The Paranormal Database

The old Debtors Prison in York.

Mary Bateman

Location: York - Debtors Prison
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Mary Bateman would appear during the witching hour and could have been the entity that became well known for playing pranks on prisoners.

Lady

Location: York - Drake's Fish and Chip Restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 2021
Further Comments: A phantom woman was reported to haunt the third floor of this building. The local press reported that the ghost was consulted when redevelopment work was carried out on the site in 2021.

Human Shape

Location: York - Dun Cow public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 August 1977
Further Comments: While on honeymoon, a woman awoke to see the shape of a tall person by the window. The shape appeared to be made up of small pulsating balls of light. The figure suddenly disappeared.

Phantom Hand

Location: York - Earl Grey Tea Rooms, Shambles
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2016
Further Comments: One visitor reported on Trip Advisor that they had felt a child's hand grab them while in the lady's toilet, although nothing was there. Another story says a phantom older man sits at a corner table.

The River Ouse running through York.

Pale Figure

Location: York - 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.

First Hussar pub, York.

Caped Man

Location: York - First Hussar public house, North Street
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A small team of men working through the night to complete a painting and decorating job all reported seeing a ghostly man dressed in a cape, who vanished through a wall.

Five Lions pub, York.

Green Jenny

Location: York - Five Lions public house (now Watergate Inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure has not been seen for many years, and her history is all but forgotten.

Walking

Location: York - Fordington Lodge, outside of the city
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Haunted by an unknown entity, the sounds of footsteps were often heard crossing the living room floor. Doors sometimes opened themselves, and once a sofa moved itself away from the wall, before moving back a few seconds later.

Baker and Soldiers

Location: York - Former toy shop just inside Roman Gate
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1978/79
Further Comments: Late at night, a woman approached the toy shop window to look at a teddy bear. At the window, the woman entered a dream-like state - she 'became' a large male baker covered in flour working within the shop and looking out she could see Roman soldiers walking past.

The Foss Bridge in York.

Shrouded Woman

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

Theatre Royal, York.

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.

The Treasurer's House, York.

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 (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).

Tutor restaurant, York.

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.

White Cat

Location: York - Unnamed streets 'close to a graveyard within the walls'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century, but said to appear at midnight on dark nights
Further Comments: A white cat (which sometimes took the form of a white rabbit, or vice versa) would wander the streets at night. If seen, the creature would always outrun the pursuer and disappear among the tombstones of a church. Reports of the entity ceased after the introduction of gaslights.

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.

Windmill Hotel, York.

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.

York Arms pub, York.

Grey Lady

Location: York - York Arms public house, High Petergate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom nun which haunts this pub was bricked up behind a wall after giving birth. The building in which this occurred no longer stands, but the pub was built on the same spot... This may be the same ghost which haunts the Theatre Royal.

York Minster, quiet in the early morning.

Dean Gale

Location: York - York Minster
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1702 onwards
Further Comments: This gentleman loved the Minster so much that in death he refused to leave and has been seen sitting while listening to sermons. A crisis apparition has also manifested here; the ghost of an officer appeared to his sister as she prayed in the church in the 1820s - at the exact moment he had died on far away shores. Also reputed to haunt the building is the sound of a dog barking.

The Yorkshire Museum Library in York.

Old Searcher

Location: York - Yorkshire Museum Library
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1954
Further Comments: For several weeks one particular book in the library would be found on the floor on Sunday evening - the mystery was 'solved' when a caretaker reported seeing a ghostly old man looking through the shelves, as if trying to find reading material.

Highwayman

Location: York - Four All's public house, A64
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 06 November 2006, 23:45h
Further Comments: A driver returning home from work reported passing a figure on horseback, dressed in highwayman's clothing, by the outside wall of the pub. When the witness looked in his rear view mirror, the figure had vanished. There is a local belief that the highwayman is Dick Turpin, and sightings of the highwayman are said to go back to the mid-twentieth century. A sandstone cave in the area is said to have been one of Turpin's hideouts.

Stuck in a Cupboard

Location: York - Grimston Lodge, road from City to Hull
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity can be heard tapping on cupboard doors throughout the building - when the doors are opened the noise halts.

Guido

Location: York - Guy Fawkes Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The birthplace of Guy 'Guido' Fawkes is perhaps unsurprisingly haunted by the man himself, although what form he takes is not really known. Two children who died of cholera are also reputed to lurk around the site.

Holy Trinity Church, York.

Thomas Percy

Location: York - Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local folklore says that a decapitated Thomas Percy, the Seventh Earl of Northumberland, fumbles around the churchyard searching for his severed head. Thomas and head separated after upsetting Elizabeth I; the earl attempted and failed to raise an army against his queen and was executed for this error of judgement. More recently, a ghostly figure in a long gown (possibly a nun) has been observed on the site.

Old Soldiers

Location: York - Imphal Barracks, Fulford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1969
Further Comments: One soldier in training was taken to sickbay after seeing one of the ghosts which haunted this barracks. The spirits wore black buttoned tunics and cylindrical headwear.