The Paranormal Database

Ripley Castle, Yorkshire.

Bottom Half of a Lady

Location: Ripley - Ripley Castle, the Tower Room
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998?
Further Comments: Witnessed by one of the castle guides leaving the Tower Room, this ghost walked through two closed doors. The Tower Room also experienced poltergeist activity when the chimney was unblocked in the middle of the twentieth century - pictures were turned around and the furniture positions altered. The other ghost of the castle is said to be a nun, who walks around at night, knocking on bedroom doors, and entering when invited.

Soldiers in the Sky

Location: Ripley - Skies over village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1881
Further Comments: Several times throughout the year, platoons of phantom troops were observed passing over the village.

Singing

Location: Ripon - Fountains Abbey and Hall, near the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, but archaeologist's encounter 1989
Further Comments: The gentle sound of a choir singing has been heard as the sun goes down, though no earthy singing group is based nearby. A blue lady is reported to haunt the nearby hall. An archaeologist working on site reported seeing a heavy door unlatch and open itself, although he did not feel threatened and continued his work.

Old Boots

Location: Ripon - Unicorn Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known to his friends as Old Boots, Tom Crudd was a well-liked boot boy, and his nonfrightening ghost now haunts the hotel.

Hugh Ripley

Location: Ripon - Wakeman's House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Horn still blown today
Further Comments: The town has a famous ritual which involves blowing the Charter Horn, traditionally used to warn against Viking raiders before its use became ritual. Hugh was the first mayor of Ripon and was obsessed with ensuring that the horn was blown correctly, watching over its use every day. If the horn is not blown correctly, Hugh will appear and gaze out of the attic window disapprovingly. Some say the town will be hit by disaster if the horn is not respected.

Man with Penny Farthing

Location: Ripon - Workhouse Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: A ghostly man standing alongside a penny farthing bicycle has been spotted standing outside the museum. Children's voices can reportedly be heard coming from within the workhouse after it has been closed and locked up for the night.

White Horse

Location: River Wharfe - Wharfedale's Strid
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 01 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Together with a fairy, this pale horse rises from the dangerous waters once a year. It has been known to drown people who come too close.

Floating Man

Location: Rivock Edge - Bridleway along the plantation
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: Appearing twice in the same area within the year, this figure unnerved workers who were improving the paths and drainage in the plantation.

Pilots in Hangar

Location: Rufforth - Rufforth Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A disastrous bomber landing resulted in almost a dozen deaths, a wrecked farmhouse, and three more bombers ruined as they sat on the ground - the crew of the aircraft responsible have been observed in a hangar on the site.

Cure for Whooping Cough

Location: Runswick Bay - Hob Holes - caves along the coastline
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Any child taken into the caves at low tide would be cured by the little people (or little person, depending on the legend) who lived within.

Headless Woman

Location: Ruswarp - Churchyard wall, Prospect Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This headless phantom sits upon an old wall here.

Goosey

Location: Ruswarp - Sleights Road
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered by an unknown person, the man once known as Goosey now returns to the village whenever an accident is imminent.

Moaning

Location: Saltburn-by-the-Sea - Creek leading to the sea (around six miles inland)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-nineteenth century, windy days (reoccurring)
Further Comments: When the wind was strong, a terrible groaning could be heard coming from the creek, which the fishermen believed to be a warning that the sea would take a life.

Trapped Shade

Location: Saltersgate - Saltersgate Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The peat fire is said to have burnt continuously for two hundred years, with successive landlords upholding the tradition - the body of a murdered man is hidden under the spot, and it is told that his shade will escape if it ever goes out. The moorland nearby is haunted by the sound of sobbing.

Tom

Location: Sand Hutton - Busby Stoop Inn, road outside
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Tom Busby murdered his father with a hammer - an event which resulted in the public house in which the crime was committed being named after him. Hanged for the crime, his shade now comes back complete with noose, and any who see it are doomed. The shade was once thought to be centred on Tom's favourite chair, though when the chair was removed to Thirsk Museum, Tom stayed pub-bound. The chair itself was thought to be cursed, anyone sitting on it would die soon after.

Dancers

Location: Scalby - Moors in the area, heading north
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young man heading towards Whitby spotted a group of fairies dancing in a circle. The man joined them. At one point during the dance the fairies called out 'whip, whip!', and they pulled out and cracked small hunting whips. The man then called out the same words, which resulted in the fairies whipping him and giving chase as he fled towards Whitby.

Horse and Cart

Location: Scampston - Mill (likely no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: After the death of the man who transported corn to the mill, an old white horse and cart took to haunting the area.

Older Lady

Location: Scarborough - A171
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 05 November 2019
Further Comments: While travelling as a passenger on a Whitby bound bus, a witness noted an older lady on the bottom deck sitting a few seats behind. The lady cast a dim reflection in the window, and the witness could see her from the corner of the eye. The lady had no way of exiting the bus, but disappeared before the bus reached its destination, with no possible means of leaving. There are stories of the lady joining people in their cars on this stretch of road.

An old postcard showing Scarborough's Grand Hotel.

Lady in Red

Location: Scarborough - Grand Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s?
Further Comments: Along with the phantom woman in a red dress, other reports from this old hotel include laughing, singing, and poltergeist-like activities.

Lydia Bell

Location: Scarborough - Old Mansion House, St Nicholas Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered nearby in 1804, the ghost of the teenage Lydia has been reported still haunting her former home. She wears a pink or red dress.

Strong Perfume

Location: Scarborough - Private residence, Hoxton Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: A couple who moved into this flat were forced to call in a vicar to bless all the rooms to dismiss a poltergeist who would play with lights, disrupt the shower system, and create a smell of perfume.

Glowing Light

Location: Scarborough - Reasty Hill, Silpho Moor
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 21 November 1957
Further Comments: A forty-six centimetre disc covered with strange hieroglyphics was found by three men who were investigating the sighting of a ufo which glowed eerily in the night sky.

An old postcard showing Scarborough Castle.

Piers Gaveston

Location: Scarborough - Scarborough Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Beheaded in 1312, Piers spent his last free days in this castle - he now returns, walking the paths. A darker version of the story says he tries to lure visitors to the cliff edge before pushing them off.

Edith

Location: Scarborough - Sitwell House, aka Woodend Creative Workspace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: The Scarborough Evening News reported that a ghost hunt on the site had discovered a several entities on site, including a 'signal' received from poet Edith Sitwell.

The Future Dead

Location: Scarborough - St Mary's Churchyard
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 24 April (St Marks Eve) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: All those who will die between this date and next year's St Mark's Eve appear in this graveyard on the stroke of midnight and walk into the church.