The Paranormal Database

A phantom rider in woodland.

Woman on Horseback

Location: Badby (Northamptonshire) - Woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Riding through the forest, the woman travels either to or from her former lover's home - on her last mortal journey her husband intercepted her mid-way and murdered the adulteress.

Pony with Coffin

Location: Bakerstead (Cumbria) - Road passing the village from Burnmoor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom pony with a coffin strapped to its back is doomed to make the same journey over and over. Both pony and pack were lost during a funeral procession that became caught in a freak snap snowstorm.

Mrs Boulton

Location: Ballachulish (Highland) - Ballachulish House
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A woman who visited the house claimed to have been there before, though only in her dreams. To her surprise, the owner of the property agreed, saying that her visitor resembled a ghost that had been seen there several times! Two more traditional ghosts can be found here; seen approaching the house on horseback, a spectral rider dismounts before vanishing on the driveway, while a scruffy little man has been seen near the front gate.

No Ploughing

Location: Ballylusk (County Laois) - Old burial ground
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer who tried to plough this sacred land died after falling and banging his head. The two horses drawing the plough died the following day.

Hearse

Location: Ballylusk (County Laois) - Roads around an old burial ground
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man returning home after visiting the local public house was said to have encountered a phantom horse and cart containing a hearse.

Coachman

Location: Ballymena (County Antrim) - Dundermot Mound
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach and four rides around the area. The ghostly driver will ask anyone he spots 'is the bridge at Glarryford still up?' - any answer the witness gives will ensure that they will die within a year (so I suggest looking at your feet and saying nothing).

Headless Horseman

Location: Ballymena (County Antrim) - Road leading to the White Gates, Crebilly Road area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A robber escaping from a house rode into a thin piece of wire tightly pulled between the gateposts here, losing his head in the process. His decapitated shade is either seen or heard at Halloween, still on horseback.

A ghostly woman riding a horse.

Woman on Horseback

Location: Bandon (County Cork) - Roads in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A phantom woman on a white horse once rode around this area. She is said to have given local man Owen Kelly a lift after he failed to recognise her as a spirit - after riding around in circles and crossing the river three times she vanished, leaving Owen by the fence of his farmland.

Horse and Carriage

Location: Barmouth (Gwynedd) - Farchynys Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Moving towards the hall at midnight, the history of this ghostly horse and carriage is unknown.

Headless Man

Location: Baschurch (Shropshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, but may have been heard 17 October 2009, around 22:30h
Further Comments: Having hanged himself, this headless gentleman is reported to still drive his horse and trap around the neighbourhood. One witness heard a horse passing close to her late at night, but nothing could be seen.

Lady Fane

Location: Basildon (Berkshire) - The Grotto (house)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s?
Further Comments: Local stories said that Lady Fane haunted her former home, though no recent witnesses exist. While a woman staying here did encounter a phantom young girl during the Second World War, the entity wore a raggedy green dress - surely unsuitable attire for a lady? Another legend places the Mistletoe Bough tale as occurring on the site.

Royal Crescent, Bath.

Eloping Elizabeth

Location: Bath (Somerset) - Royal Crescent
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom coach and horses reputed to haunt this area contain Elizabeth Linley and Richard Brinsley Sheridan as they elope time after time.

Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

Knights

Location: Battle (Sussex) - Site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A phantom knight on horseback appears on the anniversary of the battle, while other figures have been seen more sporadically. The ground is also said to bleed after a storm.

Coach

Location: Beaminster (Dorset) - 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.

Rider with Large Hat

Location: Bearsted (Kent) - Road leading to Pilgrim's Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This man on horseback is described as wearing a large hat and possessing silver spurs. Some stories say that various people have engaged the man in conversation, not realising he was a ghost until he vanished.

Roos Hall, Beccles, Suffolk.

Headless Horseman

Location: Beccles (Suffolk) - Roos Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Christmas Eve is marked by the arrival of a coach driven by a headless horseman and pulled by headless horses, which travel down the driveway and vanish as they arrive by the front door. Close by, an oak known as Nelson's Tree is reputed to have been used as gallows and is haunted by a woman in white, although it is not clear whether she was one of the tree's victims or mourns the loss of a loved one. In the hall itself, on a wall within in a bedroom cupboard, there is the imprint of the Devil's hoof branded into solid brick. Finally, another tale says there is a window at the hall which always opens itself, even if locked shut.

Rider

Location: Beckenham (Kent) - Field along Pickhurst Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1926
Further Comments: A ghostly figure riding a white horse was spotted galloping across this field.

Man in Tricorn

Location: Beckhampton (Wiltshire) - Road running through village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom highwayman is reputed to haunt this road. There is also a story that a ghostly horse and coach have been heard along the Beckhampton Road.

Phantom Coach

Location: Belaugh (Norfolk) - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ghostly coach and four passes over this bridge once a year. It is said to be driven by a headless Sir Thomas Boleyn and is one of eleven bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.

Horses

Location: Bellingham (Northumberland) - Brownrigg school (no longer operating)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1984
Further Comments: Three girls unable to sleep in their dorm one night all heard the thunderous sound of horses and the clanking of metal pass through the room. One witness said they were so terrified they did not dare open their eyes.

Jocelyn Percy

Location: Beverley (Yorkshire) - Roads in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Jocelyn has been reported driving his coach and four headless horses around the streets of this otherwise quiet neighbourhood. Another version of the legend says he flies above the street, pausing briefly over an unnamed house.

George Lyon

Location: Billinge (Lancashire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1920s
Further Comments: Riding on his horse, this former highwayman passes through the village where he once hid out.

Lady

Location: Binfield (Berkshire) - Billingbear House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1924
Further Comments: A ghostly white lady haunted this house before it burnt down. One room was transported to Pace College, Manhattan, and is said to contain a ghost (whether it is the white lady is unknown).

Galloping Horses

Location: Blackburn (Lancashire) - Mill Hill area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A woman waiting for the bus watched a herd of horses stampede close by, but no one else had seen them. A few years later she discovered someone else had also, more recently, seen the herd in the same area.

Little Lane, Blakeney, Norfolk.

Black Dog

Location: Blakeney (Norfolk) - Little Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lane is a favoured haunt for the black shuck. The same lane is reportedly haunted by a ghostly horse and carriage.