The Paranormal Database

Rising Woman

Location: Wellington - Barracks, and St James Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1804
Further Comments: Several guards stationed at the barracks reported the ghost of a headless woman, which rose from the ground in front of them wearing a striped dress. The figure then set off towards the park.

Reading Man

Location: Wellington - Blue Mantle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: Owner Peter Green spotted an older man reading a newspaper in the lounge of the hotel, who soon vanished without being seen or triggering the alarm. Green later found a Victorian portrait which resembled the unknown man.

Treasure

Location: Wellington - Cockcrow Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: This stone, animated by the sound of a cockerel's crow, is said to cover a secret treasure.

Harmless

Location: Wellington - Cothay Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1960s
Further Comments: A harmless ghost was said to haunt the site, knocking on a particular door and walking through a room. The haunting ceased after a manacle, which was found with the skeletal remains of a hidden body, was sprung open.

Groaning

Location: Wellington - Dairy
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1974
Further Comments: The milkmen who worked at this dairy were permitted to come in later in the day after several unnerving reports of disembodied footsteps and strange groaning at night.

Fire Breathing Hounds

Location: Wellington - General Area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pack of albino dogs run while breathing flame from their mouths.

Hellsmouth

Location: Wellington - Park Farm
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A muddy pool located near the farm was thought to be an entrance to hell, from where ghosts and ghouls could come and go as they pleased.

White Lady

Location: Wellow - St Julien's Well
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Before a death of the Lord of Hungerford
Further Comments: This phantom white woman would materialise to give warning of encroaching death.

An old photograph of Wells Cathedral.

Bishop Jocelyn's Wyrm

Location: Wells - Area around the cathedral
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Bishop Jocelyn drove away a dragon that had been terrorising locals around seven holy springs - the cathedral was later built in the area.

Lookout

Location: Wells - Arthur's Point
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Legend says King Arthur and/or his men used this summit as a lookout point.

Black Barley Seeds

Location: Wells - Crown Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1990s
Further Comments: These apports would appear on mass in several of the bedrooms, with no source to be found. This could be called one of the least disturbing parts of the haunting here, which has seen shadowy figures vanishing down the corridors, and a presence that knocks candles from the tables.

Cavalier

Location: Wells - King Charles Parlour public house, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977 / 1978
Further Comments: A phantom Cavalier has been spotted on the staircase several times by owners or members of their family, while footsteps and the sound of a harpsichord have also been reported. It is reported that when a BBC TV crew tried to film inside the building all their lighting equipment blew up.

Walking Man

Location: Wells - Sherston Inn, Priory Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This figure only appeared for a few seconds, walking through the bar area before vanishing.

Two Figures on Steps

Location: Wells - Wells Cathedral, Chapter House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Photograph taken 19 April 1954, sighting 16 June 2005, hitting in January 2007
Further Comments: A photograph taken here shows two people in white, possibly a child with its mother, standing on the steps. The photographer reports that no one else stood in front of the camera at the time of the long exposure. In 2005 two people spotted a young boy on the steps to the Chapter House - concerned that he was not with parents or guardians, they followed the child and as he turned into the nave, he disappeared. A visitor in 2007 felt something hitting her back while leaving the cathedral, having earlier felt a presence in the nave.

Shawled Woman

Location: Wembdon - Highest part of the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Standing on top of a hill, this young lady with wild eyes looks down at the nearby houses. She is thought to have murdered her husband, hiding his body in their house.

White Lady

Location: West Harptree - Gournay Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pallid female would travel the building, ending her journey on the balcony where she would disappear.

Gournay

Location: West Harptree - Richmont Castle ruins, and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure, a former owner of the building, still longs for better times and fortune - until it arrives, he remains earthbound.

Prepare Thyself

Location: West Monkton - Park near Hestercombe
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1665
Further Comments: A minster walking across the park, en route to meeting the Warre family at Hestercombe House, encountered a ghostly old man who said, 'Prepare thyself for such a day you will die'. The minster shared his encounter with the Warre family who thought he joked, but the minster died three days later.

Flying Orange

Location: West Monkton - Villa built around 1920
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: December 1923
Further Comments: The builder of the house, after moving in, experienced aggressive poltergeist behaviour, including being hit on the back of the neck by a thrown orange. A chair and various books fell to the floor, boots emerged from the cupboard, and cutlery bounced across the table.

Stick Carrier

Location: West Quantoxhead - Hills north of area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old woman holding a large bundle of sticks has been seen here.

Hunchbacked Woman

Location: Westbury-sub-Mendip - Stonleigh Cottages
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1966
Further Comments: Almost every night for a six month period, a lady living here would hear footsteps or see an old lady with a hunched back standing by the window of her bedroom. The witness described the figure as if in film negative form - her face and hands was dark, while shadows on her features were light - but said the ghost was not threatening.

Chain Rattler

Location: Weston-super-Mare - Farmhouse, formal site of Woodspring Priory (now a guesthouse), three miles NE of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When the farmhouse was operational, the occupier would charge people to view the 'ghost room', a place where rattling chains would be heard at two o'clock in the morning.

Many Accidents

Location: Weston-super-Mere - Kewstoke Toll Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: No exact date
Further Comments: Though only a mile long, there have been a high number of accidents along this coast road, leading some to speculate that a paranormal source may be at work.

An old postcard showing Weston-super-Mere beach.

Long Necked Creature

Location: Weston-super-Mere - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 02 December 1988
Further Comments: Three witnesses watched for several minutes a strange creature possessing a long neck swimming around in the mist covered sea.

An old postcard of Weston-super-Mere.

Giant Meteorite

Location: Weston-super-Mere - Skies over the town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 10 January 1869
Further Comments: A large fireball was seen passing overhead. Several hours later there were a series of shockwaves that were attributed to an earth tremor.