The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Devon Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

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.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2015-06-21 | Last updated: 2015-06-21 | ID #11863

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.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-24 | Last updated: 2003-12-24 | ID #4843

Watching Pixies

Location: Challacombe - Area between village and Chapman's Barrows, locally known as Pixie Rocks
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These little fellows use the rocks as a lookout area, the jagged crags forming a natural defence.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-11-09 | Last updated: 2002-11-09 | ID #3072

Horses

Location: Challacombe - Broken Barrow (exact location not known)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man who tried to break into this barrow was driven mad by the sound of horses - each time the robber reached into the hole he had made, the sound of horses could be heard, though the creatures could not be seen. The man eventually lost his sight and hearing, dying three months later.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-05-04 | Last updated: 2009-05-04 | ID #9322


Winged Dragon.

Firey Creatures

Location: Challacombe - Bronze Age burial mounds
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Breathing fire as they travelled, the dragons in this region are said to have an interest in Bronze Age burial mounds, possibly protecting them from treasure hunters.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-09-15 | Last updated: 2005-09-15 | ID #6564

Pan

Location: Challacombe - Wood Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pan made from brass and filled with gold and silver was said to be concealed beneath this barrow. One treasure hunter was said to have been driven insane by phantom horses which followed him around the area.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-05-04 | Last updated: 2009-05-04 | ID #9327

Grey Lady

Location: Chardstock - Area between the churchyard and the vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This little grey lady occasionally moves between the two buildings.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-27 | Last updated: 2003-12-27 | ID #4922

Old Man

Location: Charford - Charford Manor Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Spotted drifting around the dining room, the ghost of an elderly man is also thought to haunt the cellar where he moves bottles and creates footsteps.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-04-06 | Last updated: 2007-04-06 | ID #7189

Great Dane

Location: Cheriton Bishop - Cheriton Cross, A30
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This dog leapt out in front of an incoming car - the driver thought he hit the creature but could not find any evidence of an accident when he stopped.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-12-28 | Last updated: 2003-12-28 | ID #4962

Cloaked Man

Location: Chudleigh - Bishop Lacy Inn, Fore Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure was seen running up the staircase of the building - when the landlord gave chase, the man vanished into thin air. A white woman has also been seen on site, and at one time a group of bar dwellers watched as a pint of beer was pulled by a phantom hand!

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-27 | Last updated: 2002-08-27 | ID #2343


A Dwarf and his treasure are seldom parted.

Dwarf

Location: Chudleigh Knighton - Exact location unknown
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This dwarf is said to stand guard over a fabulous wealth of treasure concealed from greedy men.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-11-10 | Last updated: 2002-11-10 | ID #3110

Green Faced Monkey

Location: Churston - Woodland
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: This four foot high fella was seen over a dozen times over the summer months, running along the floor of the woods. He may not have survived the winter, as no reports were forthcoming the following year.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-01-22 | Last updated: 2003-01-22 | ID #3680

Fast Moving Car

Location: Clyst St Mary - Road between Clyst St Mary and Clyst St George
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 22 February 1997 (car), Autumn 2002 (soldier)
Further Comments: This witness was passed by a fast moving car which turned off in front of them. As the witness drove by the turning spot, they realised that the route that the fast car had taken was blocked and there was no sign of the vehicle. Five years later the same witness reported a blue soldier which manifested in the front seat of their car along the same road.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2011-01-02 | Last updated: 2011-01-02 | ID #10110

Leather Clad Cyclist

Location: Cocketon - Drum Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Wearing a helmet and dressed in full black biker's leathers, this figure was seen in the kitchen by the landlady. The entity vanished when approached. The biker has also been glimpsed in the cellar.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-11-21 | Last updated: 2004-11-21 | ID #5600

Friendly

Location: Cockwood - Anchor Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Telegraph news article mentioned this site to be haunted by a friendly ghost and his dog, presumably also a ghost.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2024-04-13 | Last updated: 2024-04-13 | ID #15331

Red Monkey

Location: Colebrook - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: For years, this creature was reported in the bushes of the area, attacking anyone who came too close.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-27 | Last updated: 2003-12-27 | ID #4923

Young Woman

Location: Coleford - Coombe House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1940s - 1990s
Further Comments: A family moved to this house during the Second World War would encounter a phantom young woman wearing a long dress who would appear by a fireplace in a bedroom. After the family moved away, they would later learn that the subsequent owners had continued to experience the woman. Secret tunnels also ran under the house.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2024-09-15 | Last updated: 2024-09-15 | ID #15628

Lady in White

Location: Coleford - Crossroads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom lady in white who haunts this crossroads may be looking for her sister who possibly died in the nineteenth century.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2024-04-13 | Last updated: 2024-04-13 | ID #15332

Sebastian

Location: Coleford - New Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former monk (or Cavalier) in life, Sebastian is thought still to hang around the building.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-25 | Last updated: 2003-12-25 | ID #4852

Annie

Location: Coleford - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Particularly active May and September
Further Comments: Nicknamed Annie, this phantom occasionally manifests as an old lady in a brown dress and creates sounds of footsteps, opens or closes doors, and moves items.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2023-10-29 | Last updated: 2024-04-13 | ID #15159

Dusty Figure

Location: Coleford - Unidentified cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A family who moved to a cottage owned by a miller soon observed a figure in dusty white overalls walk through the wall. During renovations it was discovered that the location where the figure had walked through had formally been a doorway.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2025-01-04 | Last updated: 2025-01-04 | ID #15776

Doctor Barnes

Location: Colyton - The Doctor's Stone
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Placed on top of a hill by the good Doctor so he could survey the land whilst resting, the stone is now reportedly haunted by the man's shade - he has been seen perched upon it, smoking a pipe.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-26 | Last updated: 2003-12-26 | ID #4871

Bearded Man

Location: Combe Martin - Pack o'Cards inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A small man sporting a long beard is said to haunt this building, as is a white woman in a flowing gown.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-08-28 | Last updated: 2007-08-28 | ID #7905

Religious Procession

Location: Combe Martin - St Peter's Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1921
Further Comments: A mix of priests, women, peasants and a bishop were observed walking through the church in complete silence, before fading away.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-27 | Last updated: 2003-12-27 | ID #4906

Strangler

Location: Combeinteignhead - Coombe Cellars public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s onwards
Further Comments: A room that people reported feeling a presence in was later discovered to have been the scene of a murder, in which the victim had been strangled. A barmaid reported the sensation of being throttled after she spent a few nights in the room.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-12-24 | Last updated: 2003-12-24 | ID #4836

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