Early Morning Rider

Location: Stoke Trister - Field in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 30 June 2007, between 10:00h - 11:00h
Further Comments: While walking his dog, this witness heard the sound of horse's hooves walking alongside him for several minutes, never becoming and louder or quieter, or changing pace. The witness thought the sound may have been coming from behind a nearby hedge, though there was nothing visible.

White Light

Location: Street - A39, between Street and Bridgwater
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A white light is said to follow drivers as they pass through a wooded area of the road. The light vanishes when witnesses turn to try and see the source.

Sunbathing Devil

Location: Tarr Steps - By the River Barle
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The steps were created by Old Nick, and he uses them so he can catch some rays on the nicer days of summer.

Hitchhiker

Location: Taunton - A38 road near the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: This man dressed in a long grey coat stands by the roadside, and if an oncoming car doesn't stop to offer him a ride, he throws himself in front of the vehicle. Either way, he vanishes without trace, normally leaving the witness scared and confused. A female version of the man has also been reported in the same area, but dressed in white.

Mother with Child

Location: Taunton - Allum Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tragedy is sometimes replayed here - a pale woman is seen carrying a newborn baby on the bridge, which she throws over the edge into the water below. She then disappears into the cover of the night.

Curse

Location: Taunton - Castle Neroche
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Treasure believed (by some) to be concealed in the area around the Iron Age hillfort has yet to be fully discovered - death and serious accidents have befallen all those to have tried. Another legend says that the treasure is protected by a dragon.

Green Haired Ghost

Location: Taunton - Hammett's Walk & Upper High Street areas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost may have drowned in a nearby stream.

Blonde

Location: Taunton - Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in seventeenth century clothing, this fair haired wraith drifts around the museum. Not so pretty is Judge Jeffrey's shade that also appears within the same building.

Argument

Location: Taunton - Naval and Military Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A group of three ghost hunters were apparently scared away from the haunted room here, when the sounds of a phantom argument grew too strong.

Marching Army

Location: Taunton - Taunton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard marching through the castle's museum, these invisible troops are thought to belong to the untrained army of the Duke of Monmouth that were slaughtered during a failed attack. Another ghost heard but not seen is a rather loud fiddler named Tom who frequents a room in the attached hotel. The ghost of a lady dressed in clothing matching that of the period of the aforementioned attack makes the odd appearance in the castle, as does a cavalier holding a pistol.

Judge Jefferys

Location: Taunton - Tudor Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spotted in the inn, Jefferys' shade still haunts the town where he held the Bloody Assizes.

Banishing the Dog

Location: Thorne St Margaret - Church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ancient custom of 'clipping the church' once preceded the chasing of the black dog, which was thought to be Satan, out of the village's boundary.

Garden Monks

Location: Tolland - Gaulden Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several shades have been reported here, including monks walking about the garden, a small dog that runs around the same area, a grey lady that stands by a fireplace and another female who haunts a bedroom. A phantom coach can only be seen or heard by members of the family, and is an omen of impending death.

Slain Beast

Location: Trull - Castleman’s hill
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about the dragon said to have been killed in this area.

Aged Man

Location: Twerton - Unnamed council house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: An elderly man was said to appear on three successive nights, his skin wrinkled and his face indistinct.

Guardian Dog

Location: Wambarrows - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large black hound was said to protect the nearby hill from treasure hunters.

Swans

Location: Warminster - Longleat House
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still viable
Further Comments: The story states that if all the swans leave the estate, the owners will soon die and lose their bloodline.

Lady Louisa

Location: Warminster - Longleat House, corridor known as Green Lady's Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The Lady Louisa, caught inside an unhappy marriage, engaged herself in an affair of the heart with another man. Her husband, on discovering this, was less than happy and killed the other man. Louisa now walks the aptly named corridor in regret.

Fireball

Location: Warmley - Skies over the village
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 6 March 1912
Further Comments: A fireball with three points was seen speeding across the sky. The witness said that the object was similar to an aircraft.

Too Many to Count

Location: Washford - Barton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Owners of this house say literately dozens of ghosts haunt their building, though neglect to state whether these are metaphorical or metaphysical.

Train Whistle

Location: Washford - Valley area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A train hasn't travelled here since the early part of the twentieth century, though this hasn't halted the reports of steam whistles and the traditional 'chuff' of an old engine.

Hunting Pack

Location: Watchet - Cleeve Hill
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These Yeth hounds stalk as a pack after dark on the hill side.

Train and Trucks

Location: Watchet - Disused railway lines in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Even though the railway lines had been closed for many years, people were still reporting hearing and seeing phantom locomotives moving around the area. Disembodied laughter, thought to belong to children, also haunt the same area.

Florence Wyndham

Location: Watchet - Kentsford Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mistakenly thought dead, Florence was placed in a coffin and left in the church overnight. She awoke from her coma when the sexton tried to cut off her fingers to steal her rings (he died of shock), and she returned home. Her ghost has been seen making the journey back to the manor, tapping on the windows and door once she arrives home.

Waking the Dead

Location: Watchet - St Decuman's Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A schoolmaster walking past the church was approached by robbers who forced him to take them to the grave of a wealthy woman who had recently died. Opening the crypt, the schoolmaster was made to remove the gold rings from the corpse's fingers. Half way through this ghastly task, the dead woman sat up and cried for her brothers and sisters to help her - nearby coffins opened and the dead sat up. The robbers and schoolmaster ran off, though the teacher died soon after sharing his story.