The dramatic landscape of Cumbria holds many myth and legends boasting the highest number of preserved fields monuments in the UK.

The county is also steeped in history with inns and public houses dating back centuries.

It's not surprising then that Cumbria is featured in the Paranormal Database many times -an ongoing UK project that document locations with folkloric, paranormal and cryptozoological connections.

Below are ten paranormal locations recorded with historic photographs provided by Barrow-in-Furness photographers The Sankeys.

Wordsworth

Location: Ambleside - Rydal Mount
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Wordsworth lived at Rydal Mount until his death in 1850 - his spirit is reported to remain here, although whether in metaphor or metaphysics is unclear.

  Kirkstone Pass Inn in the winter in the early 20th century (Sankey)Coach Fatality

Location: Ambleside - Kirkstone Pass Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A young boy hit and killed by a coach and four has found it difficult to leave this mortal world. A woman, named by some as Ruth Ray, froze to death after being caught in a freak snowstorm.

The child she carried in her arms survived, and Ruth now remains to warn others against venturing out during cold winter nights. Finally, a seventeenth century coachman lurks around the bar.

Vickers (now BAE) in the early 20th century (Image: Sankey online archive)Former Worker

Location: Barrow - BAE shipyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005 & 2006
Further Comments: A shadowy figure, loud bangs, and a crane which automated itself were all manifestations of what many employees believed to be a former member of the workforce who had killed himself.

Headless Hound

Location: Beetham - Between village and Milnthrope, and surrounding countryside
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that if this large creature follows you, death is not far behind.

Cursed Cranium

Location: Brougham - Brougham Hall
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cursed skull created havoc whenever removed from the property, so a solution-focused individual finally walled it up in a room of the hall.

Little Man

Location: Carlisle - Brown Lane, opposite the Cathedral
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Circa 1868
Further Comments: Two people watched a little man dressed in brightly coloured clothing with large silver buckles on his shoes vanish into the proverbial thin air.

Man in Tall Hat

The Gatehouse at Cartmel in the early 20th century (Image: Sankey online archive) Location: Cartmel - Priory Gatehouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure has been observed standing in the grounds, disappearing if spoken to. Monks are also reported to haunt the area, named as those who have died trying to help people lost and stuck in the nearby sands.

Simon's Nick rock face

Location: Coniston 
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Simon was shown a secret seam of copper by fairies - he mined it, but bad luck followed - he was blown up when a keg of gunpowder exploded. Simon's shade is said to hang around the rock face that now bears his name.

Monk

Location: Dalton in Furness - Furness Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: A ghostly figure in robes was seen walking towards the gatehouse before vanishing into a wall. It is said the monk sometimes appears on horseback, and the site is also haunted by a white woman.

Pony with Coffin

Burnmoor Tarn taken in the 1920s which boasts a headless pony (Image: Sankey online archive) Location: Eskdale - Burnmoor Tarn, path leading from village to Wasdale
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Misty conditions
Further Comments: Appearing when the mist is thick, this ghostly pony silently and slowly makes its way along the path with a coffin strapped to its back.