The Paranormal Database

Humphrey

Location: Scunthorpe - Normanby Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Humphrey was caught stealing from the estate and was beaten to death as a lesson not to do it again... Now, many years in death, the little old man is still reported shuffling around the area, a small bag thrown over one shoulder.

Jinny On Boggard

Location: Scunthorpe - River Trent on Humberside/Lincolnshire border, area known as Jenny Hurn bend
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This little creature was like a small man or woman, though it had a face of a seal with long hair. It travelled on the water in a large pie dish. Another creature here, or possibly another form of the same one, had large tusks and swam in the water; it would only leave to feed. Finally, one piece of folklore has a supernatural steed that walks around on the surface of the water here.

Protective Shuck

Location: Scunthorpe - Road between Scunthorpe and Crosby
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1900s
Further Comments: This guardian dog appeared by the side of a woman, preventing a gang of labourers from attacking her. It vanished as she reached home.

Nun

Location: Scunthorpe - Rowland Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1994
Further Comments: Two children out trick-or-treating watched a nun float through a gate and disappear along a path. One of the children's neighbours, a few years later, also claimed to have seen a phantom nun in the area.

Nurse in Long Skirt

Location: Scunthorpe - Scunthorpe General Hospital
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: During the illness of a baby
Further Comments: If a baby is seriously ill on the ward, a ghostly nurse in a long skirt sometimes appears, accompanied by the smell of violets. The baby always recovers after her visit.

Young Boy in Brown Suit

Location: Scunthorpe - Unnamed house in Avenue Vivian
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: A family living here were terrified by ghostly activity, including the manifestation of a boy with curly hair wearing brown, the moving of heavy objects, and knockings at night. At one time the sofa was covered with plastic sheeting, and an invisible presence was seen to sit on it.

Shredded Clothing

Location: Scunthorpe - Unnamed house in Farthing Avenue
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: October - November 1977
Further Comments: The occupant of this house claimed that heavy ornaments had been thrown around, clocks moved, doors slammed unaided and clothing in a cupboard had been torn and shredded. A doctor attended the scene after the occupant ran into the road after feeling something attempt to strangle them. A local vicar visited the site and prayed in every room.

Train Sounds

Location: Scunthorpe - Viaduct over Scotter Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A train is said to be heard passing over the viaduct at night, though it is never seen.

Ring O'Roses

Location: Scunthorpe - West Street, area near churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local myth says that visiting this site at night results in 'spirits' playing Ring O'Roses around you.

Serpentine Beast

Location: Skegness - Area of sea between town and Maplethorpe
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1930s and beyond
Further Comments: This creature, or possibly creatures, has been reported on and off for many years now - its humped form moving quickly and quietly through the water.

Greek Woman

Location: Skegness - Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area is home to a few ghosts, including a Greek woman who walks into the sea and a man who follows the path near the Pleasure Beach.

Kate and Friends

Location: Skegness - Church Farm Museum (now known as The Village - Church Farm)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s, 2003-2005
Further Comments: Several phantoms were said to have made their home here. The farmhouse was reputed to be haunted by an old man and his wife, Kate (although historically, the only Kate to live here was aged four!), while the Exhibit Barn was home to a dark shape, thought to be male. A door slamming poltergeist was said to be found in the Withern Cottage.

Wilegripe

Location: Skegness - Four miles off coast (or thereabouts)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The lost port town of Wilegripe once stood off the coast.

Margaret Massingberd

Location: Skegness - Path near Gunby Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Margaret fell in love with a servant and tried to elope with him. Her father, however, found out about the plan and shot her lover dead as the pair set off to be married. Both Margaret and her lover are now seen reunited in death.

Vicar at the Door

Location: Skegness - Private residence, Winthorpe area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002 onwards
Further Comments: Spooky occurrences have been reported by a resident here, including a large man in priest's clothing with a bunch of keys hanging from his belt, a child who sits on the edge of the bed, and the sounds of furnishings moving unaided by human hand.

Cyril

Location: Skegness - Roman Bank bingo hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: The shadowy phantom Cyril, a former projectionist in a former cinema, can be seen wandering around on the balcony and will sometimes flip a particular seat (third row down in the balcony, and four along). The entity is also blamed for moving objects around.

Monks

Location: Skidbrooke - St Botolph's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2003
Further Comments: The church is said to be haunted by phantom monks. When the Bassetlaw Ghost Research Group visited in 2004, they did not encounter anyone who had previously lived the monastic lifestyle, though they did report picking up flying 'rods' on night vision cameras (which were most likely insects).

Crinoline Lady

Location: Sleaford - Boston Road towards Handley Monument
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century, when a secret passageway is opened
Further Comments: The opening of a secret tunnel between a house and nearby church triggers a ghostly woman to leave the house and walk towards the Handley Monument where she vanishes. One story says anyone brave enough to ask her about hidden treasure would be given the directions to a fantastic hoard.

Fred

Location: Sleaford - Boundary Cafe, Colbey Grange
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Nicknamed 'Fred', this phantom resembles a young RAF pilot in overalls. Due to the proximity of the cafe to the former RAF base, it is speculated he was based there during the Second World War.

Kings of Europe

Location: Sleaford - Coffin sized stones on Ewerby Waithe Common
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stones no longer present
Further Comments: An old folktale said that the coffin-sized stones which once lay upon this common land marked the location where the kings of England, France and Spain all lay down. Another story said the stones had been dropped by a passing witch.

Guilt Ridden Officer

Location: Sleaford - Colbey Grange - former RAF base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This phantom officer in RAF uniform is thought to return briefly around May time, in regret for sending dozens of young men off to their deaths, in particular a close friend of whom he was particularly fond. The remaining control tower is thought to be particularly haunted, with footsteps and crashes heard and a poltergeist like entity throwing stones and broken glass at people who venture too close.

Pacing

Location: Sleaford - Haverholme Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Phantom footsteps have been heard many times around the grounds of the priory and are considered to belong to a former Gilbertine canoness.

Car Starter

Location: Sleaford - Vehicle depot, Queen Road (area since redeveloped)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: Workers claimed that bus engines would be found running in the morning, and doors would open and close without reason.

Monkey

Location: South Cockerington - Mill Hill Way
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 13 August and 15 August 2010
Further Comments: On two separate occasions, two different police officers reported seeing a monkey along this road. Both described the creature as 'a similar size to a squirrel, dark brown in colour with a long, straight, upright tail'.

White Lady

Location: Spalding - Ayscoughfee Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2006
Further Comments: After a long period of absence, this phantom woman was spotted by a member of the public in 2006. Staff who work at the building report feeling a strange presence in some of the rooms in this hall.