The Paranormal Database

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.

St Crux church, York.

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.

St Mary's Abbey, York.

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.

St William's College, York.

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.

The Golden Fleece pub, York.

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.

The Olde Starr Inn, York.

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.