Unearthly Peace

Location: York - Shrine of Margaret Clitherow, The Shambles
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Margaret Clitherow was a Catholic who was tortured to death for refusing to renounce her religious practices. This building, now a shrine, is said to be remarkably peaceful, even though it stands along a busy road. Unfortunately, this building is not Margaret's house.

Barghest

Location: York - Side roads and snickleways in city
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large black hound with red glowing eyes, known as Barghest, Barguist or Barguest, is said to prey on humans alone along the snickleways in the city. The creature has also been spotted in the old castle area.

The Calmness

Location: York - Small graveyard along alleyway by the Cock and Bottle Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The imprints of the old walls of a demolished church can still be seen on the grass - many have said that they feel a sense of calmness when standing inside the outside.

Little Girl

Location: York - Snickleway Inn, Goodramgate (was the Angler's Arms public house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen as she waits on the staircase, this entity is said to radiate peace and love. She met her death when a horse and cart delivering beer ran her over just outside the pub. The ghostly presence reported down in the basement is much more sinister and has been called evil by previous landlords. Finally, a phantom cat may rub itself against the legs of visitors.

Woman in a Shroud

Location: York - Spen Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure is reputed to leave St Crux and head towards Spen Lane via Colliergate where she vanishes. This may be the same ghost which leaves the same church but disappears at Foss Bridge.

Musical Woman

Location: York - St Crux and King's Square area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Waits of York were men who played music as they travelled through the town acting as watchmen and calling out the time. It is reported that a female ghost would sometimes follow them, stopping to listen to their tunes. She would appear at St Crux, travel through King's Square, and vanish at Goodramgate.

Funeral

Location: York - St Crux church (the remains of which now form the chapel in the Shambles)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: An on-duty policeman passing the church late at night heard funeral music playing within the building. As he approached to investigate, the doors of the building opened and the sound of people leaving could be heard, but nothing could be seen. The church was said to have a couple more frequent phantom visitors, one of whom was a tall man with a pale face who would stare out of the windows in the early hours of the morning. The other ghost took the form of a female figure in a shroud. The entity would follow people passing the church at night, either along Fossgate and vanish as when reaching Foss Bridge, or via St. Andrew Gate, fading away when nearing Spen Lane.

Nobleman

Location: York - St George's Field
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having lost an illegal duel, this figure died; his ghost now staggers around the area, fooling people into believing he is still alive prior to vanishing. A man on horseback also appears in the park and is named as Dick Turpin.

Rabbit

Location: York - St George's Roman Catholic Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen moving around the aisles of the church, the ghostly rabbit always vanishes before it is caught. Some believed it to be the ghost of Dick Turpin who is buried nearby.

The Black Abbot

Location: York - St Mary's Abbey, currently in the Museum Garden
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Condemned to drift around the ruins of the abbey, the Black Abbot is only seen at night. The sounds of coins being counted can also be heard - they jangle as if tipped onto a table, before being dropped one by one into a metal box.

Calverley

Location: York - St Mary's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Walter Calverley was briefly buried in this churchyard, after being executed for murder, before secretly being moved back to the village of Calverley by his friends. His ghost made several appearances around this time.

Sister

Location: York - St Mary's Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The older buildings of this hospital are said to contain the spirit of a former nurse who still tries to look after the sick.

Grey Lady

Location: York - St Peter's School
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend states that a grey ghostly woman walks around the road near the school chapel at night, while the chapel itself is haunted by a former pupil.

Old Lady Sitting

Location: York - St William's College, College Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978
Further Comments: This elderly lady sits on the steps outside the college and smiles as people pass her by. Another ghost, that of a male, walks the corridors of the college; it is said he died a broken man after turning his brother in for a murder they had both committed.

Viking

Location: York - St. Saviours church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghost hunter once spent the night here, investigating reports of a phantom Viking who had been executed on the site. The following morning, the vicar arrived, only to find the man dead on a high beam - it is said he died of fright!

Victorian Man

Location: York - Tempest Anderson Hall, found in the Museum Gardens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1969
Further Comments: A witness in the hall reported seeing a phantom man dressed in Victorian clothing reaching up to take a book from a shelf located near the stage. The ghostly form turned around and the witness saw that it had no facial features - needless to say, the viewer fled.

Drunken Airman

Location: York - The Golden Fleece public house, Pavement Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Towards the end of the Second World War, a drunken Canadian pilot fell from an upstairs window in the building and broke his neck on the pavement below. Since then, this ghost has reportedly haunted the bedroom from which he fell.

Screams

Location: York - The Olde Starr Inn, Stonegate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Another building which once housed injured Civil War troops, the basement is said to be the place where amputations occurred, which explains the sound of cries and screams. Two black cats are also reported to haunt the pub, and an old woman has been seen on the stairs.

Caped Figure

Location: York - The Other Tap & Spile public house, North Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shadow form has been seen in the building with a cloak or cape draped around its neck.

Music

Location: York - Theatre Royal, St. Leonard's Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Music coming from the closed theatre was once heard late at night. A grey figure resembling a nun has also been spotted in the building; she is thought to be the ghost of a nun who was bricked up alive for seeing angels when a hospital existed on the site. It is said to be a good omen for any production currently showing if the grey nun appears. Finally, there are also reports of a wraithy actor who died in a duel nearby.

Roman Legion

Location: York - Treasurer's House, Minster Yard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1953
Further Comments: Harry Martindale was working on a ladder in the cellar of the building when a group of Roman soldiers walked past him along the old Roman Road which ran through the basement. Harry was so shocked that he fell from his ladder, and despite his terror, noted that the figures disappeared into the floor at knee height and was also later able to describe the uniforms and equipment of the Romans. At the time Harry was told that his description of the soldiers was wrong, and the uniforms and equipment did not match that which was used by the invaders, although later local archaeological discoveries resulted in Harry's observations being proved correct. Harry died in 2015 and never changed his story, nor made any money from sharing it. The building also claims to be home to several other ghosts, including a dog, a black cat, George Aislaby (who was killed in a duel), and Frank Green, the man who converted the interior into what it is today. The Tapestry Room is reputed to have an oppressive atmosphere and is where the wife of a former owner murdered him after he conducted one extra-marital affair too many (so the story goes).

Disabled Teenager

Location: York - Tutor restaurant, Goodramgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The upper part of this building is haunted by a seventeen year old disabled teenager who hanged himself many years ago. One witness reported seeing swinging light bulbs and feeling an invisible presence which tried to push them down the stairs.

Small Old Man

Location: York - Unnamed shop along Colliergate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The female owners of this shop reported being glared at by a strange old man who told them to get out - instead of doing so, one of the proprietors told him to go away, which he promptly did - the man vanished and was never seen again.

Scary Shadows

Location: York - Viking Hotel, North Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A darkened figure that would appear from nowhere was reported by several staff. One man is said to have resigned after the entity scared him too much.

Footsteps

Location: York - Windmill Hotel, Blossom Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Footsteps walking across a wooden floor have been heard here, even though the floors were carpeted at the time. A mist has also mysteriously appeared and disappeared at odd times, while bottles have been known to spontaneously shatter.