The Paranormal Database

Forbidden Couple

Location: Greencastle (County Donegal) - Northburgh Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Another location haunted by a pair of star crossed lovers. In this story, the daughter of Earl William fell in love with the son of a family rival. The son was locked up in the castle and starved to death, while the daughter died trying to help the boy escape. Both now haunt the site.

Lovers reunited after death.

Pair of Lovers

Location: Greencastle (County Donegal) - Site of ruined castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The daughter of Earl William and the son of Sir Walter Burk fell in love; unfortunately, their parents were mortal enemies. When Earl Williams discovered the relationship, he locked the young man in a tower to starve to death. When Williams' daughter tried to help her lover, she was killed. The pair are now united as spectres.

Waiting Wife

Location: Greenhead (Cumbria) - Blenkinsopp Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1951
Further Comments: Lady de Blenkinsopp is said to be waiting for her husband to return from the crusades, where he went after a disagreement over gold. Some reports state that the treasure is still hidden on the site.

Twenty-four Carat Gold Table

Location: Greenhead (Northumberland) - 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.

Victorian Woman

Location: Guildford (Surrey) - Guildford Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Walking around the grounds of the castle, this Victorian woman may not realise she is dead. Other ghostly figures have been seen around the castle.

White Lady Who Slaps

Location: Hadleigh (Essex) - Castle ruins
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Late summer, 2009
Further Comments: Legend tells of the story of a milkmaid who met a ghost at the castle. The white lady requested that the milkmaid returned the following night, but the girl stayed away. The next day, the white lady hunted down the girl and slapped her for disobedience! More recently, a jogger spotted a woman in a white dress (possibly a wedding gown) standing in the path ahead. The woman turned and started running just ahead of the jogger, suddenly vanishing on a bend on the path; the jogger felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Minstrel

Location: Haltwhistle (Northumberland) - 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.

Marching

Location: Hardknott Pass (Cumbria) - Roman Fort
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 08 May 2007, 12:30h
Further Comments: While exploring the empty ruins of the Roman Fort, two people heard marching. One of the couple reported it sounded like boots on a hard surface, even though the area is covered in grass. The footsteps lasted no more than twenty seconds before fading away.

Blue Figure Falling

Location: Harrogate (North Yorkshire) - Spofforth Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Only the top half of this figure is seen at the peak of a ruined tower, before plummeting to the ground below.

Hastings Castle (public domain).

Old New Castle

Location: Hastings (Sussex) - Hastings Castle
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An image of Hastings Castle has been reportedly seen floating over the sea, flags flying and in the condition that one would imagine it to be in several hundred years ago.

An old woodcut of Thomas Becket being murdered.

Hungry Prisoners

Location: Hastings (Sussex) - Hastings Castle, the area called The Mount
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Several manifestations exist here. The sounds of prisoners rattling their chains and calling out for food have been heard under the castle; the upper areas are haunted by phantom organ music. Thomas Becket, dean of the church college, walks the area, as does a nun caught on film during the 1970s.

Archie Armstrong

Location: Haughton (Northumberland) - 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.

William of Soulis

Location: Hawick (Borders) - Hermitage Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every seven years, last heard 1885 (exact date unknown) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Murdered by peasants who had grown tired of his wicked ways, William now returns to rendezvous with a wizard deep under the castle ruins. It is said a phantom Mary Queen of Scots haunts the building, though there is no evidence she ever visited. Another entity is also reported here - starved to death in the dungeon, the ghost of Sir Alex Ramsey now walks the castle grounds. In addition to the ghosts, some believe there is hidden treasure under the ruins of the castle, but the Devil watches over it - when people have tried to dig for the hoard in the past, violent storms have driven them away.

Overnight Construction

Location: Hay-on-Wye (Powys) - Hay Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Twelfth century
Further Comments: The giant Moll Walbee, known also as Maud de Breos, built this castle in a single night!

Sir Reginald Fitz-Urse

Location: Haydon (Northumberland) - 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.

Black Monk

Location: Hazlewood (North Yorkshire) - Hazlewood Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2003
Further Comments: A monk dressed in black is said to haunt the Tansy bedroom and St Margaret's courtyard area. The figure is said to vanish into the yew tree in the courtyard. In 2003 one guest complained she was kept awake at night by a crying baby, even though there were no infants near her room.

Green Lady

Location: Helmsley (North Yorkshire) - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With her green dress gently rustling, this phantom woman has been spotted in the area.

Herstmonceux Castle (public domain).

Fifteenth Century Drummer

Location: Herstmonceux (Sussex) - Herstmonceux Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom drummer, sparking blue on every beat, could either be Lord Dacre (once a local eccentric) or a drummer from the battle of Agincourt. Another ghost, this time a twenty year old female, haunts the moat; reportedly dying on the eve of her twenty-first birthday, she has been seen either swimming or standing beside the water.

Secret Passage

Location: Holmesfield (Derbyshire) - Holmesfield Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A piece of local folklore said the castle and Holmesfield Hall were connected by a secret passage. Contained within the passage sat an iron box filled with treasure, but it was protected by a cockerel which would crow if approached.

Shadows

Location: Holt (Clwyd) - Holt Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Shadowy figures are said to walk the grounds of the castle, though the myth appears to be recent and witnesses are not forthcoming.

Black Lady

Location: Holt (Worcestershire) - Holt Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Workers in the castle were too scared to visit the attic, where it is said the ghost haunts. The basement in turn is haunted by a raven that attacks any source of light taken down there.

Hopton Castle, photograph copyright 2006 Lawson Clout.

Parliamentarians

Location: Hopton (Shropshire) - Hopton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 March (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The ghosts of twenty eight Parliamentarians return on this date. They held out in the castle against a force of five hundred Royalists for two weeks, the siege only ending when the defenders were tricked into surrendering in exchange for their lives - they were slaughtered as they left the building. A maid is also reported to walk the site. (Image copyright 2006 Lawson Clout)

Marching Troops

Location: Horley (Surrey) - Thunderfield Castle and Haroldslea Drive area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 11 November (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A phantom bell begins to toll as the sun sets here, slowly growing louder until midnight comes and a small army of men pass through the area. The castle is said to have been a resting place for King Harold's men as they marched to Hastings.

White Rat

Location: Howth (County Dublin) - Howth Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly albino rat appears whenever misfortune or evil threatens the House of St Lawrence, while an oak which stands outside is said to lose a branch before the death of the head of the family. The castle is also haunted by phantom footsteps.

Burning Windows

Location: Inchiquin (County Clare) - Inchiquin castle
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The windows of this ruined castle were said to glow with blue fire when observed from a distance - when approached, the illusion would vanish.