The Paranormal Database

George

Location: Derby - Seven Stars public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2020s?
Further Comments: George makes his presence known by switching off beer taps, banging, whispering in the attic, and forming perfect circles of condensation on windows.

Lady in Grey

Location: Derby - Seymour's Wine Bar
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Said to be a non-threatening presence, this elderly woman dressed in grey is accompanied by the smell of lavender. Mild poltergeist behaviour is also reported, with small items disappearing, only to reappear days or weeks later.

Tortured Woman

Location: Derby - Shire Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Interrogated by having heavy weights placed upon her chest, the 'questioning' proved too much for this woman who returned to haunt the holding cells.

Figure in Overalls

Location: Derby - Showroom, West Meadows Industrial Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1999, 02:00h
Further Comments: While working as a security guard, this witness and his dog observed a figure dressed in white overalls walk along the side of a building. The guard and dog followed the figure who disappeared around a corner. When the guard turned the corner, he was faced with a dead-end - a locked gate with barbed wire along the top. Two days later the guard spotted the same figure, once again at two in the morning. The guard chased the overall clad stranger, taking his eyes off the figure momentarily, only for him to vanish.

Crying Infant

Location: Derby - Silkmill, Bell Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Pushed to his death, this child can now be heard crying in pain.

A ghostly young woman, one of many Derby phantoms.

Young Woman

Location: Derby - Spondon area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young woman is said to walk the streets calling out for her brother who died during a war. The form is said to be faint and blurry.

Monk

Location: Derby - St Helen's House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen in the building, the monk is not the sole haunter - a ghostly girl has been seen running through the corridors. Workers in the building who have been there alone have reported hearing a mysterious voice whisper their names.

Lady in Blue

Location: Derby - The Haus, once known as the Jacobean House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Around 400 years old, the Jacobean House is home to a headless coachman who drives his carriage through a former archway of the building. Also seen is a lady in blue, who descends the main staircase, while another man (believed to have committed suicide) has also been spotted on the upper floors of the building.

Screaming

Location: Derby - Well Street - St Mary's Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The bridge was once used to display the bodies and limbs of executed criminals and priests - their cries are a reminder of the method of their deaths. Another ghost, that of a nun travelling in a royal carriage, passes over the bridge and vanishes shortly after reaching the other side.

I Live Here

Location: Derby - William & Glyn's Bank, Corn Market
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1973, 1982-1983
Further Comments: Three builders demolishing walls within the bank's basement knocked through to a hidden cavity where they spotted a young boy. One of the men asked the youngster what he was doing there. The boy replied, 'I live here', before vanishing before their eyes. Ten years later the building was a DHSS office - stories were told about the cellar being haunted by a maid, while another witness claimed to have entered an office which contained a sitting man; the witness was never able to find the office again. Finally, a member of staff reported seeing a hand on a rail of a staircase coming down towards them, but when they expected to see the owner of the hand, no one was present.

Bump

Location: Derby - Ye Olde Dolphin Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 February 2002
Further Comments: A family sitting at one table felt it move slightly, as if someone had bumped into it, although no one could be seen. At the same time a picture on the wall moved slightly. The inn is said to be haunted by a grey figure, seen in the restaurant.

An old postcard of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.

Monk with White Face

Location: Doe Lea - Hardwick Hall grounds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1978
Further Comments: Seen by several people, this phantom monk was almost hit by a car before it vanished into the grounds. A light has also been reported floating around the courtyard, containing a strange face, while inside the hall itself a phantom cat and a woman in blue have been reported.

Marriage Tree

Location: Doveridge - Churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Maid Marian and Robin Hood are said to have been married under the old yew tree which stands in the churchyard.

Violence

Location: Drakelow - Drakelow Hall / Dracan Hlawe (no longer standing)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twelfth Century
Further Comments: The Gresley family were reputed to have fled the site after something 'knocked things apart' in their home.

Coffin Carrying Returners

Location: Drakelow - General area
Type: Vampire
Date / Time: Circa 1090
Further Comments: Several servants fell ill and died after taking seed corn from the Abbey barns. The servants soon returned, their coffins carried on their backs while running across fields and knocking on doors. More villagers fell sick, and the pestilence only ceased when the dead were dug up and burned. The survivors fled the village and left it to fall into ruin.

Buried Wyrm

Location: Drakelow - Winlatter Rock
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Circa 772?
Further Comments: A dragon is mentioned in a document dating to 772 as being buried in a prehistoric tumulus.

Those to Die

Location: Dronfield - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 24 April, year not unknown
Further Comments: On St Mark's Eve, the spirits of those doomed to die over the forthcoming twelve months enter the church at midnight.

Headless Woman

Location: Dronfield - Place 'where three roads meet' between village and Coal Ashon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Not much more is known about the phantom headless woman who haunts the junction.

Skeleton

Location: Dronfield - Unidentified house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1906
Further Comments: Knocking and footsteps were heard in the house, worrying the married couple who had moved in to such an extent that they refused to sleep without a light in the bedroom. One night the wife awoke to find the lamp had extinguished. Striking a match, she briefly spotted a skeletal figure that moved towards the bedroom door. The couple left the property.

Thyme

Location: Drunfield - Footpath between Stubley and Drunfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A woman murdered by her partner along the path was carrying a bunch of thyme. The smell of the herb was said to denote her presence.

Relocation

Location: Duffield - St Alkmund's Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Church still standing
Further Comments: Wayne Anthony, in Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District, writes that St Alkmund's was going to be constructed next to Duffield castle, but every night for a week the building materials were moved by the Devil to the current site where it was eventually erected.

Suicidal Satan

Location: Earl Sterndale - Parkhouse Hill
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil attempted to hang himself from the highest rock of the hill but failed. He now returns every night to haunt the area.

Chatty Landlady

Location: Earl Sterndale - Quiet Woman public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former landlord, tired of the 24/7 chattering of his wife, ended up decapitating her. Even though death has kept her silent, her ghostly form remains.

White Rider

Location: Eckington - Moss valley, between town and Ridgeway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 August 2002 (rider), 16 May 2022 (grey lady)
Further Comments: Two women out walking their dogs watched a white female figure on horseback in the woods. The entity vanished as it rounded a non-existent corner. A local piece of folklore says the area is haunted by a white horse, although traditionally riderless. In 2022, witnesses spotted a hooded grey lady carrying a basket who disappeared into bushes.

Infrequent

Location: Eckington - Seldom Seen Engine House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2022
Further Comments: It is not particularly clear how this former colliery engine house gained its name, but one theory says that it comes from the site being haunted by a seldom seen entity. One visitor to the site had the feeling of being crushed.