The Paranormal Database

Dog

Location: Dinnington - Private house along Swinston Hall Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large hound is said to haunt just outside this building and can be heard pawing at the front door.

Music Box

Location: Doncaster - Burghwallis Hall, aka St Anne's Convent
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: The sounds of a music box were heard around the hall 'before the days of radio', and a small woman dressed in dark clothing was observed walking down a corridor. Two more witnesses saw a man dressed in grey which they mistook as their father as he dashed down the staircase. This could be the same figure that one woman woke up to; he stood over her bed watching her with a look of hatred and madness, vanishing as she hit the lamp.

Tall Man

Location: Doncaster - Darlington Grove, Moorland
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: A ghostly gentleman over six foot tall made several appearances in a house on this estate.

Footsteps

Location: Doncaster - Doncaster Free Press offices
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October 2008
Further Comments: Staff at the office have reported cold spots and have heard strange footsteps after hours. An investigation team, on Halloween night, reported encountering a little boy and his mother, a former boxer, an insurance clerk, and a tailor.

Matching Soldier

Location: Doncaster - Just off the B1403, a lane known as The Cannon Ball run
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September 2005
Further Comments: A couple in a parked car watched a soldier wearing a hat match by their car before vanishing in the beam of their headlights.

Mayor's Aid

Location: Doncaster - Mansion House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This tall, thin gentleman has been seen gazing at the portraits in the building and is sometimes seen walking behind important guests to the building.

Piranha

Location: Doncaster - Martinwells Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: April 2019
Further Comments: The carcasses of two dead piranha were found on the shore of the lake causing concern to people in the area. The environment department of the local council said it was unlikely that the toothed fish had lived in the lake.

Pennies from Nowhere

Location: Doncaster - Sayers Tyre and Exhaust Centre, Athron Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Early 2003
Further Comments: Stories of the building being haunted by a lonely man go back many years, though recently the manifestations have been stones and coinage that appear from nowhere and fly towards the owner of the garage.

Cynthia - the ghostly woman of the pub.

Cynthia

Location: Doncaster - Volunteer Inn, Frenchgate (since demolished)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: Cynthia was the nickname given to this ghost by the landlord and his wife. They described the phantom woman as appearing so dainty and gentle that they grew attached to the spirit.

Something Frightening

Location: Dore - Sparken Well (may now be lost)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A piece of folklore said that children avoided fetching water from this well as it was considered home to a spirit.

Edwardian Lady

Location: Elsecar - Steam Railway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This white woman has been seen near the railway, melting away if approached.

Walking Boots

Location: Goldthorpe - Colliery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1985
Further Comments: A worker fled this coalfield after he watched a pair of disembodied boots moving towards him deep underground.

RTA involving Old Woman

Location: Greasbrough - Road between town and Nether Haugh
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1985
Further Comments: This phantom old woman steps out in front of incoming cars, hitting the bonnet and convincing the driver that they have hit a living person, until the area is searched by police who find nothing.

Tommy Raw Head

Location: Hackenthorpe - Well in the area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A well in the area was said to contain this entity, a man made from iron with chains covering his body.

Grey Lady

Location: Handsworth - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen standing at the front of the church, the lady in grey quickly vanishes once seen.

Tall Figure in Black Shroud

Location: Harthill - Road between village and Kiveton Park
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1912
Further Comments: A ghostly tall figure in flowing black clothing that had taken to haunting this road was found to be a woman out for night-time walks. Police reported the woman to her parents.

Charlie

Location: Hemsworth - Alpha Public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Staff have spotted movement in their peripheral vision and heard a man coughing when the pub is empty. The ghost, nicknamed Charlie, is said to be non-threatening, although some staff refuse to venture into the cellar alone.

Headless Highwayman

Location: Hickleton - Area near the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly figure still rides his horse, still seeking his head that was taken from him as punishment for his crimes.

Walking Woman

Location: Hillsborough - Rivelin Valley Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A witness walked past and said 'good evening' to a young woman who was heading in the opposite direction. She was dressed in white, was barefoot and had long black hair. The witness turned around to look back at the woman, but she had vanished. Concerned that she had fallen over the wall running alongside the road, the witness looked around to see if she required help but was unable to find her.

Vanishing Hound

Location: Hillsborough - Taplin Road
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: A policeman reported an encounter with a black dog which suddenly vanished without trace along this road.

Monk

Location: Hunshelf - Surrounding fields and moors
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed by soldiers from an age ago, this phantom now drifts aimlessly around the moors.

Jasper

Location: Kiveton - The Whistler, Station Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Walking around in the cellar, Jasper the friendly ghostly monk can also be heard whistling, as if trying to attract attention.

Sounds of Action

Location: Lindholme - Former Second World War Air Force Base
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1962
Further Comments: A witness recalled how he and a friend were walking across the deserted airfield at night and seeing a strange light in the control tower. Both knowing that the building should have been empty, the illumination unnerved them slightly. As they passed by a hangar, they were suddenly surrounded by the sounds of activity - they could hear the hangar doors screeching open, the engines of aircraft starting up, and the patter of many pairs of feet running by them, though nothing could be seen.

Pete the Pole

Location: Lindholme - Former Second World War Air Force Base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Reputed mid-to-late-twentieth century, sightings in November 1957 and 1977
Further Comments: A Polish airman who died when he crash-landed, 'Pete the Pole', aka 'Lindholme Willie', turned up at the airbase several times in the years following his death. Even when the former airbase was replaced by a prison in later years, the pilot reportedly turned up in prisoner's cells. In 1957 a misty shape was seen walking along the runway before vanishing, while in 1977 a shuffling figure crossing the parade square was spotted by an Air Traffic Assistant. The figure disappeared into the shadows by a sealed door.

Victorian

Location: Longcroft - Brewery Arms public house, formerly the Masons Arms
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Former landlord of this pub, John Mitchell, reported seeing a phantom woman in Victorian clothing. She would often appear at midnight, so to avoid the ghost, he would lock up at quarter past twelve.