The Paranormal Database

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

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Northumberland Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Dunny

Location: Hazelrigg - St Cuthbert's Cave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost would take the form of a dun coloured horse (though really it was the shade of a pirate-cum-raider) and harass anyone who came too close to his treasure which was buried somewhere nearby.

Music

Location: Healey - Vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1933
Further Comments: A newspaper article briefly mentioned that the new vicar of Healey had performed an exorcism to rid this site of ghostly music.

Hedley Kow

Location: Hedley - All over village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A spirit that plagued many households in the village, the Hedley Kow would take the form of human or beast, sometimes luring the living into marshy areas. The entity finally disappeared after it manifested as a horse and ran off, escaping the fury of a victim of one of its 'jokes'.


A stone man waits to be released.

Enchanted Percy

Location: Henhole - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A member of the House of Percy ventured into a cave in this area, only to be enchanted and petrified. He can be released by the sound of a bugle.

Celtic Heads

Location: Hexham - Exact location not known
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: Two small stone heads (first identified as Celtic, but later declared modern in their making) caused havoc after they were discovered in a council house garden and brought inside the home. Strange lights were seen, glass and mirrors shattered, and a strange half human creature was seen lurking in the shadows. An archaeologist who took the objects to study also reported the same experiences.

Pins

Location: Holystone - Well of St Ninian
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Pins would be left here, although it is not clear whether they were for wishes or healing purposes.


The source of Child Ballad Lamkin?

Long Lamkin

Location: Horsley - Nafferton Tower (only ruins remain)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local man known only as Long Lamkin coldly murdered a woman and her child in the region. His shade sometimes is seen briefly in the area. The story may have been the inspiration for the Child Ballad Lamkin (number 93). As an aside, a nearby pool was reputedly bottomless.

Hare

Location: Humbleton - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom hare which ran around the area would once be hunted by locals, but it could never be killed.

Broken Staff

Location: Humshaugh - Unidentified farmer's field
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer ploughing the field heard a fairy cry 'I've broken my staff!'. The farmer offered to fix the staff, and having done so, found bread and butter left out for him the following day.

Invisible Stone

Location: Ilderton - Threestoneburn (aka Three Stone Burn)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Even though only a handful of stones can now be seen, it was reported that there were once twelve stones, but only eleven could be seen. If anyone could find the twelfth, they would have been rewarded with riches.

Just Another Wishing Well

Location: Key Heugh (aka Sandy Crag) - Well (not known if still in existence)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A well on this site was littered with pins left by visitors who hoped their wishes would be heard.

Shuffling Footsteps

Location: Kielder - Kielder Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003
Further Comments: Two overnight German tourists fled the castle and drove away after the temperature dropped suddenly and they found themselves surrounded by non-descript voices and shuffling feet. Other ghosts reported here include a serving girl who may have been murdered by a footman, and a hunter whose rifle backfired.

White Woman

Location: Langley - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Singing has been reported coming from the building when it is empty, and a ghostly woman dressed in white has also been seen. This entity may be the same as the grey lady reportedly seen in the chapel.

Headless Man on Horse

Location: Lilburn - Crossroads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two ghosts were said to haunt this area. A man with his head under his arm rode upon a dun coloured horse, while at other times a phantom woman would appear, wringing her hands.

Monks

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - Causeway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1962
Further Comments: This monk is thought to be one of many brothers killed after the Danes raided the island in 793 AD. He now stands watching out for another sneak attack. Two holiday makers spotted the monk as he faded away on the sands.

Nuns

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: June 2019
Further Comments: A witness spotted many nuns praying in the church. Mentioning it to a nearby woman, the witness was told the church was empty; no one else had seen the nuns and there was no evidence they had existed.

Constance de Beverley

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A nun who fell in love with a knight, only to be killed for her sins, is said to haunt the island.

White Dog

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - Lindisfarne Castle
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large hound is said to jump from the castle ruins at people, before slinking back from where it came.


An old painting showing Lindisfarne Castle.

St Cuthbert

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - Lindisfarne Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen sitting in the ruins, and along the beach of Holy Island, St Cuthbert is dressed in the traditional brown habit of monks. His ghost makes holes in the stones, known locally as St Cuthbert's Beads, which bestow luck to their wearer.

Figure in habit

Location: Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) - Priory Ruins
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 August 2015, between 14:00h - 15:00h
Further Comments: A witness watched a figure in a woolly habit kneel on a grave in a fenced off area. The witness looked away for a moment, and when they turned back, the figure had gone. When the witness asked a worker about the sighting, they were told it was not the first time a sighting had occurred.

Hunter

Location: Longframlington - Brinkburn Priory
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A piece of local folklore says a hunter and hounds who upset the occupants of the priory were entombed alive beneath the site. A farmer who stumbled across an enchanted doorway entered and spotted the sleeping hunter but was forced to flee when the door began to close on its own accord. It was also said the last of the fairies were buried near the priory (but not in the same place as the hunter), and that the site is home to a 'terrible monk'.

Candles & Roses

Location: Longframlington - Rookwood House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1974-1978
Further Comments: A former occupier of this house recalled how the smell of snuffed candles filled the air during the summer months and the scent of roses could be detected during winter. Lights would be turned on and off by an unseen hand, and a presence could be felt sitting on a bed at night (once mistaken as an actual person).

Blinded

Location: Longhorsley - Site of old fair
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Netherwitton man was charged with raising a fairy child and given an ointment with which he was to wash the child's eyes. Curiosity overtook the man and he washed one of his own eyes with the ointment. While visiting the Longhorsley fair, the man spotted the fairy child's parents and greeted them. Surprised to have been seen by the man, the fairies asked which eye could see them. The man pointed to the eye and one of the fairies blew into it, permanently blinding him.

Warty Dragon

Location: Longwitton - Three wells near village
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This wyrm is said to have found the water from the wells so refreshing he set up home here. The creature was described as having a black tongue, long tail, warty skin, and very sharp claws. It was finally killed by Sir Guy of Warwick.

Meg

Location: Meldon - Between Meldon and Hartington Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: After dark, seven years on, seven years off
Further Comments: Meg of Meldon had a reputation for being a ruthless miser, a canny businesswoman, and a witch. Her ghost was said to travel from the village to her former home, resting for seven years every seven years. Her spirit was once seen in the form of a little dog close to a bridge but was more likely to take the form of a pretty woman or flickering lights of many colours. Another part of her legend says that Meg hid her treasure around the area, within wells, in ceilings, and close to Meldon tower.

Records 101 - 125 of 170

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