Gloucestershire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Coach
Location: Aldsworth - Larkethill Wood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Possibly the same entity that haunts the park, a coach and team of horses are said to erratically travel along the road which skirts the woodland.
Crump
Location: Aldsworth - Lodge park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir John Dutton, nicknamed Crump because of his hunched back, is said to drive a phantom coach and horses under the gates to the park. A white stag may also haunt the parkland.
Mrs Budge
Location: Arlingham - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 18 June 1902
Further Comments: The ghost of Mrs Budge, wearing traditional Victorian housekeeping garb, was seen sitting in the church. When spoken to, she vanished.
Little Old Lady
Location: Arlingham - Parish church and vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing black clothing and a white lace cap, the phantom old woman who has been seen in these buildings is said to give off an icy aura.
Grey Lady
Location: Arlingham - Slowwe House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: One owner of the property reported to the local press that she had seen a lady wearing a long grey dress around the house. Poltergeist activity was also reported.
Funeral Procession
Location: Arlingham - Through village, heading towards Arlingham Manor
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 May 1757
Further Comments: Exactly a year after the phantom funeral procession was seen pulling up outside the manor house, the last heir of the family living here died.
Funeral Possession
Location: Arlington - Manor House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 24 May 1757
Further Comments: This funeral was said to be an ill omen for the family who owned building - exactly a year after the manifestation was seen by several people, the last male heir died.
Screaming Parliamentarians
Location: Aust - Area near the Severn Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This group of phantom soldiers are said to have bullied a ferryman into taking them across the river - he tricked them into leaving his boat too early, and they were washed away.
Running
Location: Avening - Long Stone (Hampton Fields) and Tingle Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Both these stones are said to run around their fields as the clock strikes midnight.
Lurking Figure
Location: Avening - Road between village and Minchinhampton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thought to be the shade of a suicide, this ghost waits alongside the road, but for what is anyone's guess.
Edward II Screams
Location: Berkeley - Berkeley Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Murdered on orders of his wife Queen Isabella (her fate is documented elsewhere in this database), the anniversary of the King's death is marked by his screams echoing around the castle. The skin of an animal was once on display near the entrance; a local legend said it belonged to a giant toad discovered in the dungeon, although it was more likely to belong to a seal.
Jenner
Location: Berkeley - Edward Jenner Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: May 2009
Further Comments: BBC photographer Chris Sandys caught a strange humanoid shape on film while creating a panoramic photo within the museum. Some believe the image to show Jenner himself, while others believe the image to be an illusion caused by shadow and light.
Seaweed
Location: Berkeley - The Common
Type: Other
Date / Time: August 2012
Further Comments: Seaweed rained down on this street during a storm. It was speculated that the seaweed was picked up by a weather spout from Clevedon Beach in Somerset, although media outlets did not say if the seaweed was accompanied by any other beach debris, such as sand or marine animals.
Coffin
Location: Bibury - Saltway Barn Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A golden coffin is said to be buried in this long barrow.
Three Skeletons
Location: Birdlip - Barrow Wake, Crickley Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1879
Further Comments: Three skeletons, two male and one female, were discovered here in 1879. Objects found with the bodies included a silver brooch and a mirror, the value of which led some to speculate the grave belonged to Boudica.
Moved Church
Location: Bisley - Church Piece
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Church still present
Further Comments: The church once stood at Church Piece until someone (Devil or angel) moved the building to where it now stands. As a side note, a Roman structure was found at Church Piece, and parts of a Roman altar found in the church walls.
Headless Men
Location: Bisley - Money Trump
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two people passing the trump reported seeing several phantom headless men. Treasure is said to be hidden here.
Financial Conversation
Location: Bitton - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: A witness recalled how he stood outside the vestry door, listening to two men talking about money. When he knocked and walked in, the conversation stopped, and the room was empty.
Footsteps
Location: Bourton-On-The-Water - St Lawrence's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10 March 2014, 22:20h
Further Comments: Two brothers photographing the church by night heard footsteps approaching them on the gravel. They moved aside to let the person pass, but it quickly became apparent no one was there. The brothers could then make out the faint outline of a hooded figure coming closer to where they stood, vanishing when six feet away. The footsteps also ceased, and the brothers were left in silence.
Old Man in Trilby
Location: Cambridge - Private house, Bristol Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: After modernising the building, the owners became aware of the presence of an old man, who materialised before the mistress of the house.
The Mourning Woman
Location: Charfield - Charfield graveyard, memorial to those killed in the Charfield Station rail crash
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This woman in black, who covers her face with her hands, is widely believed to be the mother of two children killed in a rail disaster which occurred in 1929. Ten people, including the children, who were killed in the train crash could not be formally identified and are buried in a mass grave.
Man in 1940s Suit
Location: Cheltenham - Everyman Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2011
Further Comments: Walter Charnock, a builder working on the renovation of the theatre, encountered a figure wearing a 1940s suit leaning on a banister. Within thirty seconds, the figure vanished. Music is also said to be heard within the building when none should be playing.
Nun
Location: Cheltenham - Former private school in the town, now flats
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940
Further Comments: A teacher and headmaster at the school, working late, both saw a phantom nun crossing the playground - they approached the figure to speak to it, but when their torch ran out of batteries, they ran away.
Tall Lady in Black
Location: Cheltenham - Garden Reach house, Pitville Circus Road (currently called St Annes?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 1882-1892
Further Comments: During the original ten year spell, the woman in black was seen dozens of times, during both daylight and night-time hours. Those who could not see her often reported disembodied footsteps walking down corridors. The ghost may have returned briefly mid-twentieth century; a similar figure was seen by a man, and then again by his brother a couple of years later.
Nanny
Location: Cheltenham - Hotel de la Bere (former girl's school)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A nanny who worked for the school hanged herself in her bedroom, and now walks along the corridors checking rooms to ensure her charges are asleep.
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