The Paranormal Database

Music in the Air

Location: Bridport - Colmer's Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1939
Further Comments: Fairy music was once not uncommon in this area. While last heard in 1939 by a group of school children, one hundred years previous it was said a young girl danced herself to death to the tunes.

Grey Lady

Location: Bridport - Gipsy Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: There have been several reports of a grey Edwardian woman along this road - her skin is the same ash grey colour as her clothing.

Sobbing Woman

Location: Bridport - Hope and Anchor public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom woman is said to sob in this public house.

Market Place

Location: Bridport - Langdon Hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hill and the area around it are said to be a haven for the fairy folk - one man once stumbled upon a fairy market from which he tried to steal gold. By the time he reached home, the coins had changed into pebbles.

Cavalier

Location: Bridport - Pedler Restaurant (was an old water mill?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1980s
Further Comments: Seen a couple of times by the family who owed the establishment, this phantom Cavalier was also caught on film (though there was some debate whether the 'figure' was just a trick of the light).

Monk

Location: Bridport - Private residence, Rax Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 1998
Further Comments: One witness awoke to see a monk-like figure standing over their bed. The witness mentioned the sighting to a former resident a short time later, who said that they had also seen the phantom.

Lady in Red

Location: Bridport - Road in Bridport or Dorchester area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A driver remembers stopping at a roundabout on a busy single lane road and seeing the lady in red ahead. The driver looked right to see whether any traffic was coming, but when they looked straight again the lady had gone.

Sitting Shuck

Location: Bridport - St Mary's Church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shuck is said to sit inside the church, and to see it will quickly bring ill-fortune.

Presence

Location: Bridport - The Chantry
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1980s
Further Comments: The jury is out to whether the place is truly haunted - a couple of visitors (at different times) did report feeling a presence, though one person said it was unquiet, while the other described it as kind.

Harmonium Player

Location: Broadmayne - Conygar
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: The house was said to be supposedly haunted by several spirits, including a ghostly figure once seen crouching beside a bedroom door of a former resident, and an entity that has been heard playing a harmonium kept in the empty games room.

Funeral Procession

Location: Broadwindsor - B3162, leading from Drimpton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hearse pulled by four black horses, followed by a large crowd of people, is said to head into the village, though the procession suddenly vanishes before reaching the church.

Shaggy Dog

Location: Broadwindsor - Common Water Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This road is another haunt of the black shuck in Dorset.

Thrown

Location: Brockhampton Green - Large stone (no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says a large boulder that could once be found here was thrown into position by a giant. Another story says that twenty men moved the stone and tried to throw it at a giant. The stone has since been removed or broken up.

Brownsea Castle, Brownsea Island.

Mary Bonham Christie

Location: Brownsea Island - Brownsea Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2003
Further Comments: Brownsea Castle, Brownsea Island, Dorset. A photograph taken from a window in the castle in May 2003 revealed a strange face only seen after the development of the film - some have identified the figure as Mary Bonham Christie, the so-called 'Demon of Brownsea' who bought the island in the 1920s and forced two hundred residents to leave. Mary lived alone in the castle for 33 years, and when she reached 96 years of age, Mary's family moved her to a nursing home. Mary died within 24 hours after being rehomed.

Lady in Brown

Location: Bryanston - Hanford House, currently a school?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: A very polite shade, this woman in brown would curtsey to visitors to the building (their reaction to this is not documented!) and watch over children as they went to bed. A legend says that white peacocks were once raised here by the Seymer family which owned the house, and it was believed that if the peacocks left, then the Seymers would also soon depart. A disbelieving viscount disposed of the birds and died soon after, resulting in the house being sold.

Aunt Charlotte

Location: Bryanston - Portman (aka Bryanston) House, currently the school
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: The shade of Aunt Charlotte was so prevalent the first building here was pulled down and rebuilt solely to rid the living of her ghost. Charlotte may never have been seen again, but a phantom horse and carriage now haunt the drive.

Floating Figure

Location: Bryanston - River and woods in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1986
Further Comments: It was reported that a figure was seen floating across the road before vanishing on the riverbank.

Golden Table

Location: Buckland Newton - Dungeon Hill Hillfort (private land)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A deep well near the hillfort was said to contain a golden table - a recovery attempt caused a minor earth tremor, so work was stopped.

Phantom Coach

Location: Buckland Newton - Park Lane, between village and Glanvilles Wootton (aka Wootton Glanville)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The origins of this phantom coach and team of horses is unclear.

Ship

Location: Burton Bradstock - Stretch of water behind beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: An outdated, ghostly sailing ship was spotted here, looking as if it had been beached.

Gold Coffin

Location: Cashmoor - Thickthorn Down barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Barrow
Further Comments: The barrow was once thought to contain a golden coffin, though when excavated in 1933, no coffin was discovered.

Wat Perkins

Location: Cattistock - Chantmarle mansion, former police training college
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century
Further Comments: Once a year for several years, a phantom voice would cry out 'search for Wat Perkins!'. The voice stopped when a skeleton minus the head was discovered in a ditch and a local woman was arrested for murder.

The Rude Man of Cerne, aka Cerne Abbas Giant.

Chalk Giant

Location: Cerne Abbas - Hillside
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: One story says this location is where a visiting Danish giant fell asleep, exhausted after killing dozens of local men. The remaining villagers took the opportunity to sneak up and cut off his head, drawing a chalk outline around the body to ward off other giants. The chalk figure is also considered a fertility symbol, and anyone who 'sleeps' on the figure is believed to be blessed (or cursed) with many children.

New Inn, Cerne Abbas.

Children

Location: Cerne Abbas - New Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghosts of two young girls are said to haunt the garden of this inn, while inside near the bar, a man in riding gear sits by the fireplace.

Royal Oak pub, Cerne Abbas.

Little Girl

Location: Cerne Abbas - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown - pre March 2008?
Further Comments: Built in 1540, this public house is said to be haunted by a little girl. Phantom footsteps have also been heard crossing the landing.