The Paranormal Database

Screaming Spirits

Location: Farne Islands - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: St Cuthbert exorcised all the evil spirits which once dwelled on the island when he came to the islands. Sometimes one or two make a return, riding black goats, screaming their protests before vanishing again. Other stories say the islands are haunted by the shipwrecked sailors buried here.

A photograph of Longstone Lighthouse in Northumberland.

Grace Darling

Location: Farne Islands - Longstone Lighthouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1976
Further Comments: Grace became a notional hero after helping her father, a lighthouse man, save nine people from a stricken steamer during the nineteenth century. Although she died in 1819, two keepers in the 1970s claimed to have heard her walking around the engine room and the tower. As the lighthouse became fully automated in 1990, it is not known if Grace remains.

Lady in Green

Location: Featherstone - Featherstone Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A female form in a green & brown dress glides along the corridors of the castle. Another ghost, that of Sir Reginald FitzUrse, haunts a tower where he was held prisoner (and starved to death), while sometimes a phantom wedding party is seen in the courtyard.

An old woodcut of a couple being married.

Wedding Party

Location: Featherstone - Route between Pynkinscleugh & Featherstone Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year, date unknown
Further Comments: To celebrate a wedding, the guests, bride and groom went out hunting; it resulted in a fight that killed most of them, and now they all travel back to the castle once a year, covered in blood.

Man in Grey

Location: Forest Hall - Rose Villa
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1933-1936 (and onwards?)
Further Comments: Over a three year period, the occupiers of the house and their friends reported that it was quite common to see a phantom man dressed in grey walk up the driveway and disappear around the corner of the house. The sightings stopped after loud numbers of people descended upon the site wanting to watch the ghost.

Fairy Stone

Location: Fourstones - Exact area no longer known, was on the south edge of the village
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Last seen in nineteenth century
Further Comments: The village is said to have taken its name from four stones, either holy or Roman in nature, which marked the four corners of the village. One of the stones was said to act as a message drop between fairies and had a small recess in which small pieces of paper could be left.

Miracle Well

Location: Gilsland - Gilsland Spa
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The well was said to bestow medicinal properties on those who used it. One owner of the land attempted to sell the water by building a house on the site, but as soon as construction was complete, the well dried up and the waters did not flow again until the house was pulled down.

Murdered Victims

Location: Gilsland - Pond close to Mumps Hall, former inn, aka Mumps's Ha (site unlikely to exist)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Meg Teasdale, a former landlady, was believed to have drugged and murdered several guests, disposing of the bodies in the local pond. A glowing ball of light which would occasionally manifest over the water was thought to be a spirit of the dead.

Twenty-four Carat Gold Table

Location: Greenhead - Thirlwall Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A table of solid gold is said to be hidden somewhere in or under this castle, protected by a gruesome dwarf.

Wealthy Dragon

Location: Gunnarton Fell - Gunnarton Castle, aka Money Hill
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is thought that the wyrm which established its home in the hill brought with him a great deal of treasure.

Norse Huntsmen

Location: Hadrian's Wall - Skies Hadrian's Wall
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small army of hunters patrol the skies over the wall, searching for souls.

The Wild Hunt.

Hunters

Location: Haltwhistle - Area near Hadrian's Wall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Folklore claims the wild hunt passes through this way, driving all the local pets mad. Eric Maple refers to the entities as Norse huntsmen, but other sources are less certain. The same area is also home to a phantom bridal procession, dressed in medieval garments.

Minstrel

Location: Haltwhistle - Bellister Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This old man often came and played his harp at the castle, so much so that the master of the building decided that the minstrel was a spy and had him killed. This was not the case, and now the musician's grey form is now seen about the castle.

Bandit

Location: Haltwhistle - Hardriding Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: A local villain once had a hideout on this site - he was followed from a scene of a crime and killed here. There have been sightings of the man himself, though more recent are the sounds of sword play in the farmhouse.

Drowned Girl

Location: Haltwhistle - Knarsdale Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year (date unknown)
Further Comments: Appearing on the date of her murder, this young girl silently drifts over the lawn towards where the lake once lay. One version of the story says the phantom girl screams (or it could be the wind).

Panther

Location: Haltwhistle - Park Road
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Summer 2006
Further Comments: A woman walking her dog watched as a large black cat crossed the road in front of her before vanishing into bushes.

The UFO that did not crash.

Downed Craft Hoax

Location: Haltwhistle - Ten miles north of town in a marshy area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: December 1968
Further Comments: A witness wrote to the RAF claiming he had seen a large silver disc crash and that he had investigated inside the craft before it had (mostly) sunk into the marsh. The RAF asked the police to investigate; the witness admitted that while he had seen the craft and thought it was going to land, he had fabricated the rest of the tale.

Black Cylinder

Location: Harlow Hill - West of Harlow Hill
Type: UFO
Date / Time: March 1985
Further Comments: Four people watched a black cylindrical object, possibly rotating, for ten minutes as it crossed the sky. The object changed direction once, moving north to south before turning west.

Waiting on the Platform

Location: Harperley - Former station (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When overgrown and unloved, the station was said by some to be haunted by a figure. Some assumed the ghost was a woman thrown from her horse and trap into the path of an oncoming train. The area was also said to be home to a phantom carriage.

Waiting Hunter

Location: Hartley - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An enchanted hunter and his hounds sit under the village, waiting to be woken by means unknown.

Witches' Obelisk

Location: Hartley - Old Hartley Standing Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A local piece of folklore said that if you ran around the menhir seven times while holding your breath, the witch would appear.

Archie Armstrong

Location: Haughton - Haughton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locked away in the castle prison, Archie was forgotten about and slowly starved to death (but not before trying to eat his own arms). He now haunts that area of the castle.

Sir Reginald Fitz-Urse

Location: Haydon - Chipchase Castle (private residence, opens to the public in June)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Reginald starved to death within the prison - his ghost is said to remain earthbound. It is not clear whether this is the same knight who murdered Thomas Becket, as stories say he escaped to Ireland.

Murdered Chieftain

Location: Haydon Bridge - Cummings Cross
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Cummings, a Northern chieftain who met with King Arthur, was given a golden cup as a token of friendship. Depending on which version of legend you believe, on the way back to his camp the chieftain was murdered for the cup, by either his own sons or those of Arthur. When Arthur found out, he erected a cross to remember the chieftain.

Sewingshield Castle

Location: Haydon Bridge - Sewingshield Crags
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sewingshield Castle, demolished in the nineteenth century, was one of King Arthur's temporary homes. It is also one of the places where Arthur, Guinevere and many knights rest under the earth, waiting until needed.