The Paranormal Database

Man in Jeans

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Copperfields College School
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997 onwards
Further Comments: Students and a dinner lady watched a man in a checked shirt and jeans sitting in the main hall wave and vanish without warning. Minor poltergeist-like activity has also been reported.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-05-10   Last updated: 2005-05-10   ID: #6232

Reputation

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Devil's Bridge (aka Bogeyman's Bridge), Richmond Hill area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: It is unclear whether this bridge took the varying forms of its name from any real legends or if it just had a bad reputation.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2026-01-11   Last updated: 2026-01-11   ID: #16283

Dark Figure

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Devonshire Hall, University of Leeds
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 09 March 2025, around 04:30h
Further Comments: This witness awoke to see a shadowy man standing by the doorway who then started to approach. As the figure reached the foot of the bed, the witness kicked out, the figure vanishing just before the kick made contact. The witness later asked around the hall to see if anyone else had seen a ghost, but no one had.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2026-01-24   Last updated: 2026-01-24   ID: #16298

CCTV Figure

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - East Ardsley Conservative Club
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: September 1993
Further Comments: This apparition materialised by the doorway of the club - it could be seen quite clearly on the CCTV network, but not directly by human eyes. The entity vanished after several minutes, though made a very brief reappearance a month later.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-02-06   Last updated: 2003-02-06   ID: #3756

Gabble Retchets

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These local devil dogs were believed to be the souls of those who were not baptised as children and have returned to haunt their parents.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-10-27   Last updated: 2002-10-27   ID: #2834

Man in the Cellar

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Golden Lion public house, North Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: Dressed in Victorian attire, this gentleman was often seen walking around under the pub. The upper part was said to be haunted by an old woman who appeared in the children's bedroom at night.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-10-17   Last updated: 2002-10-17   ID: #2704

An old photograph of Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds.

Abbot

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Kirkstall Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1935, 1970s
Further Comments: The former Abbot of the abbey walks the area that has been converted into a museum. It is more usual to hear the spirit moving around than see him. Traditionally the entity is said to wear white robes, although the sighting in the 1970s reported the ghost's robes as being brown/red. The abbey grounds are also home to a white female entity named Mary who witnessed her lover committing murder and turned him in.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-10-17   Last updated: 2002-10-17   ID: #2677

Grey Figure

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Kirkstall Forge railway station (since relocated)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1904
Further Comments: The station porter and a passenger both spotted a figure in a long grey sheet with a long streak of red running through the cloth, standing on a shed roof. A booking clerk also witnessed the entity, which soon disappeared. Prior to this, lights had been seen flickering around the station.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2016-03-28   Last updated: 2016-03-28   ID: #12089

Architectural design for Leeds Infirmary.

Running

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Leeds General Infirmary
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 2005
Further Comments: An employee at this hospital heard five voices and footsteps rushing down a corridor but could see nothing - there was a gust of wind as the invisible people passed.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2011-07-03   Last updated: 2011-07-03   ID: #10497

Long Arms

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Unidentified property in Church Street area, Hunslet
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Circa January 1920
Further Comments: A woman warming herself by a kitchen fireplace watched as a pair of long white arms emerged from the flames. Unable to move, the woman fainted as the phantom's hands grabbed her above the elbows. When the woman gained consciousness, she realised the fire had not been lit, although she did have burn marks on her arms.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2026-08-31   Last updated: 2026-08-31   ID: #16778

Tall Figure

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - Unknown property, Fieldhead Terrace
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1932
Further Comments: The knocking sounds from the attic occurred for several nights before a phantom six foot tall man in a long coat started to appear. The owner and all her tenants moved out in November 1932.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2007-04-11   Last updated: 2007-04-11   ID: #7287

Armoured Man

Location: Leeds (West Yorkshire) - York Road near Killingbeck
Type: Other
Date / Time: Summer, mid 1990s, around 04:30h
Further Comments: Two occupants of a car spotted an armoured figure riding a horse towards Killingbeck. The witnesses were unclear whether it was a 'real' person heading towards the Royal Armouries Museum.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2017-02-25   Last updated: 2017-02-25   ID: #12338

Knelling Woman

Location: Lydgate (West Yorkshire) - St Ann's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2009
Further Comments: A freelance photographer caught an image of a misty woman kneeling by a gravestone at this churchyard. He later returned to the location and found that the grave at which the woman was photographed belonged to a child who died in the 1800s.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2014-01-04   Last updated: 2014-01-04   ID: #11465

