The Paranormal Database

The River Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Woman

Location: Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) - River Avon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the river is haunted by a woman who stands waist-deep in the water.

Water Dragon

Location: Sudbury (Suffolk) - River Stour
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Early 1400s
Further Comments: This crested monster came from out of the local river and terrorised Sudbury and the neighbouring villages. Eventually, all the townsfolk gathered and chased the beast back into the river.

The River Trent is reputedly home to a water elemental.

Water Spirit

Location: Swarkestone (Derbyshire) - River Trent, near Swarkestone Bridge
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The water elemental which frequents these waters is said to require three lives annually to remain pacified. The bridge was built, they say, by two young ladies who saw their lovers taken by the spirit and acted to ensure no one suffered the same loss.

Sisters

Location: Swarkestone (Derbyshire) - Swarkestone Bridge
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sisters who built this bridge are said to haunt it, while others say phantom horsemen from Bonnie Prince Charlie's army can be heard crossing.

Mary and her ghostly pig.

Mary on Piggyback

Location: Swinton (Greater Manchester) - Area near river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mary killed her husband's prized pig, so he drowned her in return. Mary is now said to ride the hog around the area of the river where her husband murdered her.

Sunbathing Devil

Location: Tarr Steps (Somerset) - By the River Barle
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The steps were created by Old Nick, and he uses them so he can catch some rays on the nicer days of summer.

Little Girl in Victorian Clothes

Location: Throop (Dorset) - Throop Mill river (River Stour)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: The mill is supposed to be haunted by monks and young people or children. One witness said that he had encountered a little girl in a Victorian dress in 2004 and again in 2012, accompanied by the sound of crying.

A phantom child at Tidmarsh.

Drowned Lad

Location: Tidmarsh (Berkshire) - Stream near Tidmarsh Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: June (reoccurring), clear nights of the full moon - last seen 1880s?
Further Comments: The stream that ran close to this property was said to be haunted by a young boy who once drowned in its waters.

The river running through Walberswick.

Old Man and Boy waiting for Ferry

Location: Walberswick (Suffolk) - Landing stage of river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: Observed by a woman in the 1950's, the young boy and an old man have been watched as they crossed the river on a ferry, disappearing as they entered an unnatural fog bank. They are supposed to have drowned a couple of hundred years ago, while crossing in similar circumstances.

An old postcard of Warrenpoint in County Down.

Lord Blaney

Location: Warrenpoint (County Down) - Carlingford Lough
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1916
Further Comments: A Steam-Packet which travelled between Warrenpoint and Liverpool, the Lord Blaney broke in two when it hit a sandbank, sinking with most of its crew and travellers. The ship is said to reappear when a naval disaster is close to hand, such as in November 1916 when the Connemara and the Retriever collided and sank.

One of Three Shucks

Location: Willingham (Lincolnshire) - Bridge at River Till
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of three bridges in Lincolnshire that is said to be a haunt of the black shuck.

A ghostly figure waves from a river bank.

Polly

Location: Worcester (Hereford & Worcester) - River Severn (North Parade area?)
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, early twentieth century or prior
Further Comments: Polly was an older woman who made her money selling matches. For several weeks following her drowning in the river, she was spotted waving at witnesses from the bank.

The River Ouse running through York.

Pale Figure

Location: York (North Yorkshire) - Edge of the River Ouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 May (reoccurring) (legend), ghost unknown
Further Comments: Thought to be the shade of a drowned person, this figure drifts around the banks of the river. Another piece of folklore says that a person drops five white pebbles into the river when the Minster clock chimes one in the morning during the first of May, they see their past, present and future.