The Paranormal Database

Thrown

Location: Portesham - The Hellstone
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: These stones came into being when Old Nick threw it from Portland Pike, during a game of Quoits.

Portland Lighthouse.

Drowning

Location: Portland - Cave Hole (or alternatively an unknown cave), close to the lighthouse
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The large, black dog that lives in an unknown cave grabs the unwary and drowns them.

Church Ope Cove, Portland.

Mermaid

Location: Portland - Church Ope Cove
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One story says that a mermaid came ashore here but died soon after being discovered by local people heading to church.

Ship

Location: Portland - Exact location not known, was observed from Lyme
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 23 April 1661, 15:00h
Further Comments: A strange ship appeared in the skies over Portland for seven or eight minutes. Sails, rigging, and men armed with pikes could be observed on board, and the vessel was accompanied by stormy weather.

Portland, Dorset.

Underground Mutton

Location: Portland - General area
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still occurring
Further Comments: The death of a nineteenth century quarry crane operator, blamed on a collapsing rabbit warren, gave birth to the belief that rabbits were unlucky. Even mentioning the word rabbit could bring frightful consequences; the creatures were referred to as 'underground mutton', 'furry things' or just 'bunnies'. Some employers would send their labourers back home if a rabbit had been seen en route to work.

Portland, Dorset.

Mass Evacuation

Location: Portland - General area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1750s
Further Comments: When the first church bell rang across this region, all the local fairies packed their bags and fled.

Portland Castle once used in the English Civil War.

Civil War Dead

Location: Portland - Portland Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This fortress was once used to treat casualties of the Civil War - the smell of burning flesh has been reported in more recent times, as have the sound of an invisible person humming an old song. A young girl may also haunt the site.

Lady in Brown

Location: Portland - Portland Hotel, Portland Square (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1980
Further Comments: Six sailors stayed at this hotel after their ship was unable to leave the docks due to bad weather. After spending time in the bar, the sailors headed to their rooms. Two of the men spotted a woman wearing a long brown Victorian style dress with a white bonnet and shawl on her shoulders standing outside of a room. The figure disappeared before being seen by the other four men.

The coastline of Portland.

Veasta

Location: Portland - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1457, 1757, 1995
Further Comments: This sea monster is reported to have the head of a seahorse but the tail of a fish. Robert Westwood, in his 'Mysterious Places of Dorset', points out that the earlier sighting in 1457 was said to be a giant cockerel which emerged from the sea and crowed three times before submerging.

Overlord

Location: Portland - Unstated public gardens
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: May 1976
Further Comments: While walking his dog early one quiet May morning, Mr Murphy suddenly found himself surrounded by tanks, jeeps and American soldiers walking around. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the scene vanished, leaving both Murphy and his dog shaking. The witness speculated that he had fleetingly witnessed soldiers making final preparations for the D-Day landings.

Monsters

Location: Poundbury - Area north of hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once believed that a large lake, now gone, could be found in this area, where large monsters lived. The lake is likely to have never been in existence and was a misinterpretation of the hillfort structure.

Soul Gatherers

Location: Powerstock - Eggardon Hillfort
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Hounds unknown, chase in 1953
Further Comments: The phantom dogs that frequent this area are reportedly sent to collect the souls of the recently dead, who in turn can sometimes be heard screaming and shouting for help. In 1953, a newspaper reported that a man was chased over the hill by what he claimed was the Devil, while the area also became a mini UFO hotspot after blue lights were seen and car engines cut out.

Pallbearers

Location: Powerstock - Lane leading to West Milton, once known as 'The Cutting'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Carrying a coffin, a small group of pallbearers move along this lane. It is not known if this is the same group that move towards North Poorton.

Rumbling Train

Location: Powerstock - Powerstock station (was also known as Poorstock station), now a private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Even after the station was closed and the track removed, a steam locomotive could be felt as it passed by the building.

Six Pallbearers

Location: Powerstock - Road leading to North Poorton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Six decapitated men carrying a coffin are said to slowly move along the country lanes.

Red Water

Location: Powerstock - Well
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The water in a well within the village is said to occasionally turn red. A local legend says this is because a husband discovered his wife's infidelity and pushed her into the well (the red is explained as either her blood or the colour of her clothing).

Royalist Troops

Location: Poyntington - Mounds near the stream
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed by a much larger force of Parliamentarians, the ghostly roundhead troops sometimes make a comeback late at night, together with a female non-combatant who became caught up in the battle.

Bright Light

Location: Preston - Unknown House
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man who owned a smuggling ship was awoken one night by a bright light and a voice telling him that his ship and crew had been lost at sea. A few days later he discovered that the disembodied voice had spoken the truth.

An old woodcut of a monkey.

Scratching Monkey

Location: Puddletown - Athelhampton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Home to several ghosts, the monkey was accidentally bricked up behind a wall and now tries to escape. Headless figures allegedly sit around the dinner table, duellists re-enact their last fights outside, and a grey lady walks through walls in the east wing.

Rattling Hound

Location: Puncknowle - Road between village and Swyre, and area near the Old Rectory
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large demonic dog is reputed to jump around, rattling a chain behind it.

Legion

Location: Purbeck - Flower's Barrow, Grange Hill, Worbarrow Bay and Chapman's Pool areas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly Roman army is said to march in these areas. Never seen (other than at Chapman's Pool), their presence is denoted by the stamping of feet in unison. Some believe their appearance signifies a threat to Britain.

Nine Kings

Location: Purbeck - Nine Barrow Down, Purbeck Hills
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A legend says the area was the battle site of nine kings, all of whom were killed and buried here.

Horse & Chain

Location: Purse Caundle - Lane between village and Stourton Caundle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An invisible team of horses pull an equally invisible coach along this lane. The only indication of their passing is the noise of the horses and the jangling of a chain. The sounds are said to reach the top of Stourton Caundle before ceasing.

King John's Hounds

Location: Purse Caundle - Purse Caundle Manor
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Varies: 20 June or 23 June and 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Twice a year, this pack of devil dogs is let loose in the neighbourhood. Sounds of ghostly plainchant have been heard coming from the manor house.

Goblin Home

Location: Ryme Intrinseca - Buckbarrow (current name of location unknown)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Seventeenth century?
Further Comments: Though no trace of the structure now remains, a barrow in this neighbourhood was once the home of goblins (or a close fairy family member).