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Pub Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Jailer

Location: Lenton (Nottinghamshire) - White Hart public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This building was once part of a prison, with the resident ghost believed to be a jailer that manifests as a dark shadow. Ghostly childlike singing has also been heard on site.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-05-05 | Last updated: 2008-05-05 | ID #8471

Old Tom

Location: Lilley (Bedfordshire) - Lilley Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Old Tom is said to make regular appearances in the pub, with staff and customers having fleeting glimpses of him before he vanishes. The building is also home to two female entities, one an old maid and the other a lady named Francis.

Source: Investigation
First added: 2007-08-26 | Last updated: 2007-08-26 | ID #7810

Cold Hands

Location: Limbrick (Lancashire) - Black Horse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that a pair of freezing hands sometimes grab customers from behind on their way from the bar.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2003-05-31 | Last updated: 2003-05-31 | ID #4271

Wall Walking

Location: Limerick (County Limerick) - Old Tom public house (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A ghostly man in this pub would be known for walking through walls. Unsurprisingly, the site also had a poltergeist, making no friends as it tossed bottles around.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2022-09-19 | Last updated: 2022-09-19 | ID #14646

Young Man

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Cornhill Vaults public house (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: A member of staff was left puzzled after seeing a young man with a collarless shirt walk up to the bar and vanish when she turned her back for a few seconds. The only other customer in the bar denied seeing any one else enter.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6987


Green Dragon pub, Lincoln.

Mary Cooper

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Green Dragon public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: The ghost which haunts this public house is said to be Mary Cooper, who once worked in the building prior to becoming a pub. She has been seen smoking a pipe, and is blamed when bottles are found broken, beer pumps are turned off, and for once snapping a kitchen knife in two.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6990

Name Caller

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Jolly Brewer public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Members of staff have reported hearing a voice which calls them by name, but they can never find who or what is responsible.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6988


Lion and Snake pub, Lincoln.

Woman with her Hair in a Bun

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Lion and Snake public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: This pub claims to have at least two ghosts. One takes the form of an old woman with her grey hair tied up in a bun - she is said to look completely solid and has been mistaken for a real person on one occasion. Another entity takes the form of a scruffy man and has been observed vanishing through a solid wall.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6986

Patients

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - The Lawn public house (former hospital)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While The Lawn is currently a popular drinking venue, it was once one of the first insane asylums in the UK - former inmates are still said to reside in the building, wailing and screaming.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6985

Cavalier

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Wig & Mitre public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: Six members of staff who stayed for a drink after working hours watched a cavalier with a feather in his hat cross the room and vanish into a wall.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2026-04-18 | Last updated: 2026-04-18 | ID #16545


Witch and Wardrobe pub, Lincoln.

Icy

Location: Lincoln (Lincolnshire) - Witch and Wardrobe public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 20 February 2010
Further Comments: Stories say that pumps have been known to activate themselves, and ice is thrown around by an invisible hand. PIPS (Paranormal Investigators Parker/Sherwood) investigated this location in 2010 and recorded EVP and high EMF fields.

Source: Investigation, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2006-10-15 | Last updated: 2006-10-15 | ID #6989

Old Man in the Corner

Location: Linton (Cambridgeshire) - Dog and Duck public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1999
Further Comments: This ghost, sometimes seen sitting in the corner of the pub, has often moved around the chairs in the bar during the night, and is said to tap people on the shoulders when something annoys him.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-08-07 | Last updated: 2002-08-07 | ID #2032

Legless Man

Location: Linton (Cambridgeshire) - The Bell public house (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Cut off at the knees, this Elizabethan gentleman was said to be not an uncommon visitor to the pub. During a period of renovation, it was discovered the old floor of the public house was fifty centimetres lower than it currently was.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-01-09 | Last updated: 2008-01-09 | ID #8158

Highwayman

Location: Little Marlow (Buckinghamshire) - Crooked Billet public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom highwayman reputedly haunting this pub was hanged from a nearby tree.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2016-05-20 | Last updated: 2016-05-20 | ID #12174

Brother Freddie

Location: Littlehempston (Devon) - Pig and Whistle public house, Newton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This randy monk would frequently rendezvous with a local farmer's daughter in this pub, which is thought to have a secret tunnel leading to the nearby chapel. He now waits in his favourite bedroom for his lover to return.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-27 | Last updated: 2002-08-27 | ID #2346

George

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Coach and Horses public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former landlord, George still returns to keep a watchful eye on his former establishment.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2003-05-31 | Last updated: 2003-05-31 | ID #4273

Flying Glasses

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Head of Steam public house, Lime Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: Glasses are said to be thrown from shelves and people feel something following them upstairs.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-11-04 | Last updated: 2012-11-04 | ID #11170

Lady in Blue

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Jessie Appleton's public house (aka The Dingle) (no longer operating), Park Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1994
Further Comments: Vicky Lee appeared in the press claiming her pub was haunted, having experienced footsteps in locked areas and unexplained breezes across the neck. Vicky's son encountered an older woman wearing a blue dress who vanished from a room.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2023-02-25 | Last updated: 2023-02-25 | ID #14811

Cellar Dwellers

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Slaughterhouse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Liverpool's oldest pub, the Slaughterhouse is reported to be haunted by a couple of shades who tend to enjoy lurking in the basement and making fleeting appearances in the bar.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-05-03 | Last updated: 2004-05-03 | ID #5121

Breaking Glass

Location: Llanarthney (Dyfed) - Emlyn Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 1910
Further Comments: A poltergeist is reported to have caused much distress and damage in this pub over several days, including throwing hot stones around and creating disembodied footsteps in empty rooms. A police officer who attended reported narrowly avoiding being hit by a polished rock which launched itself off a mantelpiece.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2004-08-22 | Last updated: 2021-09-30 | ID #5362

Sir John Plumley

Location: Locking (Somerset) - Manor House, and Coach House public house (was once the manor house's stables)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged for his part in the Monmouth revolt, Sir John and his dog are now seen on his former property. His wife also puts in the occasional appearance - she killed herself after her husband's execution.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-02-13 | Last updated: 2003-02-13 | ID #3838

Partying

Location: Long Lawford (Warwickshire) - Lawford Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A guest staying at the pub was awoken by the sounds of partying in the bar - he decided to go and join the festivities, but upon opening the bar door found the area empty and once again silent.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-07-30 | Last updated: 2006-07-30 | ID #6906

Victorian

Location: Longcroft (South Yorkshire) - Brewery Arms public house, formerly the Masons Arms
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Former landlord of this pub, John Mitchell, reported seeing a phantom woman in Victorian clothing. She would often appear at midnight, so to avoid the ghost, he would lock up at quarter past twelve.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-04-05 | Last updated: 2009-04-05 | ID #9160


The Anchor pub, Lowestoft.

Monk-Like Figure & Cold Blast of Air

Location: Lowestoft (Suffolk) - The Anchor public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1976
Further Comments: A figure dressed in monk's garb has been seen in the bedrooms of this building, accompanied by a drop in temperature and gusts of cold air.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17 | Last updated: 2000-08-17 | ID #415

The Officer of the Tower

Location: Ludlow (Shropshire) - Blue Boar public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards
Further Comments: This phantom is connected to the nearby castle and is named as a former Officer of the Tower. When last seen in the 1950s, he wore a blue tunic with shiny silver buttons. Other phantoms said to be residing here include a cavalier, an aging Victorian woman, a pipe-smoking man, and a teenage girl.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-12-24 | Last updated: 2006-12-24 | ID #7078

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