The Paranormal Database

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

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Lancashire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Blood Stains

Location: Clitheroe - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghostly blood from a man murdered on the bridge is said to periodically pool here.

Annie Druce

Location: Clitheroe - Swan and Royal Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Annie was disowned by her parents so moved to this hotel where she killed herself. Another tale says the ghost is that of a bride who lost her husband in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.

Shadow Man

Location: Clitheroe - Unnamed shop along Moor Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2000s?
Further Comments: A worker on the premises quit after encountering a five foot tall shadowy figure which appeared a little over a metre away from them. Before the sighting, the witness had heard footsteps and a barrel rolling on the floor above.

Peggy o' Nell

Location: Clitheroe - Waddow Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former servant of the hall, Peggy upset the owner of the property who wished her dead. Unfortunately, this came true, and Peggy's ghost came to extract revenge. To pacify her, it is thought the owner of the building must sacrifice a living creature every seven years. If this does not happen, then Peggy takes a human life by drowning the first passerby she sees.

Chatterer

Location: Clitheroe - Well Hall
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Entity unknown, 'poltergeist' 1891
Further Comments: An entity here was said to keep a former owner, an older woman, company - when the woman sat by the fireplace, the entity would join her and sit by her side. An old newspaper reported a poltergeist outbreak here in 1891, complete with loud knocks and items being thrown around. The 'poltergeist' ceased after a servant was caught moving items around by police, and later confessed to being the source.


A phantom grey man.

Grey Man

Location: Clitheroe - Woodland (no longer exists) in the region around River Ribble & Waddow Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, but pre-1843
Further Comments: The wooded area was home to a phantom grey man who cast no shadow.

Party

Location: Cockden - Hey Well
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The little people were said to use this area as a meeting ground.


Odilon Redon created several images of the Devil.

Home of the Devil

Location: Cockerham - River Cocker and surrounding area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil once decided that his new home would be here, but a cunning schoolteacher convincing Old Nick that he should try to make a rope of sand which could be used in the river. As the rope touched the water and dissolved, the Devil left in frustration.

Sadness

Location: Colne - Alkincoats Park
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The walled garden within the park is said to have a sense of sadness and foreboding, and always feels cold even on the hottest of days.

Poor Girl

Location: Colne - Colne Hall, near Albert Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This petite shade appears to be a young girl from a Victorian poorhouse, dressed in little more than rags.

White Woman

Location: Colne - Hare and Hounds public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pub is rumoured to be the home of a phantom white lady.

Angry Dwarf

Location: Colne - Hobstones Farm
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1950 to 1974
Further Comments: This entity, part fairy and part ghost, was seen many times and drove out several families, until exorcised by clergy. The bleeding severed arm was said to be the most noticeable and terrifying feature of the manifestation. Phantom cavaliers were also reported, as were violent poltergeist outbreaks.

Hannah Corbridge

Location: Colne - Laneshaw Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Hannah's boyfriend murdered her in the 1780s after discovering she was pregnant. The girl's ghost still appears near the scene of the crime.

Burning Organ

Location: Colne - Mount Zion United Methodist Church
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late June / early July 1951
Further Comments: Services at the building ceased after it amalgamated with another church, although lights would still be seen and the church organ heard. Police became involved after a fire broke out that destroyed the organ and pulpit.

Simon Cunliffe

Location: Colne - Wycoller Hall
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year, middle of winter (reoccurring), sound recorded 26/07/1996
Further Comments: Simon rides the area where he once lived, blowing his horn prior to a tragedy. It is said that he scared his wife to death by riding up the staircase of their home, chasing a fox that had ran inside to escape the hunt (ghost hunters Colin Veacock and Peter Crawley recorded a sound like a riding crop here in 1996). Another tale states that the horseman is not Simon but an assassin, killed by a manservant before he could murder the master of the hall. The young daughter of a family living here during the twentieth century told her mother that a 'white woman' would visit her during the night - the sightings stopped when the child changed bedrooms.

Pongay

Location: Coppull - Darkland Bridge and surrounding area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Part dog and part ghost, Pongay was once often blamed for accidents and mishaps in the area.

Large Black Cat

Location: Coppull - Fields south of village
Type: ABC
Date / Time: July 1991, 23:30h
Further Comments: One witness reported seeing a large black cat, like a puma, in this area.

Duel

Location: Coppull - House (no longer standing) by woodland
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A fight between two men, one a roundhead and the other a cavalier, would replay in this long since demolished house.


The dwarves hopefully remain trapped in the cave.

Angry Dwarfs

Location: Crank - Crank Caverns, aka Rainford Delph Quarry (private property)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Eighteenth century?
Further Comments: A local legend says that these caves were once the haunt of several angry dwarfs that were known to kill local children. Soldiers investigated and found human remains in the cave - that section was soon sealed by either natural rock fall or gunpowder.

Unlucky Rabbit

Location: Crank - General area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This white bunny is only seen just before a personal disaster strikes - the creature was the pet of a young girl killed by a couple of local thugs.

Footballing Devil

Location: Crawshawbooth - Village green
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Old Nick once popped up and started playing football on the Sabbath with a group of local lads - with his first kick of the ball it turned into a burning sphere, causing all the other players to flee!

Sarscowe Lady

Location: Croston - Gradwell's Farm, now a museum, and nearby road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1958
Further Comments: This woman fell in love with a monk from the site and threw herself in the well after being rejected - the forty foot drop into the water below killed her. Her shade was once hit by a bus on the nearby road; the driver was convinced he had hit a real person, though no body was found.

Grey Lady

Location: Croston - Southport Road and Highfield Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Likely to be the same entity wandering around Gradwell's Farm, this phantom woman has been seen standing in the middle of a hedge along Southport Road, and sitting on a bench along Highfield Road.

Titmouse Brown

Location: Croston - Trees in the local area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An entity resembling a cross of fairy and ghost, this local figure has been observed leaping from treetop to treetop. He is said to warn people of any immediate danger, reportedly saving one lad from a speeding lorry. Titmouse Brown is also known as Shrewfoot and Marsantos, and sometimes chases a phantom stag through the trees.

Hunting for the Child

Location: Darwen - Old cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman in white is said to haunt the old cemetery, looking for her child. She either died in childbirth or was murdered by men who then stole her baby. A local myth says that by speaking the words 'white lady, white lady, I stole your black baby' she will appear.

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