The Paranormal Database

Hole

Location: Disley (Cheshire) - Road between Disley & Whaley Bridge - area is marked by a memorial stone
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site of a murder of William Wood in 1823, the hole left in the ground caused by the impact of his head as it hit the grass has remained evermore; the grass in it died, no other plants will grow on the spot, and all attempts to fill the hole have failed. Well, a marker stone recording the murder is at the site, but the hole is no longer present!

An old postcard showing Dollar in Scotland.

Floating Stone

Location: Dollar (Clackmannanshire) - Deil's Cradle, found on a glen which was known as Burngrens
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The stone was said to float in the air on Halloween's night, the Devil sitting upon it, surrounded by witches, until dawn breaks the following morn.

Janet Horne

Location: Dornoch (Highland) - The Witch Stone, located near the golf course
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of the last witches to be executed in Scotland, the ghost of the old lady is still seen near the spot where she was burnt to death.

An old postcard of Arthur's Stone in Dorstone.

The Hummadruz

Location: Dorstone (Herefordshire) - Arthur's Stone
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: For many years people have reported hearing a strange humming sound around this area, without apparent cause.

Petrified Saddle

Location: Douglas (Isle of Man) - Saddle Road
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A vicar was left perplexed after discovering that someone was riding his horse without permission. The vicar asked around the neighbourhood but was unable to uncover the identity of the culprit. A few days after the unauthorised borrowing began, the vicar watched as a little man in a green jacket dismounted the horse and remove the saddle. The little man turned around, realised that he had been seen, and promptly turned invisible. The little man's saddle, left on a fence, turned to stone, and it was from this stone that the road took its name.

St Olan's Cap

Location: Dromatimore (County Cork) - Close to St Olan's Well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This healing stone would cure headaches, if balanced on the head, and would also deal with any problems during pregnancy. If removed from the site, the stone would teleport back, although it is not sure where it currently is located.

Witches being ducked, from a 1613 woodcut.

Cheese Press

Location: Dunfermline (Fife) - Witch's Stone, Crossford
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone destroyed 1972
Further Comments: A witch transporting a cheese press to a family accidently dropped it. The 200 tonne rock landed on a field where it was left for a few hundred years until blown up.

Dropped

Location: East Knoyle (Wiltshire) - Large stone (exact location unknown)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large stone in the village was once believed unmovable and was said to have been dropped by the Devil as he constructed Stonehenge.

Dropped in a Huff

Location: East Worlington (Devon) - Standing Stone (private land)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Angered after hearing the bells of East Worlington church, the Devil dropped this stone - some say it cannot be moved by man or beast. Four crosses decorate the stone.

Countless Stones

Location: Eccles (Kent) - Little (or Lower) Kit's Coty
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A baker attempted to count the stones here, to prove that it was possible to number the so-called 'countless stones'. The baker placed a loaf of bread on each rock, and when complete, counted each one he took back. The Devil had other plans, however, and consumed several loaves before the baker had finished.

Petrified Man

Location: Enstone (Oxfordshire) - Hoar Stone
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 23 June (or Midsummer Eve) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The three stones standing here are said to be a man, his dog and his horse. The man, the larger stone, is said to wander down to the village stream on Midsummer Eve. The stones are also said to return to their positions if anyone tries to remove them.

AN old postcard showing Sychnant Pass in Snowdonia.

Coloured Stones

Location: Eryri (Snowdonia) (Gwynedd) - Smaller circle of stones close to the Druid Stones, Sychnant Pass
Type: Legend
Date / Time: May no longer be standing
Further Comments: The three coloured stones which once stood here - red, white, and blue - were said to be three women who worked on the Sabbath. Petrified for the sin, the stones retained the colours of the clothing they wore.

Thirsty Rocks

Location: Evenjobb (Powys) - Four stones near Hindwell Pool
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Midnight
Further Comments: Each night on the stroke of twelve, these four standing stones walk to Hindwell Pool to quench their thirst before returning before the sun rises.

Petrified Stones

Location: Fetlar (Shetland) - Haltadans stone circle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This group of standing stones are said to have been trolls who danced until dawn - unable to return to their cave in time, they all turned to rock.

An old postcard of The Buckstone in the Forest of Dean.

Flood Placed

Location: Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire) - The Buckstone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present (but no longer rocks)
Further Comments: The Buckstone, a former rocking stone, was said to have been placed by the waters of the flood as they subsided. Folklore says it was used by druids as a place of sacrifice.

Three witches with a cat, a dog and a bird. Engraving, circa 1800, after a woodcut, 1619.

Witches

Location: Forres (Moray) - Sueno's Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: A Picto-Scottish standing stone, one legend says that Macbeth met the three witches by the stone (and that they were later imprisoned within it).

Fairy Stone

Location: Fourstones (Northumberland) - 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.

Storm

Location: Fowey (Cornwall) - Menhir in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A group of men tried to remove this stone to reach the mythical treasure beneath. A storm blew up, the wind, thunder and lightning driving them away.

Knight of the Round Table

Location: Fowey (Cornwall) - The Tristan Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This stone is thought to have marked the position of the grave of one of the knights of the round table, though it has been moved at least once since being placed.

Devil's Stone

Location: Gatherley Moor (North Yorkshire) - Northern area
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown is stone is still present
Further Comments: The Devil became vexed with the occupants of Gilling village and lobbed a stone at them. As is tradition, he missed, and the stone, complete with his finger marks, landed and remained on the moor.

Grey figure

Location: Glamis (Angus) - Malcolm's Stone (tombstone)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost has been observed around this ancient headstone.

Dead Husband

Location: Glanworth (County Cork) - Labbacallee (aka The Hag's Bed), wedge tomb
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Sheela, a giant's wife, killed her husband after throwing their bed at him - he had argued with her and struck her shoulder with an axe. His body still lays under the tomb, and Sheela can be heard in times of national crisis calling out her husband's name. Another story says four treasure hunters arrived at the stone and started to dig beneath it. Before long, a cat appeared with a burning tail. The light blinded the men and they staggered off, one falling into the River Funshion and drowning.

Abhartach

Location: Glenullen (County Derry / County Londonderry) - General area, Abhartach's final resting place marked by a large stone with a thorn tree growing up from the side
Type: Vampire
Date / Time: Fifth century
Further Comments: In a battle for the throne, the warrior Cathrain killed his rival Abhartach. Abhartach, however, returned from the grave two days later and preyed on the locals. Cathrain once again killed the undead fiend, but two days later, Abhartach came back and continued his attacks. Cathrain discussed the problem with druids, who told him to stab his adversary through the heart with a weapon made of yew. This he did, and Abhartach never returned.

Weather Controller

Location: Gourock (Inverclyde) - The Kempock Stone (aka Granny Kempock)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It was once thought that the stone could control the weather; prior to fishing journeys, the fishermen would leave gifts at the base of the rock or walk seven times around it whilst chanting. In 1662 a 'witch' claimed she had managed to raise storms by abusing the power of the stone.

Jumping Stone

Location: Great Dunmow (Essex) - Stone close to Beaumont Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Said to be able to jump over walls, the stone also has the power to make any woman who touches it pregnant.