The Paranormal Database

White Lass Beck

Location: Thirsk - Stream in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The woman in white who haunted this body of water was thought to be a maid murdered in the area, her body discovered buried in a gravel pit. As well as manifesting as a woman, White Lass Beck would also take the form of a white dog or white heifer.

Seat of Defeat

Location: Thirsk - Thirsk museum
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The museum houses a cursed wooden chair which brings death to any who sit upon it, and is even said to bring misfortune if touched.

Footsteps

Location: Tholthorpe - RAF Tholthorpe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: Investigated by Middlesbrough Paranormal, the group claimed to have witnessed apparitions, heard disembodied footsteps and recorded EVP.

Vanishing Husband

Location: Thoralby - Road where a small body of water, known as the Devil's Hole, could be found two miles out of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The entity which caused people to avoid this spot after dark was said to change form depending on the witness. One woman thought her husband was standing by the roadside, but the male figure vanished as she approached. When the entity appeared to a servant, it had terrifying eyes, although it did dive into the nearby pool when the servant crossed himself.

Coins

Location: Thoresby - Farmer's field
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa early nineteenth century
Further Comments: A serving girl had a dream that treasure was buried in a field on the farm where she worked. She dug in the area and found many coins, which she distributed to her friends and neighbours. When the lord of the manor heard about the discovery, he declared the treasure belonged to him. The girl fled the neighbourhood, terrified of the lord's reaction once he realised that she had given most of the coins away.

Strange Animals

Location: Thornaby-on-Tees - Bassleton Woods
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Perhaps more legend than cryptozoological, but this wooded area is said to be home to strange water creatures and colourful non-native birdlife.

Goblin.

Well of Our Lady

Location: Threshfield - Village well
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local man stumbled across a party of goblins, only managing to elude the creatures by hiding in the well. Ever since that day, the holy well has been thought to repel evil.

Moaning

Location: Towton - Site of the Bridge of Bodies
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Battle of Towton occurred during the English Civil War and is said to be the bloodiest battle ever fought in English, with an estimated 28,000 killed. Local myths claim that the moans of the dying can still be heard today, and that roses which were wild in the area grew blood red petals.

Entrance to Fairy Land

Location: Upper Wharfedale - Fairy Hole
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A small opening in the limestone here was thought to lead to fairyland, though it is possible for a slender person to crawl into the cave.

Missing Body

Location: Upsall - Area of Beckstead Wood known as Lost Corpse End
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Possibly late eighteenth century
Further Comments: Pallbearers carrying the body of a woman to a nearby church temporarily set the coffin down in the wood to grab handfuls of nuts from the trees. When they picked up the coffin, they realised it was much lighter - the body had gone, even though the coffin was still screwed closed. When they reached the church, the vicar insisted on burying the empty coffin.

Hidden Gold

Location: Upsall - Elder bush near the castle ruins (not known if bush remains)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An Upsall man had a dream that if he travelled to London Bridge, he would become rich. Arriving at the bridge, he met another man who said that he had also had a dream in which he had travelled to Upsall and dug up treasure by a bush near the castle but did not know where Upsall was located. The Upsall man said that he had never heard of the place and quickly returned home to dig the treasure up himself. A similar story which is said to have occurred in several places across the UK.

John's Armour and a Tree

Location: Upsall - Road between village and Thirsk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, but said to occur at midnight when an east wind blows (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Baron John de Mowbray tried to escape his pursuers along this road, running from the Battle of Boroughbridge. Not fast enough however, as he was caught and had his head chopped off. John's armour was removed and placed in the branches of a tall oak. Although tree and armour have been gone for many years, when midnight comes, the armour can be heard rattling in the non-existent branches.

Knight fighting a dragon.

Latimer the Dragon Slayer

Location: Well - Exact location not known
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The dragon of Well was slain by a knight named Latimer who was a local landowner. A dragon is featured in the Latimer coat of arms.

Jailed Mary

Location: Wensleydale - Bolton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006
Further Comments: Imprisoned by the English, Mary Queen of Scots spent some time at this castle - one story has it that her shade walks around the courtyard. One person walking through the main hall spotted, out of the corner of their eye, a woman in Tudor clothing, sitting and watching the outside world through a bay window.

Glowing Ball

Location: West Witton - A684 between town and Swinithwaite
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This dazzling ball of light hovers on the road only to vanish when cars and other vehicles move too close.

Three Dimensional Shadow

Location: West Witton - Church Lane
Type: Other
Date / Time: 18 September 2010, around midnight
Further Comments: Retrieving his son's teddy bear from the car, this witness was startled by a metal clanking sound. In the lane he saw a shadow which appeared to be three dimensional. It threw something down the road that appeared ring-shaped. There was another loud metal clanking noise behind the witness which caused him to look briefly over his shoulder - when he looked back in the direction of the figure it had vanished.

Footfalls

Location: Wetherby - North Deighton Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These phantom footsteps have been described as weighty and sluggish.

Point of No Return

Location: Wharram Percy - Field in the deserted medieval village
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1300s
Further Comments: Several bodies discovered in a pit had unusual damage to the bones which implied mutilation had occurred post-mortem. It is thought that this damage was done to prevent the bodies from returning after death, although no one knows why these individuals would have been identified as being potential revenants.

Rustling

Location: Whitby - Aislaby Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard moving around in a silken dress, this figure has never been observed with human eyes; quite unlike the large phantom coach seen being driven outside the hall.

Browne Bushell

Location: Whitby - Bagdale Hall Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: More often heard stalking the staircase than seen, Bushell was a pirate (so says legend, though the truth is probably quite different) who once owned the building. Children have also been heard playing just after midnight, in rooms devoid of life.

Horse?

Location: Whitby - Esk Terrace
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 02 September 2011, 00:20h
Further Comments: While staying in a house along this road, a witness heard a horse walking outside on the gravel - when they looked from the window, nothing could be seen.

An old postcard of Whitby in Yorkshire.

Wade

Location: Whitby - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wade, his unnamed wife, and their son, were giants who possessed fantastic size and strength and are credited with creating the surrounding landscape by throwing and dropping boulders.

Coach and Six

Location: Whitby - Green Lane
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Following the burial of a fisherman
Further Comments: It was once believed that a phantom coach, pulled by six black horses and escorted by two dark outriders would manifest the night after a fisherman was buried. The coach and escorts would travel to the church where it would stop. Along the route, additional phantom mourners join the cortege, and once at the church they circle the grave three times. Once this part of the ritual was complete, all the mourners would enter the coach which would then depart at speed, travelling roads until reaching the edge of a cliff, where it would fall and vanish.

Coach

Location: Whitby - Greenlane area, leading to the cliffs
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This horse-drawn coach is said to materialise and travel to a nearby church, before suddenly charging towards the cliffs, finally vanishing as it plummets down one of the faces. Another entity that stalks the roads around here is never seen yet causes damage to vehicles and road signs.

An old postcard showing the coastline of Whitby in Yorkshire.

Ringing

Location: Whitby - Off coast, near Black Nab
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 31 October (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ship carrying bells stolen from the abbey was sunk at the Black Nab while trying to escape. On Halloween, one can stand close to the rock and call out their true love's name; the wind repeats the name, and the submerged bells can be heard to ring.