The Paranormal Database

The Last Executed

Location: Exeter - Exeter prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: Two prisoners reported seeing a middle-aged man walking along the upper gallery, vanishing as he reached a cell door. After staff carried out a little research, they discovered the man was the last person to be executed in the prison.

Workman

Location: Exeter - Exeter University
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1967
Further Comments: A phantom man dressed in painter's overalls has been seen walking down the corridors.

Cycling Through

Location: Exeter - Exeter's Underground Passages
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The guides of the underground passages, normally open to the public, tell of a phantom cyclist who passes through the area. There is also rumoured to be hidden treasure somewhere in the tunnels.

Mr Jones

Location: Exeter - Fore Street
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century?
Further Comments: Mrs Burrow spotted Mr Jones, a retired silversmith a little way ahead of her along this street. Burrow walked faster to catch up, but Jones vanished as she reached him. The following day Burrow received a message that Jones had died at the moment she had seen his ghost.

Gardener's Father

Location: Exeter - Franklyn Mansion gardens
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa nineteenth century
Further Comments: While working in one of the gardens, the gardener claimed to have spotted his father's ghost.

Silk

Location: Exeter - Globe Hotel
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Summer 1932
Further Comments: An American guest at the hotel reported waking several times during the night to the sound of swirling, as if someone were waving armfuls of silk scarves through the air. The woman in the room next door also reported hearing the same noise.

Rose Lady

Location: Exeter - Guildhall Shopping Centre basement
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A shadowy form of a woman has been reported as haunting this area, the smell of roses accompanying her presence.

Victorian Nurse

Location: Exeter - Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly nurse occasionally appears by the bed of anyone close to death and rearranges any nearby flowers so that they form a cross.

Murdered Maid

Location: Exeter - Lord Haldon Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This tragic figure fell pregnant after having an affair with a local landowner - he killed the maid to cover the relationship up, and now she returns to the top of the building, dripping wet.

Giant Bat

Location: Exeter - Magdalen Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 25 May 2000
Further Comments: A witness walking down the road late at night stated he watched a giant bat, with a wingspan of 1.2 metres, swoop around the churchyard along this road.

Heavy Breathing

Location: Exeter - Marks & Spencer store
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Said to be built on an old Roman burial ground, phantom heavy breathing has been reported from staff, as have light poltergeist-like behaviour.

A pencil sketch by Wayne Lowden of a ghostly crying woman.

Crying Mother

Location: Exeter - Martin's Lane, general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A weeping woman waits along this lane at night - her daughter ran away to follow Sir Francis Drake on his last voyage, and never returned.

Footsteps

Location: Exeter - Okehampton Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 09 November 2013, 03:00h
Further Comments: Crossing the bridge, this witness could hear footsteps walking on loose stone. Stopping to listen for a couple of minutes, the footsteps continued to crunch, although no one could be seen.

Crowd Pleaser

Location: Exeter - Private home in St Sidwells area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1897
Further Comments: Police were called is disperse a crowd of people who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the ghost which had taken up residence in this house.

Woman

Location: Exeter - Private residence, Whipton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Not known
Further Comments: While entering their home, a student could see a woman wearing a dress standing on the other side of the front door. The woman stood watching the student until they opened the door, upon which the figure vanished. The student's mother was at home but not near the front door at the time (and was also wearing clothing different to what the student had seen).

Little Girl with Rag Doll

Location: Exeter - Prospect Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This young child only appears once a year in the upper part of the building. She is said to smile sweetly at any witnesses, before quickly fading away.

An old postcard of the River Exe and Exeter.

The Vikings are Coming

Location: Exeter - River Exe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend has it that a ghostly Viking long ship complete with an angry fighter passes up the river.

Coughing

Location: Exeter - Royal Clarence Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Built on the site of Walter Raleigh's fathers' house, some attribute the coughing sounds to Walter himself.

Sir Francis Drake

Location: Exeter - Ship Inn, Martin's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The inn claims to have once banned Drake from coming in, as his behaviour once drunk was intolerable - maybe this is the reason he returns here...

Black Pig

Location: Exeter - Southern Hay area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This porker is reputed to be the ghost of Judge Jeffreys, cursed to return in animal form after he died.

Fallen Workers

Location: Exeter - St Annes Well Brewery (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s?
Further Comments: A local legend says that, many decades ago, two workers fell down a shaft into the basement where they died of their injuries. The men were blamed for the screams and strange shadows seen in that area. During the 1960s, workmen refused to work in the basement after sunset after experiencing poltergeist-like activities.

Red Light

Location: Exeter - St Layes, ruins of church
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A red light would appear to anyone due a tragedy in their lives - it was commonly seen during the blitz of the Second World War by those who would be killed by bombs or the resulting fires.

Heels

Location: Exeter - St Thomas railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2010, 14:10h
Further Comments: Sitting on the platform with her dog, this woman heard heels walk past her twice, although no one could be seen. The dog circled and barked before rolling over and acted as if being stroked.

Tall Glowing Figure

Location: Exeter - Unnamed building near the Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1940s
Further Comments: Two men trying to steal lead from a roof screamed in horror as they realised a gaunt ghostly figure stood by their sides, pointing accusingly at them. Their cries alarmed the neighbourhood, but they escaped never to be seen again.

Inside the Clock

Location: Exeter - Unstated house, Sidwell Street
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1929
Further Comments: M Russell awoke at 05:00h hearing someone sounding as if in great distress inside their alarm clock. They took the clock and hugged it until the sounds ceased. Several hours later, Russell discovered their uncle had died, and a later post-mortem placed the time of death around 05:00h.