The Paranormal Database

Running Shadow

Location: Abbotsbury - B3157, between Abbotsbury, Portesham and Chickerell
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 August 2014, 02:00h
Further Comments: A driver hit the brakes as a shadowy figure ran in front of their car. The driver then watched as the figure disappeared, its legs evaporating before reaching the side of the road.

Coin Collector

Location: Abbotsbury - Ilchester Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This pub is said to be haunted by a coin collector named Charles (his coins were heard jangling by one witness), a phantom woman in the toilets, and a dog that approaches the windows.

Romans

Location: Abbotsbury - New Barn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghosts of Roman Centurions are reputed to haunt the hills in this area.

An old postcard of St Catherine's Chapel in Abbotsbury.

Wishing Holes

Location: Abbotsbury - St Catherine's Chapel
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Inside the chapel are four holes, two for knees, two for hands, where people could kneel and make a wish.

Lady who Visits the Sick

Location: Allington - Boot Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The first floor of the pub is haunted by a former landlady who only makes her presence known to ill people. There are reportedly another two spooks in the bar area - a soldier dressed in fatigues, and a Victorian gentleman who died after a shotgun blew off most of his head in an accident.

White Woman

Location: Ashmore - Ashmore - area between Washer's Pit and Spinney's Pond
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local story says that a woman hanged over the pit was saved by a washer woman. This did not prevent the woman's ghost from returning to the area when she later died.

Clashing Blades

Location: Ashmore - Cranborne Chase
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October, late 1920s
Further Comments: A member of the Ghost Club and his partner reported being surrounded by the sounds of men fighting, sword clashing with sword, and the moans of the dying. There are also tales of a golden coffin and stolen treasure buried in the area.

Gabbygammies

Location: Ashmore - Washer's Pit
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These spirits loiter at the village pond (or, according to another report, the village church) where they moved to after their former home, a local barrow, was opened.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted

Location: Askerswell - Spyway Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman who died of a scientifically implausible broken heart was said to haunt the inn.

Leaping Devil

Location: Batcombe - Church
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: For many years, the church tower only had three pinnacles - the loss of the fourth was blamed on the Devil who tried to jump over the tower while giving chase to a local wizard named Minterne.

Criminal

Location: Batcombe - Cross Hand Stone (aka Cross in Hand stone), Batcombe Down
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A felon was tortured on this stone and his bones eventually buried beneath it. The ghost of the man is said to make an occasional appearance. A priest is also have said to have witnessed a pillar of fire at this site.

John Daniel

Location: Beaminster - Beaminster School, now part of St Mary's Church
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1728
Further Comments: Thought to have died from a fit, John Daniel was buried after being found dead in a field near his home. Soon after, his ghost was seen in the school, a coffin by his side as he sat at his former desk. A new examination of the body revealed John had been strangled, though his killer was never found.

Woman with Bright Pink Eyes

Location: Beaminster - Bell Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: The witness, a farmer, reported seeing two figures, one a young boy and the other a woman wearing a long white dress, standing in a field by his livestock. When he shone his flashlight at the people, he could see that the woman had eerie pink eyes. Filled with fear the farmer did not move until the figures disappeared towards the local graveyard, after which the witness ran home.

Blue Lady

Location: Beaminster - Bridge House, Whitcombe Street (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1900s onwards
Further Comments: This property was haunted by a tall slim lady wearing high heels. Sightings of her were said to be so frequent that she was treated as a normality. Another more violent entity haunted the guest room, keeping visitors awake during the night by removing bed sheets and pushing over the side table.

Coach

Location: Beaminster - Lane leading to Stoke Abbott
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Condemned to drive his coach and four horses along this lane, a wicked landowner haunts this area.

Footsteps

Location: Beaminster - Rose Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Phantom footsteps attributed to a Monmouth rebel were once said to haunt this site.

Black Dog

Location: Belchalwell - Unnamed gate in the area (still standing?)
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A particular gate in the area was said to be home to a black dog once the sun went down.

Golden Table

Location: Bere Regis - Woodbury Hill hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Anchoret's Well, found within the hillfort, was believed to have a golden table (or tablet) hidden under the waters.

Bony Guardian

Location: Bettiscombe - Bettiscombe Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Home to the skull of a slave, the object is said to scream if removed from the house. One former owner threw the skull into a pond, only to fish it out two days later after being kept awake at night by supernatural 'sounds'. The site is also home to phantom coach and horses, and/or a phantom funeral procession.

Former Soldier

Location: Bettiscombe - Higher Filford Farm, near Bettiscombe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This insubstantial warrior is said to haunt one of the rooms which was once used to make cheese.

Coach

Location: Bettiscombe - Road between Manor and the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: One night a year (but date unknown)
Further Comments: The phantom coach which leaves the manor and heads towards the church is said to be connected to the manor's skull, but the reasons why are unknown.

Wishing Stone

Location: Bettiscombe - Sliding Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 23 June (or Midsummer Eve) and following day (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The hill is said to be named after a magical stone that grants wishes. Once a year, on Midsummer Eve, the stone propels down the hill, before returning the following day.

Shadowy Man

Location: Bincombe - Railway tunnel
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Summer 1991
Further Comments: Two train drivers reported hitting a shadowy figure while passing through the tunnel - police investigated the scene of the incident but could find no evidence of an accident.

Fairy Song

Location: Bincombe - Singing Barrows, Bincombe Down
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Midday (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Local superstition states that if you place your ear to the ground here at midday, you can hear the soft singing of fairy folk.

Man in Cloak

Location: Bishops Caundle - White Hart Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A shadowy figure in a cloak has been observed in the inn.