The Paranormal Database

Napoleonic Figure

Location: Brixham - Berry Head Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2013
Further Comments: A wedding guest was said to have seen a figure in Napoleonic clothing during the night. Local legend says that the building is haunted by the ghost of a soldier.

Squire Hilliard

Location: Brixham - Black House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: When empty, rooms in this house would be seen lit up at night, with the silhouette of Hilliard passing the windows, wearing old style clothing - he killed himself after falling in love with a peasant girl and his father refused to let him see her. Also used once by monks, their presence is still felt and heard, and even seen on a couple of occasions.

Monk

Location: Brixham - Churston Court Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Reports exist of a monk seen within this building; as a witness enters, he leaves via another doorway. There are also reports of candles lighting themselves.

Rapper

Location: Brixham - Globe Inn
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The rapping and tapping have reportedly kept previous landlords awake at night, and the poltergeist also enjoys hiding various belongings around the establishment.

Francois

Location: Brixham - Royal British Legion, Baker's Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Thought to have been a French PoW from the Napoleonic wars, Francois has been seen sitting in the bar.

An old postcard showing Brixham in Devon.

Domed Craft

Location: Brixham - Skies over town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 28 April 1967
Further Comments: This craft hovered over the town for around an hour before disappearing.

One for Dinner

Location: Brixham - Smugglers Haunt Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This lonely shade was spotted sitting by itself at a dinner table but could only be seen when looked at through a mirror.

John Slater

Location: Brixton - Bolton Cross Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: One of the last places he acted before his death, his shade has been seen wearing the costume of his final show.

Incense

Location: Broadhempston - Church House Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Varies: Christmas and Easter (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a cottage for monks, the sweet smell is thought to come from the long dead monks celebrating their festivals.

Monk

Location: Broadhempston - Monk's Retreat
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly monk was credited with alerting patrons to a fire that had sprung up near an unattended candle - they were able to quickly put out the flames, by which time the figure had gone.

White Monks

Location: Buckfastleigh - Buckfast Abbey
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1872
Further Comments: A young man out fishing watched a long line of monks moving towards the abbey. He said the phantoms were completely silent.

Squire Cabell

Location: Buckfastleigh - Church, the Cabell Tomb
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Dark, stormy nights
Further Comments: When the weather is right, the squire emerges from his tomb and, together with a pack of hounds, sets off across the nearby moor. Many believe that it is this legend that Hound of the Baskervilles is based upon. A local legend says if one runs around the tomb thirteen times before sticking a finger in the keyhole, the ghost can be felt licking the tip.

Lady in Grey

Location: Buckfastleigh - King's Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lady died by falling down a well that was once on the site, preventing her from meeting her lover. She is still waiting.

Roadside Cottage

Location: Buckfastleigh - Moorland around the area
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Three lost girls on the moor at night claimed to have come across a cottage. Peering through an un-curtained window, they could see an old man and woman sitting by a fire. Before they had a chance to move, cottage and contents vanished without warning.

Former Drinkers?

Location: Buckfastleigh - The Valiant Soldier pub museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2016, 2023
Further Comments: This perfectly preserved 1960s public house is said to be haunted by the presence of old patrons. In 2023 a ghost hunting group heard footsteps run upstairs, although everyone had been accounted for.

Lady in Black

Location: Buckland Brewer - Coach and Horses public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This woman dressed in black has been observed by several landlords and ladies. There has also been a sighting of a phantom Roundhead, and disembodied footsteps reported.

Abe Beer

Location: Buckland Monachorum - Who'd Have Thought It Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The aptly named Abe, a former landlord at the pub, still returns to his bar. A Cavalier also haunts the premises, a sad look on his pale face.

Tom Crocker

Location: Burgh Island - Pilchard Inn, and surrounding area, Burgh Island
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 August (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A smuggler by trade, Crocker met his match outside the pub, where he was shot dead (by customs or by rivals, we do not know). He returns on that fateful day. Other sources state that he was hanged, and that the area around this site generates a melancholy feeling. The ghostly lights from lanterns held by phantom wreckers are also seen on the shore at night.

Lost Village

Location: Burrator Reservoir - Under water
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old village was submerged when the reservoir was constructed in 1898. The church bells are supposed to occasionally still ring.

Cedric

Location: Calverleigh - Rose and Crown public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2019
Further Comments: Cedric is the nickname of the ghost which is blamed for hiding objects and creating out of place gusts of wind.

Can a house be a ghost?

Cottages

Location: Chagford - Exact location not known
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Every ten or twelve years, though date not known
Further Comments: Some believe that several ghostly cottages periodically appear in the village, though it is not known whether they were once 'real'.

Music

Location: Chagford - General area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Peaceful nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: On quiet nights, nineteenth century villagers said that fairy music and the patter of little feet could be heard from the surrounding area.

Chambermaid

Location: Chagford - Globe Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This maid was drowned while being trialled on a charge of witchcraft - her shade returned in protest.

Banging in Cellar

Location: Chagford - Ring O'Bells public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This polt is content with banging away in the cellar, occasionally coming up to knock decorations from the walls.

Sidney Godolphin

Location: Chagford - Three Crowns Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980
Further Comments: A Royalist officer, Sidney died on doorstep of the hotel - he was last seen standing in full uniform at the door of the dining room, by a surprised chef.