The Paranormal Database

Rotating Stone

Location: Orby - Wych Boulder
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: This pear-shaped rock is said to turn itself over when the clock strikes twelve.

Moving Items

Location: Owmby - Abbey (no longer standing) and unnamed cottage built on site
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The abbey in Ownby was said to be haunted, though it has now been replaced by cottages. An old report describes what sounds like a polt outbreak within one cottage - cutlery flying around and a fire which lit and unlit itself.

Lady in Black

Location: Owston Ferry - Farmhouse (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1950s
Further Comments: A phantom woman dressed in black silk haunted this farmhouse.

Small Man

Location: Owston Ferry - Sharp turn known as Jean Yonde, Jenny Hurn, or Jenny Hearn, depending on source
Type: Other
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: This bend in the river is (or was) home to a pygmy-like entity with the face of a seal and long hair. It would cross the water in a boat shaped like a pie dish, using spoons to row.

Hanging Man

Location: Pinchbeck - Turkey farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Shed 4 appears to be particularly haunted on this farm - the shade of a man hanging from the roof was once reported, followed a few minutes later by a ghostly old Victorian woman on a bike that cycled through a brick wall.

Headless Man

Location: Ravendale - West Ravendale Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One local story says a woman came to the priory at night to meet her lover - seeing a figure in the moonlight, she rushed over to give him a hug, only to realise the person she had seen had no head. She fainted and was found a short time later by her lover. Local legend says it's more common for the headless man to leave the priory and return a short time later, carrying his head under one arm.

Nell Gwynne

Location: Redbourne - Red Lion public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is almost as if every site Nell Gwynne ever visited is haunted by her. Just saying.

Thrower

Location: Retford - 10 Green Bottles cafe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2019
Further Comments: A local ghost hunting team investigated this cafe after reports of an invisible entity which would throw items around. The group said they found the ladies toilet and the basement to be particularly haunted.

Shag Foal

Location: Roxby - Road formally known as Goosey Lane (and/or Boggart Lane)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1830
Further Comments: A ghostly donkey covered in long shaggy hair was said to haunt this lane.

Man with Pitted Face

Location: Ruskington - A15, just before the turning to the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February 1998
Further Comments: A driver tried to escape a ghostly olive skinned man with a pitted face, only for the entity to hold on to the bonnet. It disappeared a short distance down the road. After this event hit the media, dozens of other witnesses came forwards, reporting a similar figure which appeared to them, dating back in some cases more than twenty years.

White Horses

Location: Ruskington - Sleaford Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pair of white horses would occasionally appear along this road.

Jane Hardy

Location: Saltfleet - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1950
Further Comments: Local folklore says Jane married the lord of the manor's son Robert Fox in 1673, who later murdered her. Jane's ghost took the blame when a missing piglet was discovered in a sealed room, although her haunting activities ceased after the building was renovated.

Queen Maude

Location: Santon - Queen Maude Hole
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: At midnight, every night
Further Comments: The queen is said to walk around the depression in the land that bears her name. Some others name her Queen Mab or Empress Maude.

Thomas Otter

Location: Saxilby - Sun Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 November, 1806-1811?
Further Comments: Thomas Otter was hanged for the murder of his wife, the most damning evidence coming from John Dunkerly who witnessed the crime. The murder weapon was displayed in the Sun Inn, but disappeared twice, each time on the anniversary of the killing. Dunkerly later said he had taken the murder implement, but only because the ghost of Thomas had forced him to do so.

Lt Peter Salter

Location: Scampton - Old RAF Base
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 7 December 1916
Further Comments: During the First World War a pilot reported greeting Lieutenant Salter as he walked into the officer's mess, and the Lieutenant responded in kind; unbeknown to the witness, Salter had just died in an air crash many miles away.

Pilot in Lifejacket

Location: Scampton - Old RAF Base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This pilot, thought to date from the Second World War, has been seen in the control tower at the air force base. He may have been the source of the disembodied voice which said 'hello!' to a man walking through an empty hangar. Chatting has been heard in the crew room, though when investigated it has been found devoid of life. Guy Gibson's dog is also reported to haunt the base, killed on the road outside in 1943.

Coach and Horses

Location: Scawby - Road north of village, just before the crossroads (geography may have changed since story first published)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A phantom horseman can be heard laughing as he drives his team of horses around this area. He was blamed when a local man drowned in a lake that no longer exists. Another phantom male was said to haunt this lake, but what has become of him is not known.

Haunted Hoard

Location: Scawby-cum-Sturton - Corner formed by A18 and A15, between Scawby and Sturton, known as Lidgett's Gap
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Somewhere around an ash tree in the area known as Lidgett's Gap is said to be hidden treasure, though it is protected by a boggard.

Shadow-like Man

Location: Scopwick - Road parallel to RAF Digby
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 17:25h, 29 January 2007
Further Comments: Two men travelling back to Waddington spotted a figure wearing a long cloak or tailcoat disappearing into a hedge row towards the airbase. One witness said the figure was transparent or shadowlike and did not appear to have any legs.

Grey Figure

Location: Scunthorpe - Britannia Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A dark grey shape was said to haunt this hotel, as well as the more traditional poltergeist which would turn beer pumps off and on.

Sally Smith

Location: Scunthorpe - Brumby Wood Hall (private residence)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sally was both the housekeeper at the hall and mistress of owner Thomas Pindar. She was said to have committed suicide after Thomas died and left her nothing in his will. Her ghost was said to walk the corridors.

White Cylinder

Location: Scunthorpe - Cemetery Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Mid to late-twentieth century?
Further Comments: A cyclist was terrified by a tall white cylindrical shape which crossed the road in front of him before vanishing.

Suicide

Location: Scunthorpe - Hill in Yaddlethorpe area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1854
Further Comments: This hill traditionally had a reputation for being haunted and oppressive. When the hill was being lowered in 1854, a skeleton was discovered with an oak stake through its chest. The remains were taken to a local churchyard and reburied.

Presence

Location: Scunthorpe - Ironstone Cottage, attached to the Borough museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about this alleged haunting.

Vanishing Girl

Location: Scunthorpe - Lay-by near Keadby Bridge
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2001
Further Comments: A taxi driver reported picking up a fare from this location; a young girl, who sent a shiver down his spine, asked to be dropped near the football ground. As he reached the destination, he realised she had vanished.