The Paranormal Database

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

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Cornish Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Fisherman

Location: Newquay - Red Lion
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2003
Further Comments: A visitor to the pub claimed to see an old fisherman cross the courtyard of this building. Staff were left mystified when three sets of shutters unclasped themselves and closed over the windows, with CCTV picking no one in the area.


ID #12252, last updated 2016-08-27

Misty Ladies

Location: Newquay - Trerice manor house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These indistinct figures have been reported around the building, sometimes trailing the scent of perfume.


ID #2524, last updated 2002-10-03


Abbey House, Padstow.

Elizabethan Woman

Location: Padstow - Abbey House, North Quay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This sad spectre drifts around the house, travelling up the staircase from the basement and vanishing in the oldest part of the building.


ID #6438, last updated 2005-07-26


Haunted beach of Padstow.

Rowing

Location: Padstow - Beach north of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, possibly twenty-first century
Further Comments: The sound of oars passing through the water has been heard after sunset, although the rowing boats creating the noise are never seen.


ID #11367, last updated 2013-07-20

Animated Statues

Location: Padstow - Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Stone statues of a lion, unicorn, and knight became animated and chased a young girl after she chanted the rhyme, 'Reefy, reefy rum, without teeth or tongue; if you'll have me, now I am a-come'.


ID #14239, last updated 2021-07-06


Cross House Hotel, Padstow.

Snoring

Location: Padstow - Cross House Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, possibly twenty-first century
Further Comments: Snoring was heard coming from an empty bed, while others have reported footsteps and bangs coming from empty rooms late at night.


ID #11366, last updated 2013-07-20

Selling Point

Location: Padstow - Former Livery Stable (exact location not known)
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown - 1967?
Further Comments: A 1967 estate agent advert for a former stable in the town centre claimed the site had a 'mischievous poltergeist', although offered no further information.


ID #15711, last updated 2024-11-24

Tamed Dragon

Location: Padstow - General area
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Saint Petroc is said to have tamed a horrific dragon by placing a girdle about its neck before taking the beast to the beach and setting it free. The dragon swam away and was never seen again.


ID #6561, last updated 2005-09-15


Padstow, Cornwall.

Little Horses

Location: Padstow - General area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two tiny horses and their riders would spring from a rooftop and ride around the streets and old marketplace when the clock struck midnight.


ID #14240, last updated 2021-07-06

Kelliwic

Location: Padstow - Hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This fort was once King Arthur's Kelliwic. Probably.


ID #4156, last updated 2003-04-20


Marble Arch, Padstow.

Red Eyes

Location: Padstow - Marble Arch
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: After dropping a box of apples, one local lad was said to have spotted a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him out of the darkness.


ID #11364, last updated 2013-07-20

Brown Deck Shoes

Location: Padstow - Meltham shoe shop (no longer a shoe shop)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2005
Further Comments: Two shop workers were terrorised by several poltergeist-like incidents revolving around a pair of deck shoes. The footwear would jump off the display stand in front of workers and move around at night. A priest called in to bless the shop failed to prevent the shoes from moving again. The ghost of a butcher who committed suicide in a nearby cattle shed was blamed.


ID #6278, last updated 2005-05-22


Padstow Harbour, home to a mermaid.

Angry Mermaid

Location: Padstow - Padstow Harbour
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local tale states that the harbour here was silted up by a mermaid, more than a little upset after she was shot at by a fisherman. The area has also been home to sea serpents.


ID #2591, last updated 2002-10-10


Prideaux Place, Cornwall.

Young Child

Location: Padstow - Prideaux Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small child has been spotted running into the pantry, but never comes back out. A green lady is also said to haunt the wooded area in the garden and a nearby cave. Finally, there is a local belief that if all the deer leave the park, then the house will leave the Prideaux family.


ID #8337, last updated 2008-03-22

Falling Barrel

Location: Padstow - Rojano's restaurant
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, possibly twenty-first century
Further Comments: This location is said to be haunted by a former owner of the property. The ghost was said to have once thrown a barrel down a staircase.


ID #11368, last updated 2013-07-20

Man

Location: Padstow - Ship Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, possibly twenty-first century
Further Comments: Father Chris was called in to bless the inn after a ghostly man was spotted standing by a bed.


ID #11365, last updated 2013-07-20


St Petroc's, Padstow.

Annie Rawlings

Location: Padstow - St Petroc's (currently a restaurant)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Rawlings is said to have committed suicide in the nineteenth century when faced with being forced to move out of her home. Her pale, slim form is said to haunt the staircase and kitchen.


ID #11393, last updated 2013-07-27


The White Hart, Padstow.

Wilfred

Location: Padstow - The White Hart (no longer an operational inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The haunting presence at this former inn was named Wilfred and was believed to be a priest who had died there a few years previous. Footsteps could be heard walking down the stairs, and a loud rasping sound came from one of the bedrooms.


ID #6437, last updated 2005-07-26

Lady in Blue

Location: Par - Menabilly (or Rashleigh Manor)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: This entity was observed gazing out from a bedroom window, seen from the garden below.


ID #2537, last updated 2002-10-03

Horses

Location: Paul - Earthwork (no longer standing, exact location unknown)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One story says all the horses involved in removing the earthworks died before the task was complete.


ID #16409, last updated 2026-03-01

Alter

Location: Pawton - Quoit
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The Giant's Quoit has also been called the Devil's Quoit, leaving folklore concerning its creation a little fuzzy.


ID #16406, last updated 2026-03-01

Protected Stone

Location: Pelynt - St Nun's Well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A farmer once tried to steal this stone to use on his farm - halfway home with his booty, the chains used to drag the stone snapped, allowing the rock to roll back to its starting location. To further prove a point, the oxen used to move the stone all suddenly died, and the thieving farmer was crippled.


ID #5028, last updated 2004-02-29

Older Woman in Old Clothing

Location: Pendeen - Route between Boscaswell to Trewellard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: A walker was passed by an older woman in a dark Victorian era dress. The figure looked solid.


ID #12248, last updated 2016-08-27

Sunken Treasure

Location: Pengersick - Cudden Point
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ship laden with treasure is reported to have been lost in the time of Queen Elizabeth.


ID #11240, last updated 2013-01-05

White Hare

Location: Pengersick - Former castle (on site of current castle)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former lord of the castle had an affair with a woman in a faraway land, who gave birth to a son. When the lord returned home (and back to his wife) the woman and child followed him. The lord threw his former lover and the child into the sea. The child survived and was picked up by a passing ship, but the woman drowned, returning as a white hare which haunted the lord for the rest of his life.


ID #11239, last updated 2013-01-05

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