South Yorkshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Emily
Location: Sheffield - Private residence, Moor Oaks Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2006 or 2007
Further Comments: A resident here heard the voice of an older woman close by asking, 'Are you there, Emily?'. The resident thought it may have been their landlady, but no one else was around.
First added: 2012-04-08 | Last updated: 2012-04-08 | ID #10836
To Be Seen Alive
Location: Sheffield - Rawson's Arms, Tenter Street (no longer operating), and River Dun
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: June 1835
Further Comments: This pub featured in local news as it offered a sea serpent 'to be seen alive'. The creature, pulled from the River Dun, weighed around twenty-two kilograms, a head resembling a mastiff, and fine mouse-like hair. Music would calm or anger the creature, depending on the number of instruments played.
First added: 2023-05-23 | Last updated: 2023-05-23 | ID #14930
Flying Lizard
Location: Sheffield - Rivelin Valley
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: It was said that there were three types of lizard in this area, the Running Asker, the Water Asker, and the Flying Asker, the latter being the smallest of the three.
First added: 2020-01-05 | Last updated: 2020-01-05 | ID #13524
Scratching Hound
Location: Sheffield - Road outside the Botanical Gardens
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: October 1998
Further Comments: A phantom dog attacked one witness walking along this road - it bit his calf and clawed his back, leaving red weals. The man developed a high fever but later recovered after a spirit exorcism was performed.
First added: 2005-08-31 | Last updated: 2005-08-31 | ID #6505
Old School Boy
Location: Sheffield - Rowlinson Comprehensive School
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is claimed that a boy dressed in old fashioned clothing has been observed by students and teachers, standing on the playing fields.
First added: 2005-09-18 | Last updated: 2005-09-18 | ID #6587
Floating Feet
Location: Sheffield - Schofield's department store (now Argos Extra), Angel Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The boiler room here was haunted by a pair of feet which hovered a half a metre or so from the floor.
First added: 2006-04-15 | Last updated: 2006-04-15 | ID #6830
Smugglers
Location: Sheffield - Ship Inn, Shalesmoor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cellar of the inn is reputedly haunted by two smugglers who drowned during the
Great Sheffield Flood of 1864.
First added: 2025-01-18 | Last updated: 2025-01-18 | ID #15783
Red Cloud
Location: Sheffield - Skies about Woodthorpe area
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Circa February 2017
Further Comments: A red cloud which covered the roof of a house was seen by three people. Different coloured beams of light, mainly green, pink and blue, emerged from the cloud for around fifteen minutes before vanishing.
First added: 2017-12-11 | Last updated: 2017-12-11 | ID #12684
Dark Red Cloud
Location: Sheffield - Skies over town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 9 December 1731, 17.00h
Further Comments: This 'cloud' which shot beams of light, heating up the cold winter night, hovered over the town before heading off towards Ireland.
First added: 2002-07-18 | Last updated: 2002-07-18 | ID #1829
Hell Hole
Location: Sheffield - Somewhere between Neepsend Bicarage and Rutland Road
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Pre-1880s
Further Comments: An entrance to the lower world was said to be located somewhere in Sheffield.
First added: 2020-01-05 | Last updated: 2020-01-05 | ID #13521
Waving Figure
Location: Sheffield - St James Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1936
Further Comments: The local newspaper reported that an illusion caused by lighting had created the story of a thin, misty, waving figure in the vault.
First added: 2025-07-19 | Last updated: 2025-07-19 | ID #16005
Gabriel's Hounds
Location: Sheffield - Stannington
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When these wild phantom hounds were heard above the neighbourhood, a death was sure to follow.
First added: 2020-01-05 | Last updated: 2020-01-05 | ID #13525
Walk along the Boardwalk
Location: Sheffield - The Boardwalk (now Meltdown Bar), and the Point
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Phantom footsteps were heard moving along the corridor between the stage and the backstage dressing room of the music venue, and mild poltergeist activity reported.
First added: 2006-02-26 | Last updated: 2022-04-14 | ID #6750
Horse and Cart
Location: Sheffield - The Crofts public house, Mosborough
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s?
Further Comments: This phantom horse and cart would be seen in the car park and were frequently mistaken as being 'real'. When a pond on the grounds was filled in, the apparition never returned.
First added: 2006-04-15 | Last updated: 2006-04-15 | ID #6825
Sobbing Woman
Location: Sheffield - Three Tuns public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard but never seen, this crying woman may also haunt the cellar - it is said that no animal has the courage to have gone down. Patrons have reported being prodded by an unseen finger.
First added: 2006-04-15 | Last updated: 2006-04-15 | ID #6823
Mary with her Jailor
Location: Sheffield - Turret House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Mary Queen of Scots was held here for many years, and on occasion her ghost is seen looking out from a window. Her male jailor is sometimes seen standing guard on the stairwell.
First added: 2002-10-17 | Last updated: 2002-10-17 | ID #2667
Boy
Location: Sheffield - Wardsend Cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the site is haunted by a boy whose body was snatched in 1862. However, the bodysnatching accusations made at the time were later proven false - it is unclear whether the ghost story is a modern creation.
First added: 2015-06-16 | Last updated: 2015-06-16 | ID #11824
Attacker
Location: Sheffield - Woodseats Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that this hotel is home to a violent entity which has been known to attack members of staff. Phantom children's voices have also been heard.
First added: 2006-04-15 | Last updated: 2006-04-15 | ID #6831
Hooded Figure
Location: Sheffield - Woolley Woods Bottom
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 February 2013
Further Comments: Three people in the woods spotted a hooded figure run past. One of the party also spotted a brown tunic with a big gold buckle, moving down a slope, (although there were no limbs or head visible) while the other two witnesses spotted white lights floating around their car.
First added: 2013-03-30 | Last updated: 2013-03-30 | ID #11302
Dark Figure
Location: Sheffield - Ye Olde Harrow public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1994 - February 2001, and late 1970s
Further Comments: A former tenant reported several strange experiences during their time in this pub, including encountering a dark figure, doors which closed themselves and items which disappeared and reappeared up to a month later. A former occupier of the site remembered the shadow and closing doors from the 1970s.
First added: 2012-02-12 | Last updated: 2012-02-12 | ID #10702
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.
First added: 2011-09-17 | Last updated: 2011-09-17 | ID #10573
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 in 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.
First added: 2003-03-19 | Last updated: 2021-03-18 | ID #4036
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.
First added: 2003-01-16 | Last updated: 2003-01-16 | ID #3595
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 long clothing. The woman turned and looked at the people at the bus stop before vanishing in a flash.
First added: 2022-09-11 | Last updated: 2022-09-11 | ID #14596
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.
First added: 2006-04-15 | Last updated: 2006-04-15 | ID #6826
Records 101 - 125 of 160
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