The Paranormal Database

Golden Table

Location: Ryme Intrinseca - Court Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A golden table is reputed to be at the bottom of a well on the hill.

Jangling Keys

Location: Sandford Orcas - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church is said to be home to the phantom sounds of running feet and the jangling of keys.

Farmer in Smock

Location: Sandford Orcas - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Farmer seen between 14:30-15:55h (reoccurring), old lady at 11.50h (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Several shades are reported to haunt this property; the dead farmer has been seen from the kitchen window, while a little old lady has been reported on the staircase. One must not forget the other figures - a man in armour, another in evening dress, and yet another wearing a large ruff, and finally a little dog. The smell of burning tobacco has been reported, as have stomping footfalls.

Naked Man

Location: Sandford Orcas - Woodland
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century?
Further Comments: A naked figure reputed to lurk within forested areas was said to be a 'wild man of the woods'.

Black Dog

Location: Seatown - Old graveyard, where the A35 intersects the road leading away from village
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large black hound is said to haunt this churchyard and has been seen vanishing into a large headstone.

Monks

Location: Shaftesbury - Area close to St James' Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Three phantom monks wearing wide-brimmed hats were spotted by a local man.

Two Men with Pack Horses

Location: Shaftesbury - Gold Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two men leading pack horses escort the body of Edward the Martyr Prince to his final resting place.

Grey Lady

Location: Shaftesbury - Grosvenor Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: This phantom woman is thought to be a nun who escaped from a nearby Abbey. An ethereal, hooded monk is also reported to haunt the hotel cellar, and some guests have reported having their sheets removed.

Monk

Location: Shaftesbury - Shaftesbury Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Monk unknown, man in 1971
Further Comments: When this man died, he was the only one to know the true location of the Abbey's hidden treasure. He now returns to ensure it remains hidden. It is worth noting that the ghost 'walks' on his knees - one assumes this is because of a change in ground level. Several people claimed to have seen a phantom man running around the ruins at night; some say that this was the ghost of King Edward.

Smartly Dressed Woman

Location: Shaftesbury - Shaftesbury Theatre
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Seen only once, this woman in autumn clothing stood on a catwalk seventy foot above the stage - she was passed by a builder who was sent to fix the ceiling damaged in a storm. At first it did not register that she was out of place, and when the worker went to speak to her, she had vanished.

Another Thrown Stone

Location: Shaftesbury - The Popple Stone, Doncliffe Hall Farm (private property)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large stone was thrown into position by the Devil (as he chilled at Bul Barrow).

Cloven Hoof Card Player

Location: Shaftesbury - Three hundred year old barn (likely no longer standing), French Mill Lane
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The story goes that young people would meet at the barn to play cards on a Sunday. One day they were joined by a stranger who sat in for a couple of games. He dropped a card, and as he bent down to pick it up, other players spotted that he had a cloven hoof. None of the card players ever played on a Sunday again.

Shadowy Woman

Location: Shaftsbury - Grosvenor Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building has been home to sightings of a phantasmal grey lady and phantom monks. An order of monks once lived here before the building became a public house.

Badbury Rings hillfort, Dorset.

Arthur's Victory

Location: Shapwick - Badbury Rings
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Battle in sixth century(?), entities in late twentieth century
Further Comments: This hillfort has been named by some as the location where King Arthur defeated the Saxons. Several phantasmic events also surround the Rings, including the sighting of a ghostly warrior on horseback, a spectral woman wearing a black dress, and an ugly dwarf-like entity which peers into the windows of parked cars. Finally, there are stories of a golden coffin buried in the area.

Irish Wolfhound

Location: Shapwick - Road surrounding Badbury Rings
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large phantom dog that has been reported running along the road is thought to be an Irish Wolfhound looking for his master.

Sir Walter

Location: Sherborne - Sherborne (New) Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 28 September, St Michael's Eve (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sir Walter Raleigh is said to appear here once a year, near a tree that was named after him. Other ghosts claimed to haunt the castle include horses and a ghostly child. At one time, it was thought the castle was cursed, as ill fortune befell several of the owners.

Roger of Salisbury

Location: Sherborne - Sherborne (Old) Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom Bishop Roger of Salisbury may have been spotted at the castle.

Murdered Farmer

Location: Shillingstone - Gain's Cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nineteenth century?
Further Comments: A murdered farmer took up haunting this lane and could be seen sitting on an old wooden gate. When the gate fell apart, it was replaced with a metal one, which apparently drove the ghost away.

Vanishing Hound

Location: Shipton Gorge - Exact area unknown
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A dog was encountered by a local man as he walked home late one night. Wanting to move the creature from his path, the man threw a stick at it - the piece of wood passed straight through the hound, causing it to vanish.

Funeral

Location: Shipton Gorge - Location which was known as Gadger's Hole
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring), but date unknown (likely nineteenth century)
Further Comments: This was one of several sites across Dorset where a phantom funeral procession was reportedly seen.

White Woman

Location: Shipton Gorge - Private residence along Dorchester Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless woman in a white gown was said to haunt this location.

Priest

Location: Silton - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom holy man has been watched as he moves from the altar to the vestry.

Horseman

Location: Sixpenny Handley - Bottlebush (or Bottlebrush) Down
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1924, onwards and previous
Further Comments: This figure on horseback is supposed to date from the late Bronze Age, which probably makes him the UK's oldest ghost. When a nearby barrow was excavated, it revealed the bones of a man and horse. The area is also said to be home to fairies.

Ducks

Location: Sixpenny Handley - Endless Pit (hollow in the ground)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was reported that ducks in the water filled pit could dive under the water and reappear several miles away in the village of Gussage.

Walking Woman

Location: Sixpenny Handley - Road between Upwood and Deneland, and Common Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early / mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A tall dark woman wearing a cape has been seen by a couple of villagers - she would vanish while walking. Other roads in the area are reputedly haunted by a man who also vanishes without warning.