Sleeper
Location: Harrogate (North Yorkshire) - Commercial site along Cold Bath Road (was a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: Although the site has not been a hotel for many years, on one occasion an employee spotted someone in a bed. Another witness has been shoved twice, in a room which is now used for storage, while others have seen a coffee cup move across a desk and an office chair shoot across the floor unaided.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2020-02-24
Last updated: 2020-02-24
ID: #13588
Blue Figure Falling
Location: Harrogate (North Yorkshire) - Spofforth Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Only the top half of this figure is seen at the peak of a ruined tower, before plummeting to the ground below.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-02
Last updated: 2002-06-02
ID: #1035
Large Black Cat
Location: Harton (North Yorkshire) - A64 opposite Harton turning, between York and Malton
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Around 2am, Summer 2011
Further Comments: Observed twice by a worker in a petrol station over a four week period, this large black cat moved across a field illuminated by the garage lights.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2014-03-01
Last updated: 2014-03-01
ID: #11512
Wartime Jeep
Location: Harton (North Yorkshire) - Petrol station along the A64
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2011
Further Comments: While on the night shift, an employee observed what appeared to be a Second World War-era jeep silently arrive, with men in old army uniform sitting on the back. The employee glanced down at his desk for a few seconds and looking back up realised the jeep had vanished without making a sound.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2025-09-21
Last updated: 2025-09-21
ID: #16093
Black Monk
Location: Hazlewood (North Yorkshire) - Hazlewood Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2003
Further Comments: A monk dressed in black is said to haunt the Tansy bedroom and St Margaret's courtyard area. The figure is said to vanish into the yew tree in the courtyard. In 2003 one guest complained she was kept awake at night by a crying baby, even though there were no infants near her room.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2007-11-27
Last updated: 2007-11-27
ID: #8070
The Devil's Bridge
Location: Hebdon (North Yorkshire) - Dibble's Bridge, Yorkshire Dales National Park
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Bridge still present
Further Comments: In a rare moment of generosity, the Devil built the bridge for a local shoemaker who had shared a drink with him. Another version says the Devil lost a wrestling match with the shoemaker.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2004-07-02
Last updated: 2026-01-11
ID: #5225
Green Lady
Location: Helmsley (North Yorkshire) - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: With her green dress gently rustling, this phantom woman has been spotted in the area.
Source:
Needs Review
First added: 2008-04-01
Last updated: 2008-04-01
ID: #8379
Banging
Location: Helmsley (North Yorkshire) - Duncombe Park
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This noisy spirit has fallen quiet as of late after a priest blessed the attic where it lurked. The entity created sounds that could have been mistaken for large wooden boxes being dropped.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2008-04-20
Last updated: 2008-04-20
ID: #8419
Ringing Bells
Location: Helmsley (North Yorkshire) - Rievaulx Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late at night
Further Comments: Now little more than ruins, people still say they can hear the ringing of the bells, once pealed by monks. Before the Dissolution, the destruction of the abbey was prophesied in a manuscript, although the paper was destroyed in the mistaken belief that the prediction would be stopped.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-05
Last updated: 2003-01-05
ID: #3498
Relocated
Location: Hinderwell (North Yorkshire) - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church was due to be built in a nearby field, but all the building materials would be moved overnight to the location where it now stands.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2019-06-18
Last updated: 2019-06-18
ID: #13263
Missing Town
Location: Hood Grange (North Yorkshire) - Gormire Lake
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Lake still present
Further Comments: Legend has it that a town once stood here, but an earthquake swallowed it up as punishment for the inhabitants' ungodliness. The old church bell still rings, and sometimes the blacksmith can be heard at work. Or so they say.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2011-04-25
Last updated: 2011-04-25
ID: #10280
Rebecca
Location: Horton (North Yorkshire) - Bracken Hall, village green, and surrounding moor land
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: Murdered the day before her wedding by her fiancee, Rebecca now appears in her white dress in protest over her rough treatment.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-05
Last updated: 2003-01-05
ID: #3490
Subduing Hound
Location: Horton (North Yorkshire) - Horton Hall
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century
Further Comments: This black dog attacked one man walking by the hall, pushing him to the ground but not causing any harm. Coincidentally, at the same time, the Hall's owner died.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-04
Last updated: 2003-01-04
