After Byron left Newstead Abbey he sold it to an old school friend, Thomas Wildman. A devoted fan of the poet and his work, Sophie Hyatt came to live at a nearby farm. She was very shy, being deaf and unable to speak, and would always hide away from approaching strangers by diving into any nearby bushes to avoid having to communicate. She always carried a slate on which to write if necessary. When the Wildmans learned how fond she was of Byron's work they kindly allowed her to wander around the grounds whenever she wanted. She was even allowed to take a dog Byron had left behind, for exercise on her walks. Sophie became known as the 'Little White Lady of Newstead' because she always wore light clothing. Sophie, unable to support herself, lived on an income provided by a relative. In 1825 the relative died and the money dried up.

However, Sophie had another relative in America and decided that she must try to make contact to ask for help. She left a note for the Wildmans to let them know what she was doing and set off for Nottingham aiming to catch the stagecoach to London. She did not realise just how kindly the Wildmans thought of her. When Mrs Wildman read the note Sophie had left explaining her situation she spoke to her husband and they immediately dispatched a rider to catch Sophie and offer her accommodation in the grounds of Newstead for the rest of her life. The horse and rider set off in hot pursuit and reaching the Market Square found a great crowd gathered around a horse and cart outside the Black Boy pub. Intrigued, the rider dismounted and pushed through the people to find Sophie lying on the ground dead. She had been run over by the cart, not hearing the drayman's warning. She can now be seen wandering through her beloved gardens, especially along one path now known as White Lady's Walk.

The "Goblin Friar" was said to appear to the head of the Byron family before any unhappy event... Shortly before his disastrous marriage to Anne Milbanke, Byron encountered the Black Friar of Newstead Abbey.

This ghost, also known as the "Goblin Friar", was said to appear to the head of the Byron family before any unhappy event. The poet recalls this meeting in his poem "Don Juan". Lord Byron had several supernatural experiences in a bedchamber known as the Rook Cell. When sleeping here the poet was woken by the sensation of something mounting the bed. On sitting up he was confronted by a shapeless black mass, featureless apart from two red glowing eyes. The apparition rolled from the bed onto the floor and disappeared. Lord Byron also is said to have seen a mysterious column of white vapour rising from the floor, which vanished without trace.

A black robed friar says nothing but points a lost doctor the way to a pregnant lady about to give birth...There are many stories about appearances of the Black Friar or Monk. In some he seems to be a portent of doom but in this one he shows a more sympathetic side of his nature. In the 1930s the wife of a house owner in Newstead village was due to give birth. Her husband telephoned the doctor to come to the house as soon as possible. It was some time before the medic finally appeared and the husband remarked that he was only just in time. "Where have you been - you're so late" he chided. The doctor replied that he would have been later still if he hadn't stopped by a waterfall in the grounds of Newstead Abbey and asked the way of a monk who was standing there.
The black robed figure said nothing but pointed in the right direction.
There had been no monks at the Abbey for hundreds of years.