The Paranormal Database

Woman

Location: Clifton - Private house along Alma Vale Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Described as wearing clothing from the 1860s, this phantom woman was seen by one witness descending the staircase. Loud crashes were also heard at night, though nothing in the house was ever disturbed. The property was said to have been built on a pond where several people had drowned themselves, and was the reason given for the haunting.

Red Haired Woman

Location: Clifton - Private house along Southleigh Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: Three sisters living in the house encountered a red headed girl wearing a dirty dress kneeling by the fireplace in the kitchen. Her pallid face gave the impression of great sorrow. The girl stood up and vanished into the scullery. The sisters were later told the property was haunted by a former maid who drowned herself in a nearby pond.

Gravedigger

Location: Combe Down - Area around Union Chapel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1992
Further Comments: A woman passing the chapel noticed an out of place man with a pickaxe by one of the graves. She thought it 'strange' at the time, and stranger still when she encountered the man one week later riding an old fashioned bicycle.

Sir George Sydenham

Location: Combe Sydenham - Hills around village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Daily, midnight to dawn (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sir George is reported to ride his headless horse up and down the hills near the village. Combe Sydenham is also a place where the Wild Hunt has been reported, always heard as locals were too afraid to look (and rightly so!).

Sir Francis Drake, a stipple engraving.

Drake's Ball

Location: Combe Sydenham - Sydenham Hall
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Sir Frances Drake's future bride was now about to marry another man, when this cannon ball rolled down the aisle - Drake had fired it from hundreds of miles away to let his loved one know that she was not forgotten. The ball has resided here since, and it is said that if taken away, it always makes its own way back.

Yearly Sacrifice

Location: Combwich - River Parrett
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: To prevent the river from taking human life throughout the year, it is said that human sacrifices were once offered here. A phantom coach has also been seen, on the other side of the river to the village.

George

Location: Congresbury - A370 road running through the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-to-late twentieth century
Further Comments: Thought to be a local man, the ghost of George now haunts this area of road, unnerving drivers as he steps out in front of them.

White Rider

Location: Corfe - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pallid figure on horseback has been reported in the village.

Dead Starlings

Location: Coxley - Private garden and nearby road
Type: Other
Date / Time: 07 March 2010
Further Comments: Over 100 starlings fell dead or dying from the sky, with no rational explanation. All the birds were said to have blood coming out of their beaks and their feet curled up.

Morse

Location: Creaton Mill (see Further Comments field) - Phone box in village
Type: Other
Date / Time: Around the 1990s
Further Comments: The phone box light would sometimes switch off as people entered it, only switching back on when the person left. The phone would also ring - when answered, only a quiet Morse code signal would be heard. We at the Paranormal Database have been unable to place Creaton Mill - if any of our readers can help, please drop us a line!

Hazy Lady

Location: Crewkerne - Old Parsonage Hotel (no longer open?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1985
Further Comments: Sometimes white and sometimes grey, this phantom woman had an indistinct look but was seen several times by different witnesses during the early Eighties.

Revenue Fight

Location: Crewkerne - Road between Chard and town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A fight that once occurred between revenue men and smugglers can still be heard along this stretch of road - the sounds of battle slowly die away, leaving only the gasping of a dying man.

Judged Guilty

Location: Cross - White Hart Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: Judge Jeffreys used this building in 1685 to condemn several local men. It is thought that at least one of these 'guilty' people now haunts the inn, creating loud footsteps and moving small items.

Those to Die

Location: Crowcombe - Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring) or Midsummer Eve
Further Comments: Anyone watching the church at midnight on Halloween would see the spirits of those fated to die over the forthcoming twelve months.

Old Lady

Location: Crowcombe - Edge of the road bypassing the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This elderly phantom is thought to be a woman who lost her home - the cottage was demolished during the construction of the bypass, and she died of a soon after being relocated.

Blue Lady

Location: Crowcombe - Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This blue shade is occasionally seen within the building.

Multi-headed Dragon

Location: Crowcombe - Shervage Wood
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two men from the village engaged a double-headed winged lizard that terrorised the area, winning the battle by forcing the creature to eat burning pitch. Carvings on the benches in the Church of the Holy Ghost show some of the battle.

Beer Waster

Location: Culmhead - Holman Clavel public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa 1967
Further Comments: This playful entity has been known to pour pints of beer during the night, and to steal small items) only to return them up to months later). The sound of skittles can sometimes be heard being played, even if a set is not in use.

Rustling Woman

Location: Curry Mallet - Curry Mallet House and gardens
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While the house is haunted by the sad silken rustling of a dress, the garden is home to warriors whose swords clash in a forgotten conflict.

Hearse

Location: Cutcombe - A396, between village and Timberscombe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Some accidents occurring along this road have been blamed on the phantom black coach pulled by headless horses that runs wild and driverless.

Fairy Treasure

Location: Dinghurst - Dolebury Warren hillfort
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in red cloth, the fairies would keep an eye on their treasure buried under the hillfort. Fairy pipes were said to have been found around the site.

Name Only?

Location: Ditcheat - Arthur's Bridge
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Although the bridge is associated with King Arthur, it is unclear whether this is a forgotten legend or just prestige naming.

Beast of Exmoor

Location: Drewstone - General area
Type: ABC
Date / Time: 1983
Further Comments: Soldiers used the village as a central marker during their (fruitless) hunt for the beast of Exmoor over the period of a month.

Headless Rider

Location: Duddlestone - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This decapitated male wearing a flowing cape passes through the village on an off-white horse.

Marching Army

Location: Dunster - Conygar Hill - Dunster castle
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: July 1951
Further Comments: A small group of tourists visiting the castle perched on top of a hill heard a large number of marching people approach their location, though nothing could be seen - the noise grew so loud that they all ran from the scene, stopping only once they reached the base of the hill.