The Paranormal Database

Walking

Location: Lytchett Minster - Private house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010/11
Further Comments: Footsteps could be heard walking around the loft and running up and down the stairs, even though no one would be up there. A child would be heard crying on Sunday mornings - the occupants thought it was one of the neighbour's children, although that belief changed after the children could be seen in their garden and the crying continued. The activity seemed to increase over time, and the occupants eventually moved away.

Headless Coachman

Location: Mappowder - Lane connecting Ansty and Hazelbury Bryan
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The headless coachman and his team of horses would cause mortal horses to stop along this lane.

Funeral Procession

Location: Marnhull - Area near quarry, and/or Sackmore Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Always at midnight, thought the date changes
Further Comments: This line of mourners following a black horse drawn carriage has been reported travelling the roads in Marnhull. Another report states that there are only two pallbearers, and they are more likely to be seen along Sackmore Lane.

Man by Fireplace

Location: Marnhull - Cottage (no longer standing) along Ashley Farm Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A cottage along this lane was haunted by a man who wore a long tailed coat with brass buttons. The figure would manifest by the fireplace. When the cottage was demolished, a large amount of money was found under the hearthstone.

Harding

Location: Marnhull - Cottage along Burton Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Michael Harding, a cobbler during life, was said to haunt this property. He could be heard banging away every night until someone joked about the spirit losing his hammer, after which the entity fell silent.

Tapping

Location: Marnhull - Tapsay House
Type: Other
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: Marianne Dacombe reported that a former resident heard constant tapping at this site, the source of which could never be discovered.

Devil's Jumps

Location: Marshwood - Clumps of trees between village and Thorncombe
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The small clumps of trees between these points are where the Devil bounced along the ground after being kicked by the Abbot of Forde. Some say that these trees move to a nearby stream to drink late at night, while others tell of the Devil returning after dark to swing from tree to tree.

Many Spirits

Location: Marshwood - Lambert's Castle (hillfort)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: A seventeenth century historian said that this hillfort was particularly haunted but neglected to say by what.

Mr Baker

Location: Melbury Bubb - Dirt track along Bubdown Hill, known as Murderers Lane?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10 November (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Mr Baker was a farmer murdered on the hill in 1694. His ghost returns on the anniversary of the crime, possibly driving a horse and carriage.

Strange Carving

Location: Melbury Osmund - Church of St Osmund
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A carving in the church shows a strange creature entangled in a thicket.

Shortcut to Heaven

Location: Melbury Osmund - St Catherine's Chapel
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Writing still present
Further Comments: Words engraved over the entranceway to the chapel state that a visit here will allow you to enter heaven 120 days sooner after death than normal.

White Lady Riding

Location: Melbury Osmund - Unidentified Barn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown, likely nineteenth century
Further Comments: A drunk man fell asleep in the barn, waking at midnight to see a woman in white riding around on a buck. She moved so fast that the wind whipped up dust, causing the man to sneeze - the sound causing the lady to vanish.

Loser

Location: Melcombe Horsey - Giant's Grave
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This earth mound is said to contain the body of a giant who lost a stone throwing contest against another of his ilk. The two stones are close by and are said to rotate when a cockerel is heard to crow.

Rockin'

Location: Melcombe Horsey - Giant's Grave, Cross Lanes
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Two large stones near this round barrow are said to move when they hear the cockerels crow in the nearby village of Chesilborne.

Coffin

Location: Milborne St Andrew - Cowleaze Barrows
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Barrow still present
Further Comments: One of these barrows (there are three) is said to contain a golden coffin. A storm is said to blow in if anyone starts to dig for it. Some sources mention that headless phantom coffin bearers haunt the area, which may only be visible to the D'Urberville family.

Milton Abbas, Dorset.

White Lady

Location: Milton Abbas - Road through the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sightings of this phantom white lady are said not to be uncommon, though any real details are fleeting.

Sword

Location: Morecombelake - Five Bells public house
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A sword hanging in the cupboard here was said to prevent a haunting - if the sword were removed, the ghost or ghosts would return.

The Ladies

Location: Morecombelake - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: The family who lived here experienced many strange occurrences, including a blue light which bathed people when they awoke, bangs, an unseen entity which touched people, and ladies who would be observed moving around upstairs. After two years of haunting experiences, the family moved away.

Grey Girl

Location: Netherbury - Wooth Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom woman dressed in grey and wearing her hair in a bun reputedly moves from room to room as if searching for something. Some have said the ghost is that of a former serving girl dismissed for theft, while others speculate she is a former owner.

Coach

Location: Oakley Down - Area near the barrow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1940
Further Comments: A coach pulled by two headless horses was spotted by a boy transporting wheat during the early hours of the morning.

Soldiers

Location: Oborne - Road heading towards Poyntington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The road between these two villages was avoided at night, as Royalists and Roundheads were thought to still be fighting.

Dancing Girls

Location: Okeford Fitzpaine - Okeford Hill (aka Oxeford Hill)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Two men out for a walk reported seeing a score of small child-like figures dancing on the slopes of the hill. The figures danced in a perfect circle while holding their joined hands in the air before suddenly vanishing.

Gytrack

Location: Philpots Camp - The Big-Upon-Little Stone (aka Great-Upon-Little stone)
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: This phantom black hound once kept the local populace away from the area at night.

Blandford's Hand

Location: Pimperne - Pimperne churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Blandford was a trumpeter with the Dragoons who engaged with poaching on the side. One night he was stumbled upon by a posse of gamekeepers; during the ensuing fight he lost a hand and was captured. While the hand was buried at Pimperne churchyard, Blandford recovered from his injury, and died in London a few years later. The hand is said to crawl around the graveyard and will not rest until reunited with the rest of Blandford.

Dog that is not There

Location: Pimperne - Road between village and Letton Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1970s
Further Comments: Heard dragging chains as it ran, this phantom hound is said to be invisible, though it has been touched by witnesses as it passes them. A similar story is told in Stourpaine, Dorset.