The Paranormal Database

Ruined abbey of Cerne Abbas.

Monks

Location: Cerne Abbas - Site of former abbey (ruins)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Dawn (monks), 08 August 2010 (frankincense)
Further Comments: Phantom monks are still said to walk where they were once based. Sightings are said to be most 'common' around dawn, though no witnesses appear to exist, although one person has recounted how they encountered a strong smell of frankincense while sheltering from the rain under the remains of the abbey porch. A secret tunnel was thought to connect the abbey to the village of Piddletrenthide.

The magic well of Cerne Abbas.

Faces of the Dead

Location: Cerne Abbas - St Austin's Well, aka St Augustine's Well, aka Silver Well
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Easter Sunday (faces) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Anyone looking into the waters of the well in the early hours of Easter morning will see the faces of those fated to die within a year. Women who drink the water and pray to St Catherine will soon be married.

Giant Stone

Location: Cerne Abbas - Stone on Bockhampton Green
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Two origin myths surround this stone. One says the rock was thrown into position by an angry giant, while the other states the rock was rolled into position by villagers attempting to move it up the hill to use as a weapon against the giant.

Woman in Grey

Location: Charlton Marshall - Old Manor House, former prep school (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Several students at the boarding school encountered a woman dressed in grey wearing a cap. The figure would always walk down the same corridor and disappear into the end wall.

White Lady

Location: Charmouth - Charmouth Lodge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: The white lady who haunted this building was said to have been murdered and disposed of down a well that is now located under the dining room. The lodge is also haunted by a monk in a brown habit, who may be the cause of the disembodied footsteps occasionally heard travelling around the building.

Sitting Figure

Location: Charmouth - George public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The phantom said to haunt this site sits on a chair, although the furniture is no longer present.

Child

Location: Charmouth - Old building (no longer standing) on site of current post office
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1890s
Further Comments: The occupants of this property were terrified by loud noises, the source of which could not be discovered. When the house was destroyed by fire in 1885, the old skeleton of a child was discovered in the garden.

Drifting Woman

Location: Charmouth - Road between Charmouth and Bridport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 11 September 2004, between 2230h - 2330h
Further Comments: A driver and her passenger both watched a woman in white sweep across the road as they drove towards Bridport. They both reported that the car suddenly became cold at the time of the sighting.

Giant Grave

Location: Cheselbourne - Round Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The mound found here is said to be the grave of a giant who dropped dead after losing a game of 'throw the boulder the furthest'. Two stones nearby are said to mark the place where the giant and his (winning) friend stood; when the cockerel crows, the stones move.

Footfalls in Shingle

Location: Chesil Beach - Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 22 September 2001, 20:00h - 21:00h
Further Comments: One witness heard something following him in the shingle and, soon after, experienced a strong force impact his shoulder, striking downwards. Other phantoms reported in the area include 'Herman the German', a Second World War pilot who died in the area, and the sound of children crying.

Just a Rumour

Location: Chettle - Castleman Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was briefly mentioned in a national newspaper that this location was rumoured to be haunted, although the exact details were omitted.

Disembodied Hand

Location: Chettle - Churchyard and Bloody Shard Gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During a fight with a posse of local gamekeepers, a poacher had his hand severed from his wrist. The hand was buried within the nearby churchyard, but the poacher was sent to London, where he died shortly after. The man's body was never returned to the village, and now his hand is said to crawl around the area trying to find its master.

Lord Shaftesbury

Location: Chettle - Thickthorn Down
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The first Lord Shaftesbury is driven in his coach by a headless horseman around this area. The horseman has his head under one arm, which still wears his hat!

Legless Woman

Location: Chideock - Clock House Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A former landlord and his wife saw this young female phantom standing in the middle of the car park. She smiled and vanished, but not before the landlord's wife noticed that the ghost had no legs.

Grave Dog

Location: Chideock - Road from Morcombelake, & local graveyard
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1900s?
Further Comments: This creature followed a couple of witnesses as they walked home from a nearby village. The creature turned away near the graveyard, and they watched it disappear next to a gravestone. A phantom priest is also said to haunt the same area.

Centurion

Location: Child Okeford - Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: On both these hills stood Iron Age forts. A phantom Roman Centurion is now reputed to walk the area.

Place Mill, Christchurch.

Woman in Old Fashioned Dress

Location: Christchurch - Area around Place Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area around the mill and nearby quay is haunted by the apparition of a lady wearing a long old fashioned dress with a bonnet, although the story may be based on an old photograph which features a woman blurred by a long exposure.

Christchurch Bypass.

Soldier

Location: Christchurch - Bypass, heading towards Bournemouth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 04 August 2017, 01:30h
Further Comments: A driver and passenger spotted a man dressed in military-style clothing standing on the central reservation. When the car was turned around to have another look at the figure, he had vanished; the car grew cold and experienced mild electrical interference. One of the witnesses believed the figure may have been a friend who died a couple of years previous.

Candlemas Cottage, Christchurch.

Fire

Location: Christchurch - Candlemas Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Fire has been seen being reflected in the upper rear windows, although the source of the flames has not been found.

Soho Bar, Christchurch.

Old Lady

Location: Christchurch - Castle Tavern (now Soho Bar)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: The ghostly old lady was only one of several phantoms which were reported here. Others included a man in black, a young boy, and a misty shape.

Ruins of Christchurch

Voices

Location: Christchurch - Christchurch Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: Ghosthunters visiting this site claim to have recorded disembodied voices and orbs that caused large EMP spikes.

Christchurch Priory. Dorset.

Monks

Location: Christchurch - Christchurch Priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The priory and its gardens are said to be home to several phantom monks, including one entity which stands at the top of the tower staircase. During the 1970s, one vicar is said to have watched several ghostly monks carrying a coffin across the graveyard. A local legend says the priory was due to be built on top of St Catherine's Hill, but every night the building materials were moved to the site where the building now stands.

Electrical Disruption

Location: Christchurch - Highcliffe Castle
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Flickering lights and other mischievous behaviours have been assigned to an invisible spirit lurking within the castle.

Sailors

Location: Christchurch - Nelson public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A pair of phantom sailors are said to haunt this pub.

Off the coast of Christchurch.

Cloud of Cobwebs

Location: Christchurch - Off coast
Type: Other
Date / Time: 28 October 1988
Further Comments: The crew of a trawler off the coast of Christchurch reported their boat being covered by a huge cloud made of sticky cobwebs - they estimated its diameter to be thirty square miles.