The Paranormal Database

Arthur and Knights

Location: Allensford - River Derwent, between village and Muggleswick
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: In a deep cavern, under the river where it forms the shape of a horseshoe, close to a wooded glad, King Arthur and his knights lay sleeping.

White Lady

Location: Aycliffe - A167 north of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century, though sightings may go back to eighteenth century
Further Comments: While the clothing of the woman varies (from wearing a raincoat to a wedding dress), the figure is always white. In true 'phantom hitchhiker' style, the woman had been picked up by passing drivers, only to vanish a few miles down the road.

Victorian Woman

Location: Aycliffe - Near the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A father walking with his brother and son spotted a female entity wearing Victorian dress. The figure did not have any feet and was not in contact with the ground. The entity looked at the three people before moving off 'faster than a greyhound'.

An old postcard of Barnard Castle in County Durham.

Lady Ann Day

Location: Barnard Castle - Castle and River Tees
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A couple of versions of this ghost story exist. One has Lady Ann Day being tossed into the River Tees by her murderer, with her ghost of Day reliving her deathly plummet. The second version says Day died of natural causes, and her ghost would be seen at night wearing a red cloak as she crossed the river, possibly sitting on the shoulders of her husband.

Roger

Location: Barnard Castle - Friar House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Likely pre nineteenth century
Further Comments: Roger, the husband of Ann who haunts the castle, also returned as a ghost and took up residence at Friar House. The occupants did not appreciate their phantom lodger, so Roger was banished by priests.

Flying Lids

Location: Barnard Castle - HMYOI Deerbolt (youth offending prison)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: During a month in 2014 it was reported that lighting was switched off and on again and on one night, two bin lids were found spinning on the floor. The area was locked down as member of staff who spotted the lids feared an offender was loose, but CCTV footage showed the lids flying off the bins unaided.

Child

Location: Barnard Castle - Old Well Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly child is reputed to haunt one of the rooms, its presence upsetting one guest.

Death's Scythe

Location: Barnard Castle - St Mary the Virgin's church
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to the death in the family
Further Comments: The stone statue of Death stands above the grave of George, son of Humphrey Hopper. To see Death's scythe wave is an indication that the witness or a close family member will soon die.

Grey Lady

Location: Beamish - Beamish Hall, and Starling Bridge crossing Beamish Burn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: This woman suffocated after hiding in a trunk to avoid a prearranged marriage. Her mournful shade has been seen in both the aforementioned places, most recently by a vet who spent a night in the haunted house to raise money for charity.

Moving Basket

Location: Beamish - Home Farm
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: An old basket found between joists in the kitchen was removed, but within 24 hours it returned itself to its original position. The removal/return activity carried on for a few weeks before the basket gave up.

Presence

Location: Beamish - Sun Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This inn was moved brick by brick from Bishop Auckland in the 1970s, and with it came a presence felt in the back room.

Beer Barrel Mover

Location: Billingham - Black Horse public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: This spirit is heard moving things around in the cellar. It is thought to be a murder victim from the early 1990s, who has become lost trying to find 'the other side'.

Persian Cat

Location: Birtley - Private house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012, daytime
Further Comments: While making coffee the occupant watched a grey Persian cat walk across the floor and disappear into the living room. No doors or windows were open, and the cat could not be found. The witness later found out that a cat matching the description had once lived there but had died a few years previous.

Wailing

Location: Birtley - Private residence belonging to a miner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1892
Further Comments: It was said that other villagers would visit a house belonging to a miner named Wild at night to listen to the strange wailing which would emerge from within.

Luck of Muncaster

Location: Bishop Auckland - Binchester Hall (original building no longer standing)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1833
Further Comments: A cup known as the Luck of Muncaster was stored at the hall, which was said to bestow blessing on the family. It did not stop the demolition of the hall, however, and the current whereabout of the cup is unknown.

Hazy Figure

Location: Bishop Auckland - Four Clock's Centre (former church), Newgate Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: First half of 2009
Further Comments: CCTV caught a hazy figure on camera, while another witness spotted a woman in a hat. Footsteps have also been heard in an empty room and doors have locked themselves from the inside.

Smashing Glass

Location: Bishop Auckland - Pollards Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 August 2017
Further Comments: A man whose family once ran the pub was visiting the site. As he told the story of how glasses would move unaided, his own glass lifted off the table and smashed against a wall.

A dragon carved in wood.

Limbless Worm

Location: Bishop Auckland - Wooded area
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A creature, said by legend to be a long, hostile worm, but likely to have been a boar, inhabited an oak wood and would attack man and beast. It was slain by a member of the Pollard family.

Fairy Guardians

Location: Bishopton - Castle Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Though the castle is long gone, the area is still a place where fairies hide - anyone trying to steal earth or soil from the land is warned off by whispering voices.

Old Charlie

Location: Bournmoor - Dun Cow public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a former miner, Old Charlie has his own stool to keep him quiet. Another phantom, with the less affectionate nickname Crazy Lady of Bournmoor, was the wife of a Napoleonic era officer who never returned from combat.

Emma and Edward

Location: Bowes - Ancient Unicorn Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Emma and Edward were the children of different innkeepers who fell in love - Edward died of fever and Emma pined away soon after. Their ghosts are reputed to be regulars at the Inn, as is another young boy who haunts the cellar and a man in a bowler hat.

Romans hiding Treasure

Location: Bowes - Castle ruins
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered by an angry mob, these Romans all died before any could reveal where they stashed their gold. While their ghosts are now said to show the location of the treasure, those who see them die before they can share the secret.

An old woodcut image of a hand of glory.

Hand of Glory

Location: Bowes Moor - Old Spital Inn (currently a farmhouse?)
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1790s
Further Comments: One of the few places the Hand of Glory has been used. This item is made from the hand of a murderer, with candles placed between each finger. Once these are lit, every person asleep in an area remains unconscious until the flames are extinguished by milk. A band of robbers tried to use the hand while burgling this inn, though a maid was still awake when the candles were lit; she doused them with milk, enabling the landlord to wake and scare the robbers off with his shotgun.

White Haired Head

Location: Burnopfield - Railway track running through the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1932
Further Comments: A floating face was reported by several men along the line. The entity had a twisted face and white hair, and its prior to its materialisation, metallic clanging would be heard. The ghost was eventually named as a platelayer who had died after being hit by a coal wagon in 1879.

Tall Man

Location: Byers Green - (Former) Marquis of Granby public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century?
Further Comments: This former pub is said to be haunted by a tall man. A plumber is also said to have fled the site after watching a stool move across the room unaided.