Greater Manchester Gazetteer

In legend the rolling boulder-strewn hills of Alphin Pike and Alderman Hill were the abodes of the giants Alphin and Alderman, after whom the peaks were named. Alphin and Alderman were at first on friendly terms, until they both became enamoured with a beautiful water nymph called Rimmon, who lived in the valley below them in the bubbling waters of Chew Brook. Read More »

On April 2nd 1832 a landlord and his gamekeeper son were violently murdered at a remote pub on the edge of the bleak moorland above Greenfield near Saddleworth. Reported at the time as “one of the most diabolical murders ever committed” (1), the murders were never solved and have become a fascinating, if dark, part of the local lore of Saddleworth. Read More »

This tale was sent in by one of our visitors, it recounts the discovery of the remnants of a dark ritual deep within the Pennine hills. Read More »

The clough was in former times, said to be haunted by a boggart, and there are a number of stories attached to it. Some of these tales probably became attached to the area after they had been written about other similar boggart infested places. Read More »

A security guard at Cairo Mill In Waterhead Oldham witnessed a UFO lit with a blue light after hearing a humming noise outside the mill. It was described as 30 metres in diameter, saucer shaped with a large window. After about 5 minutes the UFO turned and shot away into the sky. The factory cat also disappeared at the same time. There have been other UFO sightings in the area. Read More »

The original fort dates to the Flavian period, and was probably erected during the governship of Agricola (AD77 to AD83), when new Roman roads were being constructed in the Pennines as an aid to Roman expansion in the North. The larger fort became a smaller fortlet in the Trajanic era. Read More »

Here’s a tall tale I collected from a local character when I was researching folklore in Oldham, Lancashire. While the tale is purely fictional it does include some half truths and was ‘doing the rounds’ of the local pubs. Read More »

Said to have been haunted by a phantom hound with a yellow coat. It was as big as a bull. The hound was once attributed to being a phantom lion from a local game park. Most phantom hounds of folklore seem to be black in colour, although a few such as this one appear in different colours.

The streets of this town were said to be haunted by a White Lady who floated around, generally scaring passers by out of their wits, the spirit is also alleged to have drifted in front of cars so that they crashed when trying to avoid her.

This building owned by the local authority is reputedly haunted by a white lady. A few former employees have mentioned to me experiences they have had in Greenacres Lodge. Read More »

There used to be a large manor house (now demolished) called Birchen Bower in Hollinwood in Oldham, which was famous for its alleged haunting by a Grey Lady called Hannah Beswick. Read More »

Hartshead Pike serves as a focal point in the Oldham landscape, visible from miles around with unbroken views across 4 counties. This has been a beacon hill through antiquity. Read More »

In 1825 a man reported being seeing a large headless phantom hound leap at him whilst he was in the vicinity of Manchester Cathedral.

The hall was said to be haunted by King Charles the I, and the daughter of a Roundhead, who was murdered by her father when she fell in love with a Cavalier during the English Civil War. Read More »

Haunted by an amorphous shape, thought to be a woman called Eliza Jane MacKay who committed suicide by drowning herself in the well of New Inn Farm, which is situated nearby. She is said to have been an alcoholic who drank at the inn and was buried in the orchard at New Inn Farm. Read More »

The Oldham Coliseum was the scene of a tragic accident involving the play that raises the hackles of superstition in many actors: Macbeth. Read More »

Pots and Pans above Greenfield, was once thought to have been a Druid place of worship, and old maps mark the site of a 'Druid's Altar'. Just where the Druid's Altar was is unclear, but it is generaly believed to be the rounded depressions found on top of the giant boulders of Millstone grit (the actual pots and pans) on the crest of the hill. Read More »

Radcliffe Tower is all that remains of a fifteenth century (1403) manor house and is a Grade I listed building. At twenty feet high, this ruined remnant of the manors demolition in the nineteenth century is linked to a tragic tale of a stepmother arranging the murder of her husband’s daughter and is reputed to be haunted by a phantom Black Dog. Read More »

The Ring O'Bells is said to be one of the oldest buildings in Middleton, and may be one of its most haunted. Historically the pub's foundations are thought to date all the way back to Saxon times, and legend has it that a Druidical temple stood at this spot in the Iron Age - perhaps a place of ancient sacrifice. Read More »

The hall - one of the oldest in Lancashire - has a footprint in its flagstones said to have been created when a protestant martyr was interrogated at the hall. The footprint is said to become bloody on the anniversary of his martyrdom. Read More »

Saddleworth church - dedicated to St Chad - has a legend associated with its location. It is said that the original site for the church was on nearby Brown Hill, but every night the stones were mysteriously moved to their present position. Eventually the builders gave up moving the stones back to Brown Hill, and built it where the stones were placed each night. Read More »

The skull that resides at Wardley Hall is another skull with opposing legends to account for its existence. In tradition the skull - which was kept behind a panel - was supposed to be that of royalist Roger Downs who lived in the 17th century. Read More »

Around 1630 a man named Utley, presumably from Middleton was accused of witchcraft, tried at Lancaster, found guilty and hanged. It was thought that he had bewitched to death Richard Assheton (before 1625 – 1630), first son of Sir Ralph Assheton Esq, Lord of Middleton and his wife Elizabeth Kaye. Read More »