Annie

Location: Meltham (West Yorkshire) - 9 Colders Green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 March 1961(encounters ended by end of year)
Further Comments: A family here were left terrified by a tall misty woman entity until they discovered it would sit by their young son as he lay in bed, stroking his legs which were affected by meningitis. A medium told them that the phantom was a family member named Annie, who had died a few years previous. After a couple of years, the son regained the use of his legs.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2013-01-06   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #11263

Banging

Location: Meltham (West Yorkshire) - Colne and Holme Isolation Hospital (closed 1960s and demolished)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: January - April 1909
Further Comments: The hospital became plagued by tapping on windows and banging doors over a four-month period. It was suspected a human agency was involved, although guards, police (who spent sixteen nights watching the area) and a private detective were unable to capture anyone.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2026-07-15   Last updated: 2026-07-15   ID: #16710

Faceless Man

Location: Meltham (West Yorkshire) - Coulters Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1959
Further Comments: A local man, Peter Compton, ran after encountering a faceless male figure around 190 centimetres tall, which gave chase.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2026-07-13   Last updated: 2026-07-13   ID: #16682

Black and Stocky Cat

Location: Meltham (West Yorkshire) - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Spring 2005
Further Comments: The local newspaper offered five hundred pounds to the first person to photograph the large black cat which had been spotted locally dozens of times over a ten year period.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2005-05-22   Last updated: 2026-07-13   ID: #6277

Cloaked Figure

Location: Meltham (West Yorkshire) - Golf Course
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999, (possibly summer) evening
Further Comments: Observed from a shed on the golf course, this cloaked figure had no visible feet and made no sound while passing through the grass.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2024-11-23   Last updated: 2026-07-13   ID: #15705

Wave

Location: Menston (West Yorkshire) - Staff canteen at High Royds Hospital
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Early evening, early 1990s
Further Comments: A witness said hello to a long-term patient who, known for hardly ever speaking, waved back. The witness later found out the patient had died a week prior to the encounter. The patient had looked completely 'normal'.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2015-06-16   Last updated: 2015-06-16   ID: #11821

Joan

Location: Midgley (West Yorkshire) - Milk Churn Joan (standing stone)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A few folkloric stories exist concerning the stone, based around Joan going to fetch milk for her family (or fellow villagers) during winter before freezing to death. Another says Joan was turned to stone by the devil, while a third states the name is a corruption of Churnmilk Peg, a fairy-like entity who protected the area. One custom says leaving a coin on top of the stone is lucky. Finally, the stone turns itself over three times at the end of the year.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2026-06-20   Last updated: 2026-06-20   ID: #16665

Force

Location: Midgley (West Yorkshire) - Two adjoining cottages, Town Gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February 1955
Further Comments: Mr Quain, a water diviner, claimed to have been pushed against a wall and his rods broken by a powerful force while investigating this haunting. Quain returned with a doctor and another man a week later but could not detect anything untoward. The doctor blamed the haunting on loose floorboards.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2024-01-14   Last updated: 2024-01-14   ID: #15232

Servant?

Location: Mirfield (West Yorkshire) - Hollybank (was Roe Head School)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom is said to be at home behind an attic door, close to the spot where a servant may have fallen to their death.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2013-04-07   Last updated: 2013-04-07   ID: #11335

Glowing Light

Location: Mirfield (West Yorkshire) - Northorpe Home for Boys
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: September 1965
Further Comments: Footsteps could be heard walking around in the early hours of the morning, while the director of the hall witnessed a strange light, the source of which could not be found, illuminating a chair. The press reported the hall was considered haunted by locals, although the housekeeper was quoted as saying the phantom 'added character'.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2024-09-15   Last updated: 2024-09-15   ID: #15631

Prioress of Kirklees

Location: Mirfield (West Yorkshire) - Three Nuns public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1985 onwards, investigated by GCUK in 2013
Further Comments: Doors have opened unaided and shadowy figures spotted in this building. Ghost Chasers UK reported that the building was haunted by two spirits; a nun named Katherine Grice who killed herself on site, and the Prioress of Kirklees, who bled Robin Hood to death.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2013-12-08   Last updated: 2013-12-08   ID: #11448

Lady Julia Barwick

Location: Nether Yeadon (West Yorkshire) - Low Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was said that a large slab of slate was used to cover up a window to prevent the phantom Julia from entering and exiting. After that she took to using the priest hole.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2007-08-28   Last updated: 2007-08-28   ID: #7909