: 2023-03-18 | Last updated: 2023-03-18 | ID #14828
Well Woman
Location: Scouthead - Old Original public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female entity that haunts the building is said to have been murdered nearby and her body dumped in the pub's well.
First added: 2003-05-31 | Last updated: 2003-05-31 | ID #4258
Black Hound
Location: Singleton - Unknown cottage
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A priest was called in to rid a building of a large black dog that had taken up residence - the creature was banished to under the river Wyre, allowed only to come back when the river dried up.
First added: 2003-09-28 | Last updated: 2003-09-28 | ID #4617
Gathering
Location: Skelmersdale - House (since demolished) near church
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown, pre-1974
Further Comments: Once word spread that a poltergeist had made its home in a house owned by the Winstanley family, hundreds of people would gather outside waiting to see something.
First added: 2025-08-25 | Last updated: 2025-08-25 | ID #16043
Man in Black Cloak
Location: Skelmersdale - Sports Centre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom figure is blamed when electrical equipment inexplicitly cuts out or blows up.
First added: 2003-10-25 | Last updated: 2003-10-25 | ID #4709
Mrs Eastham
Location: St Annes - Fields connecting Church Road with Heyhouses Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth or early twentieth century
Further Comments: Eastham's ghost was seen by a local man taking a shortcut, a couple of days after her death at a nearby farmhouse. It was seen again a short time later by another farmer, and again by a farmhand who reported her staring into his bedroom window.
First added: 2003-08-30 | Last updated: 2003-08-30 | ID #4546
Records 326 - 350 of 421
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