The Paranormal Database

Suicide

Location: Sturminster Newton - Swan Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: An inn keeper who took his own life in the late eighteenth century is said to keep an eye on his former establishment.

Woman

Location: Sturminster Newton - White Hart Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The White Hart is said to be haunted by a woman who quietly goes about her business in the bar area.

Female Form

Location: Swanage - Godlingston Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This manor house is haunted by a creepy lady with no known history.

Shadowy Figure in Bowler Hat

Location: Swanage - Hillcrest area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 7 December 2005
Further Comments: A strange shadowy figure carrying a sickle and wearing what appeared to be a bowler hat was spotted walking along this road.

Swanage's Red Lion public house.

Fred

Location: Swanage - Red Lion public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2010s
Further Comments: The poltergeist nicknamed Fred, thought to be a former landlord, would move items around the building.

Jack Stevens

Location: Swanage - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010s onwards
Further Comments: After Rachael Aplin took over this pub, haunting manifestations began, with ghost hunters naming Jack Stevens as one of the phantoms. The site featured in the TV series Paranormal Lockdown.

The Ship Inn, Swanage.

Shadowy Figure

Location: Swanage - Ship Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2011
Further Comments: A shadowy figure briefly appeared on the CCTV, but could not be seen in the corresponding area within the pub.

Crying Girl

Location: Symondsbury - Lane between village and Bridport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This country lane is said to be haunted by a young crying girl. She is said to vanish if approached.

William Doggett

Location: Tarrant Gunville - Eastbury (house ruins)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Having borrowed large amounts of money to build the house, William Doggett committed suicide when he realised he could never pay off the loan. Doggett's ghost was heard walking around the house and blamed for opening and closing doors. It was also seen, headless, driving a coach in the grounds.

Velvet Chain

Location: Tarrant Gunville - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An invisible dog runs around this area, with a chain as soft as velvet. One would imagine this makes it one of the hardest entities to detect in the whole of the UK. A legend says that a clump of yew trees in the region of the village conceal a silver table.

Legionnaires

Location: Thorncombe Woods - Roman Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1969
Further Comments: A phantom contingent of Roman legionnaires is still said to match along this piece of ancient road. A single Roman soldier was spotted by a group of youths and two adults camping in the woods.

Jumping Devil

Location: Thornecombe - Trees between village and Birdsmore Gate
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Devil is sometimes thought to exercise by jumping over the trees located between these two locations.

Little Girl in Victorian Clothes

Location: Throop - Throop Mill river (River Stour)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: The mill is supposed to be haunted by monks and young people or children. One witness said that he had encountered a little girl in a Victorian dress in 2004 and again in 2012, accompanied by the sound of crying.

Pallbearers

Location: Todbar - Churchyard and road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1920s?
Further Comments: Walking away from the churchyard, two ghostly men carry a coffin covered over in black cloth.

Bolting Horses

Location: Trent - Trent Barrow, pool
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Stormy weather
Further Comments: The pool was once the scene of a tragedy when a horse drawn carriage crashed into it, drowning all on board. This mishap can still occasionally be heard. The pool was once believed to be so deep that it could never be measured.

Excalibur

Location: Trent - Trent Barrow, pool
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pool still present
Further Comments: This pool is said by some to be the location of King Arthur's Excalibur.

Hound

Location: Tyneham - Boatswain's Coppice, between village and Lulworth
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This small piece of woodland was the home of a phantom dog that would physically prevent anyone from walking between the two villages.

Dairymaid

Location: Tyneham - Oak tree near Baltington Farm - known as the Coffin Tree
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A dairymaid who committed suicide is said to be buried under an oak tree that has a coffin carved in the bark. Her wistful spirit walks the area.

Soldier?

Location: Tyneham - Unnamed cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: February 2003
Further Comments: Bournemouth man Christopher Grist photographed what appears to be the phantom figure of a soldier while in the village, though some believe the image to be a simulacrum formed by shadows.

Self-Opening Gate

Location: Ulwell - Old toll gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A witch, who had taken the form of a black cat, was killed while sitting on the gate. Since then, the gate is said to open for those who travel late at night.

Duke of Monmouth

Location: Uplyme - Road leading to Yawl
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Around midnight, though date of last sighting unknown
Further Comments: Riding a white horse in the pale light of the moon, the Duke is sometimes accompanied by several ghostly guards.

Smuggler

Location: Verwood - Eastworth Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former inn, the house was supposed to be haunted by a smuggler hanged from a nearby tree. A resident claimed to have heard the spirit walking up the staircase and opening doors on several occasions.

Bird

Location: Verwood - The Verwood Stone (aka Hoarstone, aka Stephen's Stone)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Under this stone is said to be a golden container. A large black bird protected the treasure, scaring away any tomb raiders. There have been reports of unnatural cold spots in the area.

Battle

Location: Wareham - Hills around Creech Grange
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1678
Further Comments: Several thousand men were said to have been seen in the area, the sound of battle filling the air. The event is said to have been witnessed by around one hundred people.

Two Adrian Browns

Location: Wareham - Undisclosed area of road
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1991
Further Comments: A security worker, Adrian Brown tells the story of driving his van down a road in the area, only to see himself driving the same van in the opposite direction. He was reportedly slightly freaked out at the time.