The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Cornish Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Goblins

Location: Advent - Parkwalls area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The same is supposed to have been derived from 'Puck walls' and is speculated to come from long-gone haunted ruins.

Peggy Bray

Location: Altarnun - King's Head public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former landlady of the pub, Peggy has been known to return to ensure all is running smoothly.

Mary the Housekeeper

Location: Altarnun - Penhallow Vicarage (now a private house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Mary had an affair with the Revenant Tripp - she ended the relationship by drowning herself in the nearby river. Her grey dressed ghost has been seen standing by the back door and in one of the bedrooms, while the phantom footsteps heard pacing around late at night are thought to belong to Tripp.


An old postcard of Bedruthan, Cornwall.

Knockers

Location: Bedruthan - Beach, cliff top, & Bedruthan Steps
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Some believe these creatures to resemble mutant dwarfs (two foot high, large eyes with deformed and twisted heads), while others call them the ghosts of those killed while being forced to work for the Romans... Either way, they can be heard mining and picking away at the rocks underground in these areas.

Guest

Location: Blisland - Blisland Inn (was Royal Oak Hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A guest at the inn died on the site and took to haunting the inn.

Grunting

Location: Bodmin - Bodmin Jail (no longer a prison)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003, 2005, 2013
Further Comments: After spending a night at the jail in 2005, a ghost hunting group reported recording EVP containing a strange grunt. Members of the organisation also reported having stones thrown at them, even though they were alone. A couple of years prior to this, a woman had a feeling of great uneasiness when visiting the site and left perturbed when a door slammed shut in front of her with no visible reason for closing. A 2013 visitor reported a loud grunt in their left ear, also heard by another witness just over a metre away.

Golden Coffin

Location: Bodmin - Cairns, Carburrow Tor
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Protected by a flock of birds, two golden coffins were believed to be buried under the cairns.


Isolated Bodmin Moor.

Beast of Bodmin

Location: Bodmin - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Ongoing
Further Comments: Another famous cryptid, the Beast of Bodmin is thought by some to be a large black cat, while others believe the creature is more paranormal in nature. Regardless, dozens of sightings span years.

Grey Lady

Location: Bodmin - Lanhydrock House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity haunts the gallery and the drawing room, the only parts of the original house that still stand (a fire in the nineteenth century destroyed the rest of the house). The building is also said to be haunted by a man hanged by Royalists during the Civil War.


Dozmary Pool, Bodmin Moor.

Jan Tregeagle

Location: Bodmin Moor - Dozmary Pool
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: As punishment for killing his wife and children, Jan's ghost returns to the pool every night, attempting to empty the contents with a broken shell. A pack of ghostly wild dogs watch over him should he try to escape. One version of the same tale states Tregeagle did escape, but now he sweeps the sand from Porthcurno Cove to Mill Bay; he can be heard screaming as the sea washes the sand back again. Locals would refuse to say Tregeagle's name in case the ghost manifested. The Pool is also the supposed location where Sir Bedivere returned Excalibur.

Kobolds

Location: Bodmin Moor - Goonzion Down mine
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One tin mine shaft was nicknamed the Roaring Shaft after the many bangs and thuds heard emanating from the empty tunnel. Kobolds or Bucca were held accountable.

Loud Footfalls

Location: Bodmin Moor - Manor House inn, Rilla Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Heard coming from upstairs, these footsteps are always tracked down to the same empty bedroom.

Golden Cup

Location: Bodmin Moor - Rillaton Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locals told of a ghostly druid that walked this area offering all he came across a drink from a golden cup that could never be fully emptied. When the barrow was excavated in 1818, a gold beaker was recovered next to a skeleton, both thought to be at least 2000 years old.

Charlotte Dymond

Location: Bodmin Moor - Roughtor (aka Rough Tor), near a memorial stone to Charlotte
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: While Charlotte's boyfriend was hanged for her murder, it is widely believed he was innocent; this could be the reason why Charlotte has returned, dressed in a gown and silk bonnet.

Monks

Location: Bodmin Moor - St Nectan's Glen
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This area of woodland has produced an abundance of supernatural sightings over the years, the majority pertaining to ghostly hooded monks. A stooping old man has been observed standing by the water. In July 1981, one witness saw a burning human skull in a tree after hearing many whispering voices, although being alone.

Treasure

Location: Bolenowe Carn Moor - Uncle Ned's Rock
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Who Uncle Ned was is unknown, but his name is remembered as a local legend says he buried his treasure somewhere near the rock which bears his name.


The famous Jamaica Inn, Bolventor.

Drinking Sailor

Location: Bolventor - Jamaica Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, large dog in April 2015
Further Comments: A sailor who was murdered nearby reportedly returns to the public house to finish his last drink; he has been seen sitting on the wall outside the building. There have also been reports of a ghostly floating cloak, while outside there was a report of a phantom man hanging by his neck from a nearby tree. In 2015 a witness reported seeing a semi-transparent phantom dog, the size of an Irish Wolfhound, running thirty centimetres above the ground.


Road between Bolventor and Five Lanes.

Green Car

Location: Bolventor - Road between town and Five Lanes
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: Seen by at least two independent witnesses at different times, this old fashioned car contains four men who appear to be laughing, before the vehicle vanishes.

Spinning Maid

Location: Bosava - Trewoof Manor House (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shade was said to have been laid in a room which was subsequently bricked up, though released many years later by a curious night worker who could hear noises coming from behind the brickwork...

The Devil and the Cobbler

Location: Bosava (?) - House no longer standing, location not known
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Built by a cobbler who made a deal with Old Nick and went back on his word, the house became haunted by the man and the devil. A miller who lived nearby was losing money due to his proximity to the location and asked Parson Corker to banish both entities. The parson brought some friends, set up his magic circle and after a mighty battle (involving a storm which levelled most trees in the area) banished the Devil. The ghost proved more difficult to banish, and in the end the house was demolished.


An old postcard of Boscastle Harbour.

Man in Tweed

Location: Boscastle - Harbour
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Fishermen were reported to have encountered a strange man dressed in tweed who would stare at them before vanishing.

Plucker

Location: Boscastle - Napoleon Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Nicknamed Plucker, this poltergeist moves small items, causes pictures to fall off walls, and tugs at people's clothing.


An old postcard of Boscastle.

Bells

Location: Boscastle - Off coast, close to Forrabury Church?
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy weather
Further Comments: Bells made for this church were cast and blessed, but as the ship carrying them approached the church, the captain claimed that he, not God, had transported the bells safely. A storm suddenly blew in, sinking the ship and taking the bells to the bottom of the sea.

Colonel Hawker

Location: Boscastle - Penally House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Colonel unknown, horse on calm nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Footsteps belonging to this officer are said to wander around the property, while a figure has been seen passing by windows. The road outside the house is haunted by a horse, and a piece of local folklore claims secret tunnels connect the building to the beach.

Tolling Bell

Location: Boscastle - Smugglers Cottage
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Last heard late twentieth century?
Further Comments: The tolling of a phantom bell said to either foretell a shipwreck in the area, or the sound itself comes from an old sunken ship.

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