ID: #3474
Young Girl Hold a Teddy
Location: Hunmanby (North Yorkshire) - Swan Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013
Further Comments: After the inn became under threat of closure, the local press reported that the site had two phantoms. One was a young girl with scraggly hair who held a teddy bear, while another was named as a woman called Margret.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2013-06-02
Last updated: 2013-06-02
ID: #11347
Candle Avenger
Location: Hurst (North Yorkshire) - Unnamed house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man who conned a widow out of several candles was visited by a phantom who manifested in his garden. On the first night the man fired his shotgun at the entity, which vanished but reappeared the following night, announcing 'thou canst not harm thee' and suggesting the man return the candles. He did.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2016-03-13
Last updated: 2016-03-13
ID: #12055
Jeanie
Location: Hutton Mulgrave (North Yorkshire) - Mulgrave Woods
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer was dared to approach the home of the fairy known as Jeanie. Sitting upon his horse, the farmer called out to her. Somewhat displeased at the interruption, she called back and chased him away. As the farmer crossed a stream to safety, she cut his horse in two.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2020-01-09
Last updated: 2020-01-09
ID: #13528
Meg Collet
Location: Iburndale (North Yorkshire) - Beck
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1719
Further Comments: Meg Collet (or Collett, or Richardson) was accused of witchcraft and repeatedly ducked in the river by locals until she eventually drowned.
Source:
Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2017-05-21
Last updated: 2017-05-21
ID: #12482
Monk
Location: Ingleborough (North Yorkshire) - Gaping Gill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A potholer exploring the cave system saw a glowing light behind him - as he went to investigate, the light faded away, although using his own lamp was able to see the ghostly form of a monk that disappeared in front of him. The mountain had a reputation for containing 'voices', likely the wind whipping around the cave systems.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-01-13
Last updated: 2026-01-11
ID: #3555
Man in Blue
Location: Ingleton (North Yorkshire) - Ingleton to Lancaster Road
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1937
Further Comments: A man in a blue suit was knocked over and killed along this stretch of road. For several weeks after the event, motorists reported hitting the man, who would vanish upon contact.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2007-04-11
Last updated: 2007-04-11
ID: #7281
Lile Hob of Blea Moor
Location: Ingleton (North Yorkshire) - Road between Ingleton and Hawes
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pixie-like creature would loiter on the roadside and leap upon passing carts to blag a free ride. The Hob vanished when a shepherd stumbled upon three little silver armbands left in a field, one of which he lost and the others he sold.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-04
Last updated: 2003-01-04
ID: #3465
Hazy Figure
Location: Kellingley (North Yorkshire) - Siding near Sudforth Lane
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 05:20h, Early April, 2009
Further Comments: While checking an empty freight train, the driver spotted a six foot tall human shaped figure, about 25 yards away in a field. The figure was whitish, hazy and blurred. The driver tried to approach, but vegetation and fencing prevented him from doing so.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2009-04-12
Last updated: 2009-04-12
ID: #9170
Ormroyd
Location: Kellington (North Yorkshire) - Marshy forest
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A shepherd called Ormroyd and his faithful dog fought a dragon which lived here; the pair managed to slay the creature, though they died soon after.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2005-09-27
Last updated: 2005-09-27
ID: #6598
Clothes Washing
Location: Kettleness (North Yorkshire) - Claymore Well
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Circa 1650
Further Comments: Reports of fairies frequenting this area date from the seventeenth century, with three men and one woman claiming to have stumbled upon the fairies making merry at midnight. One twentieth century author wrote that the little folk washed their clothes at the site, their wooden rollers making so much noise that they could be heard a mile away.
Source:
Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2012-08-26
Last updated: 2012-08-26
ID: #11085
Drunk Dry
Location: Kildale (North Yorkshire) - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having picked up a local witch in his black coach, the Devil paused outside the church and drank the well dry. The witch was said to continue to haunt the area, occasionally being spotted flying over the nearby moors.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2020-01-09
Last updated: 2020-01-09
ID: #13530
Mushroom Givers
Location: Kilnsey (North Yorkshire) - Surrounding fields
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A witness who watched a troupe of fairies dancing a circle returned the following morning to find a ring of mushrooms in the same place, given to him for not disturbing their dance.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-01-04
Last updated: 2003-01-04
ID: #3463
Return to North East and Yorkshire