The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Sheffield Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Gabriel Hounds

Location: Sheffield - Area around parish church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These hounds are said to have the faces of men, and have been heard passing the church on dark, still nights.

Former Maid

Location: Sheffield - Ashdell Grove house, Westbourne Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This building is reportedly haunted by a maid who committed suicide after her secret lover, a local policeman, left her. Her pacing has been heard down a corridor, and she also moves items around in the building's offices. The figure of a middle aged man has also been seen.

Pregnant Girl

Location: Sheffield - Ball Inn, Darnall (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This thin, grey ghost is said to be a member of staff who committed suicide at the inn when she discovered she was with child. She walks the upstairs corridors, while in other parts of the building, strange noises are heard in the night and well secured shelves fall without warning.

Apprentice

Location: Sheffield - Barker's Pool
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1875
Further Comments: Around a thousand people assembled on the street to watch a glowing figure, named as the ghost of an apprentice, in the window of a building. A police officer pointed out that the 'entity' resembled a light being reflected in a window moving in the wind. Once the window had been secured, the ghost could no longer be seen.

White Lady

Location: Sheffield - Beauchief Abbey and Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This traditional white figure supposedly haunts the grounds of both the hall and the abbey. The latter location is also the home to a spectral monk.

Black Figure

Location: Sheffield - Birley Woods and Golf Course
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2011
Further Comments: A local lad's grandfather told him that a wispy black figure in a cloak and hood was trapped in the wood and had been for hundreds of years. After the grandfather died, one of the lad's friends confided that he had encountered the figure while out in the woods.

Boggards

Location: Sheffield - Boggard Lane, Oughtibridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lane is said to be named after the entities which live (or lived) down there. A private house along the lane is also said to be haunted by a phantom woodworker.

White Woman

Location: Sheffield - Bowshaw House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing a flowing dress, this pale spirit has occasionally been reported.

Broken Necked Lovers

Location: Sheffield - Bunting Nook
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pair of eloping lovers were thrown off their horse down this lane - the fall broke both their necks. They now haunt this area where no bird is said to sing.

Saucer Eyed Dog

Location: Sheffield - Bunting Nook, Graves Park
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 2012?
Further Comments: This creature, with its unusually large eyes, has been known to turn itself into mist if threatened. A ghost hunter in the area reported to have spoken to a couple who witnessed a large black dog appear out of nowhere as they travelled down the lane.

Colonel John Bright

Location: Sheffield - Carbrook Hall public house (as of late 2019, a coffee shop)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A close friend and ally of Cromwell, the well-built ghost of Colonel Bright has been observed standing at the top of the stairs. Other ghosts reported here include the sounds of children, an elderly woman from the 1920s, a phantom Roundhead, a monk, and another shadowy figure who throws items around the bar.

Riot

Location: Sheffield - Cholera Monument Grounds
Type: Other
Date / Time: May 1873
Further Comments: Around two thousand men and young boys gathered at this site after a rumour started a ghost had been seen (although the local press declared the entity was really a 'young fellow of weak intellect'). Neighbours complained, the police arrived, scuffles occurred, no ghost appeared, and people went home. Rumours of a ghostly figure in the area continued throughout the rest of the month.

Rings

Location: Sheffield - Dead Man's Lane (aka Dead Lane), Ecclesall (lane may have been renamed, but in Greystones area)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: An overgrown lane in the village (now a Sheffield suburb) was said to be home to fairies, with distinct fairy circles spotted in the grass. A headless woman also haunted the lane.

Pilot?

Location: Sheffield - Endcliffe Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1990s, around February
Further Comments: A man spotted a figure wearing a flying jacket and scarf walking across the foggy, open playing fields. While walking towards the witness, the figure suddenly vanished.

Large Cat

Location: Sheffield - Field near Wales Bar Petrol Station, now a golf course
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1987 or 1988
Further Comments: While crossing a field of sheep, a group of friends watched a large, cat-shaped creature amongst the sheep. The creature spotted the group and crouched, resulting in the friends fleeing the area.

Chip Shop

Location: Sheffield - Firth Park
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Walking home one evening, a mother and daughter spotted a chip shop which they had thought was new, as they had not seen it before. The shop was open, lights were on, and people were inside. A couple of nights later, they decided to visit the takeaway, but it was not there - a DIY shop stood on the spot, twice the size of the chip shop they had seen.

Norah the Maid

Location: Sheffield - Firth Park Brushes (former school), Barnsley Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The maid, who committed suicide on the site two hundred years ago, is still said to wander the area. When the high school stood on the area, cleaning staff reported lights that would turn themselves on, amongst other strange phenomena. A priest was called to exorcise the land in 2003; there have been no reported incidents since.

Life Saver

Location: Sheffield - Flat, School Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1981/82
Further Comments: The family that tolerated a poltergeist in their home for almost a year were eventually thankful for the entity - one night it banged so loudly the whole family awoke only to find their rooms full of smoke. They managed to escape as the fire engulfed their building.

Grey Woman

Location: Sheffield - Handsworth Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: While waiting at a bus stop, two people spotted a grey-coloured older woman walking past a tree. The woman had her hands placed under her chin, seemingly to secure a headscarf, and she wore wearing long clothing. The woman turned and looked at the people at the bus stop before vanishing in a flash.

White Lady

Location: Sheffield - Highcliffe Road, Ecclesall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about this phantom woman, other than an interesting point to note is that the road was once called Dead Man's Lane.

Not a Ghost

Location: Sheffield - Hill between Solly Street and Allen Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1820s
Further Comments: A Barghast was said by children to have taken up residence on this hill, which at the time was common land. It later emerged that the ghost was a hoax.

White Figure

Location: Sheffield - House along Campo Lane
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: March 1855
Further Comments: After a lodger spotted a ghostly white figure in the kitchen, this house was visited by a many people hoping to see the entity. One of these visitors, a Mrs Rollinson, collapsed after witnessing a white female form dash past her. After briefly regaining consciousness and sharing her encounter, Rollinson once again fell unconscious and died soon after. It is worth noting that other people were with Rollinson at the time of the encounter, but they did not see the reported ghost.

Peering Face

Location: Sheffield - Industry public house, Darnall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: When the Sheffield Paranormal Society carried out a vigil of this property, photographs were taken inside the back room. When they came back from being developed, a face could be seen peering through a window, even though nothing was seen at the time.

Highwayman

Location: Sheffield - Mail Coach public house, 149 West Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1984
Further Comments: Wearing the clothing of a robber, this figure was seen lurking in the shadows prior to mysteriously disappearing.

White Figure

Location: Sheffield - Manor Castle public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1983
Further Comments: The landlord of this public house moved out after only three weeks, claiming that his child and pets had been constantly upset by a white human form.

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