Lincolnshire’s long and lengthy history is something we celebrate often in our publication, often featuring tales of battles, poets and scientists from years gone by. However, the stories of ghosts and ghouls seem to go hand in hand with these historical topics.

It’s a bit of a grey area. The ghost stories of Lincolnshire have been told through generations, and there isn’t a shred of evidence to support them other than eye witnesses. But whether you do or don’t believe in the paranormal, there’s no denying it’s intriguing.

There are hundreds of haunted locations in Lincolnshire, but there are only a handful that are referred to often as places for poltergeists, with much more regular sightings.

Read on at your own risk…

1. Brown’s Pie Shop, Lincoln

Ok, so we wouldn’t count this as ‘regular’ sightings, but it’s certainly an interesting story, and has been a location on the British TV series ‘Most Haunted.’ The ghost that is reported to be present at the popular restaurant is named Humphrey, a young boy. The first sighting of him was by a customer. She complained about staff letting children run around the restaurant while she was dining in there alone…but there were no children present.

The second sighting of Humphrey is by a chef who would be alone in the restaurant for the first hour of every shift. He would hear running around in the restaurant, but upon further inspection, no one would be there. He would always return to his pots and pans moved around from where he had previously left them.

2. Greestone Stairs

There are said to be many ghosts that haunt these ancient stairs. About a quarter of your way up the steps, there’s an archway, and many people have reported strange orbs of light and noises coming from underneath, electrical devices turning themselves off.

The main three ghosts seen on the steps includes: a nun from the convent of St Josephs who appears to be carrying a baby, and lays it down to rest in a flower bed; cleric wearing a long hat and cloak who stands under a lamp post he reportedly hung himself on; and the most famous, St Hughe’s Head. On Saint Hughes death, he was announced as a saint, and his body was cut up and sent to cathedrals around the world. His head stayed in a chest in Lincoln Cathedral, on a bed of gold and gems, and people see it along the stairs.

3. Gainsborough Old Hall

There is an entire corridor named ‘The Ghost Corridor’ in Gainsborough Old Hall for the amount of sightings here. It is said that the figure of a grey lady walks along the corridor and disappears through the wall. However the most famous story from the Old Hall, is that of Sir Thomas Burgh’s daughter.

The Hall was built for him in 1460. Her daughter threatened to elope with a lower class man, so Sir Thomas locked her in her bedroom. She died, reportedly of a broke heart, and is seen to wander around the rooms.

4. Bradley Woods, Grimsby

Bradley Woods near Grimsby is not for the faint hearted. People who visit the woods often report of a ghost called the Black Lady. Eyewitnesses have described her as very pretty, dressed in a black flowing cloak that is hooded. Some people have reportedly seen her tear-stained face. Many believe she is a nun that escaped from a nearby monastery, and the other story is that she was a single woman living alone in the woods.

5. Thorpe Hall, Louth

Thorpe Hall was built in 1584 for Sir John Bolle. However, it is not he who haunts the Hall. It is believed that he was rescued from a Spanish prison from a beautiful Spanish lady called Donna Leonora Oviedo.

They fell in love and she asked for him to take her to England, but he revealed that was already married and couldn’t do so. She was heartbroken, and it is believed that she followed him to England anyway and after seeing his happy marriage, killed herself in the grounds of the Hall. She gave him a portrait of herself wearing a green dress, but this has been lost, and people claim to see a Spanish spirit walking the gardens in her beautiful green dress.

6. Lincoln Castle

Of course there are many reports of ghosts at the prison. Many visitors report getting a cold chill and others say they feel something brushing against them as they walk through, or they hear footsteps and doors banging shut. The main ghost that is seen her is that of a lady walking down the stairs in the old Victorian Women’s prison carrying her baby.

7. County Assembly Rooms, Lincoln

This is probably the most peculiar. People report to see a Cavalier-style dressed man in a doorway in the ballroom on many separate occasions. There are also often sounds of furniture moving, voices in the basement, doors swinging open by themselves and objects being moved from one room to the other.

8. Garden House Hotel, Stamford

A dark shadow like figure has been seen looking out of the window of room number 18 at the Garden House Hotel. Staff reported strange goings on the top floor such as objects being moved of their own accord and curtains blowing in no wind. Room number 18 is said to be haunted by a ghost of a old man who when alive must have had a hoarse throat as heavy breathing is also heard in this room!

9. RAF Wickenby, Market Rasen

This old airbase is said to have three haunted runways. Shadowy figures walking along them, people whistling old songs, airmen spotted smoking cigarettes before vanishing and one particular pilot who walks into the control room and vanishes upstairs. Mechanics have also supposedly been seen running towards where the old hangars used to be and then just vanishing into thin air.

Bumps and footsteps are often heard in the control room, which still exists on the site, strange scraping sounds seem to come from the walls and faint morse code sounds have been heard.

10. RAF Metheringham

Dozens of reports have been made of a ghostly woman stalking the area near this former WW2 bomber airfield. The ghost is believed to be the lingering spirit of Catherine Bystock, a 19 year old girl and member of the Women’s Auxillary Air Force who was courting a flight sergeant based at Metheringham.

The pair were due to be married yet their love would be cut short when she was thrown from her lover’s sidecar and killed. Her apparition appears at the spot where she died, sometimes flagging down passing motorists to aid the stricken pair.

Well, we did warn you.

The gruesome stories of people of the past in Lincolnshire are certainly haunting, and may or may not be true, but ones to tell your family next time you’re walking up the Greestone Steps…