The Paranormal Database

Man in Green

Location: Dartmoor - Highwayman Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly man in green, wearing a hat with a feather, was seen walking through a wall. A visiting medium claimed the ghost's name was Samuel.

Vanishing Cottage

Location: Dartmoor - Islington area?
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s or 1960s
Further Comments: An OS surveyor working on the moor spotted a cottage with smoke rising from the chimney. When he went to investigate, no sign of the building could be found, although he did meet another person who had also spotted the cottage but was unable to find it.

People on Horseback

Location: Dartmoor - Lustleigh Cleave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1956
Further Comments: Wearing clothing from the middle ages, witnesses observed several horsemen galloping across this Dartmoor area. Another party of witnesses saw what looked like cavemen moving around the stone circle at the Cleave.

Funeral Processions

Location: Dartmoor - Lych Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Phantom monks and funeral processions have been reported travelling along this ancient pathway, as have the ghosts of tin miners.

Wish Pack

Location: Dartmoor - Marchant's Cross
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Led by Drake, this pack of hounds patrol the area.

The ghostly pigs of Dartmoor.

Sow

Location: Dartmoor - Merripit Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom sow and her litter walk the area looking for food.

Pixies

Location: Dartmoor - New Bridge
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several of these small creatures are said to loiter around the area.

Military Horseman

Location: Dartmoor - Newhouse Inn (ruins)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure wearing a grey greatcoat has been seen riding along near the ruins of this building.

David Davies

Location: Dartmoor - Prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Misty nights (Davies)
Further Comments: Davies tended to the prison sheep between 1869 and 1929. He died soon after being released, but his ghost returned, walking the prison grounds on misty nights. The prison is also haunted by French PoWs from the Napoleonic wars, while some inmates believe jackdaws which fly around the area contain the souls of dead staff.

An old magic lantern slide of the River Dart.

Calling Stones

Location: Dartmoor - Rowbrook, Broad Stones, River Dart
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that the Dart takes one life a year, by gently calling the victim's name until they fall into the waters and drown.

Unforgiven Women

Location: Dartmoor - Scorhill Circle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The largest stone circle on Dartmoor, it was said that 'sinful' women would pray for forgiveness at the foot of the stones - if God chose not to be lenient, a stone would fall upon them... Seven of the thirty stones have fallen, though no one can say for sure if bodies lay underneath.

A Devon pixie.

Pixie

Location: Dartmoor - Shaugh Bridge area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1897
Further Comments: This wee fellow, standing forty-five centimetres in height and wearing blue and red clothing, quickly vanished once realising that he had been spotted. The area is also said to be where the Devil and his hellhounds hunt.

Little People

Location: Dartmoor - Sheepstor - Pixies Cave
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The cave was shared with the pixies by humans when hiding during the Civil War.

Wool Delivery

Location: Dartmoor - Spinsters Rock
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A burial cairn, it is said that these works were constructed by three passing spinsters who were en route to deliver a bundle of wool.

John Stephens

Location: Dartmoor - Stephens' Grave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Buried at this remote spot after committing suicide, the shade of Stephens is skeletal and dressed in a decaying grey robe.

Galloping

Location: Dartmoor - Throwleigh
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Invisible creatures running along can be heard, and the wind of their passing felt.

The Devil does a Deal

Location: Dartmoor - Tunhill Kistvaen
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 21 October 1631
Further Comments: It was at this spot that Jan Reynolds was approached by a cloaked stranger who bought his soul from him for seven years of good luck. He agreed, and seven years later the Devil came and took his due, while Jan sat in Widecombe church.

Wish Hounds

Location: Dartmoor - Wistman's Wood, one mile north of Two Bridges
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Large black dogs are rumoured to hunt in this area of the moors - they once killed the son of a farmer. In the same area, a procession of white clad figures could be seen walking through the wood, following the path of what was once a well-used funeral route.

Squire Boon

Location: Dartmouth - House on Boon Hill (no longer standing), and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Boon appeared after his daughter married a man who he had disapproved of in life. The entity followed the woman around until she died, and now haunts the area where he once lived.

Coach Arriving

Location: Dartmouth - The Royal Castle Hotel, The Quay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn months, 02:00h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Early morning, during the time of golden leaves, the sound of a horse and coach can be heard coming to a stop outside the hotel. There are sounds of someone jumping on board before the hooves can be heard pulling away. One of the bedrooms may be haunted by a robed figure, and the sounds of two people fighting can be heard in the courtyard.

Murderous Monk

Location: Dawlish - Barton House (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A witness recalled seeing this monk standing at the top of the staircase - it vanished, though the sounds of a scream followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground occurred soon after. As the witness fled, he could hear laughter.

Grey Lady

Location: Dawlish - Former hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A grey lady was said to walk into wardrobes where she would disappear. Shadows were seen walking on the staircase and cold spots were also reported on the site.

An old postcard of Dawlish in Devon.

Devil's Footprints

Location: Dawlish - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 8 / 9 February 1855
Further Comments: Thousands of cloven footprints covered Devon on the evening of 8 Feb 1855, resembling that of a donkey - apart from they ran in a straight line, covered roofs as well as roads, and stretched around one hundred miles across the county - Dawlish is just one of many places touched by the strange event.

Petrified Parson

Location: Dawlish - Parson and Clerk Rock
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A priest and his clerk found themselves lost in the area and sought shelter in an old house where they found several men eating and drinking to excess. The two visitors joined in, only to soon realise that their host was Old Nick. They tried to escape but failed. One legend says that they were found dead on the rock that now bears their names, while other stories say that the pair were turned into the stone.

Old postcard showing Dawlish in Devon.

Couple out for a Walk

Location: Dawlish - Sea front
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Identified as Nelson and Lady Hamilton, this couple were seen walking hand in hand along the sea front in the early hours of the morning.