Hampshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Car Crossing
Location: A4 - Road west of Hungerford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom car crosses the road on a rise, vanishing as it does so.
Misty Woman
Location: Abbots Ann - Poplar Farm Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure was once seen behind the bar and is blamed for slamming doors when no other cause is apparent. Another entity takes the form of a black dog which patrols both inside and outside the pub. The dog is thought to be protecting a secret passageway.
Running
Location: Aldershot - Alma Lane, between town and Barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s and 1972
Further Comments: The disembodied running heard along this lane has been attributed to a messenger who was taking the news of the victory at Waterloo to officers based at Aldershot - he was attacked and killed by robbers en route.
Little Green Men
Location: Aldershot - Basingstoke Canal
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 12 August 1983, 01:00h
Further Comments: An elderly man who set up here for a spot of night fishing was invited into a UFO by two little men in tight green outfits, with visors covering their faces. They shone a light at him before saying that he was 'too old', promptly returning him to his fishing rod.
Grey Lady
Location: Aldershot - Cambridge Military Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: A legend says that the phantom woman here was a Boer War nurse who committed suicide after accidently giving her lover an overdose of Laudanum. A nurse and two other members of staff spotted her around 1995; a solid silhouette which vanished into thin air.
Ball of Smoke
Location: Aldershot - Private residence, Cambridge Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1980s
Further Comments: A former resident said that he was woken by a thump at the bedroom door at 01:30h. Opening the door to investigate, something flittered around the banister out of sight, like a child playing hide and seek. As the witness reached the corner of the banister, they briefly spotted a large ball of smoke before it once again darted around a corner. After a period of some time, a female witness watched through frosted glass a figure trying to open the kitchen door, although when investigated, no one could be found.
The Bag Lady
Location: Aldershot - Road between Tweseldown and Aldershot
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1990
Further Comments: A phantom homeless woman was said to have been run over and killed along this road. She may have been seen in 1990, the car full of witnesses not being aware she was a phantom until long after the event.
Old Soldiers
Location: Alresford - Cheriton battlefield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 29 March, every four years (last in 2020) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: These troops are said to be doomed to return to their former battleground.
Floating Man
Location: Alresford - Ruined Manor House
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2000
Further Comments: Two witnesses observed a figure in a grey or silver once piece suit, with a visor over the face, hovering over the tree line. As the witnesses left the area, the figure drifted parallel with them for a bit, before turning away and silently disappearing into the distance.
Burnt Dog
Location: Alton - Crown Hotel, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: A phantom dog reportedly haunts the hotel, where it was kicked to death by a drunken customer. Some say that a white (or grey) woman also glides around inside the building; the girl was a kitchen maid who was murdered in the hotel. Finally, the ghost of an old man haunts room number three.
Fanny Adams
Location: Alton - Flood Meadows and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1867 onwards
Further Comments: Murdered by Frederick Baker in 1867, the ghost of young Fanny Adams still plays in the area where she died.
Civil War Skirmish
Location: Alton - St Lawrence's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Royalist Colonel was trapped in the church by a detachment of Roundheads - he and several of his enemy were killed during the short fight. The small battle can still be heard.
Pig
Location: Andover - Church
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1171
Further Comments: The priest here was hit by lightning - the congregation watched as a small pig appeared and ran about his legs and feet.
Grey Lady
Location: Andover - White Hart Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century onwards
Further Comments: This figure apparently haunts the upper regions of the building (particularly Rooms 14 and 20), though at least one sighting has her wearing dark green. The bar area is home to two misty figures.
Faceless Girl
Location: Basingstoke - Barge Inn, formally Goat and Barge Public House (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s, 2000s?
Further Comments: The landlord's wife and a customer both watched a phantom faceless woman walk past the bar. In another incident, a member of the public was knocked off his feet and another kicked in the knee as an invisible force rushed by them. Cries and screams would sometimes be heard late at night. More recently, workers in a building on the site of the pub have reported hearing disembodied footsteps.
Grey Lady
Location: Basingstoke - Hackwood House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1862
Further Comments: Seen emerging from one of the walls of a bedroom, this grey lady has also been seen on the staircase in the house.
Former Performer
Location: Basingstoke - Haymarket Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Haymarket is said to be haunted by several ghosts of old performers, though no one can say who, why or when.
Attacking Monk
Location: Basingstoke - Kingclere Road and Catern's Grave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s
Further Comments: A particularly hostile entity, this grey cowled shade has reportedly attacked at least two witnesses and tried to take possession of another's body.
Passionate Woman
Location: Basingstoke - Old Vic public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1978 / 1979
Further Comments: The female spirit was responsible for keeping the landlord awake at nights, with her sighing and heavy breathing.
Purple Object
Location: Basingstoke - Skies over the town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 04 August 2007
Further Comments: A purple pear-shaped object was seen by Kris Reed, from his home. The ufo hovered before moving away, creating a noise like a washing machine. On the same night, another witness reported seeing a large red ball moving slowly across the sky.
Baboon
Location: Basingstoke - The Swallows private house, on the outskirts of the town (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid Nineteenth century
Further Comments: Haunted by a large baboon and a huge dark cat, the owners finally left when screaming started coming from the attic. The building was pulled down when no one could be found to move in.
Roll out the Barrel
Location: Basingstoke - White Hart public house, London Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Successive landlords have been woken at night by the sound of barrels being rolled outside, though nothing can be found when investigated further. A few staff have reported seeing a couple of spooky figures, one male and the other female.
Monks
Location: Beaulieu - Beaulieu Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: Haunted by several monks dressed in brown, they are also held accountable for the echoing footsteps and the smell of burning incense. At least one person has felt an evil presence at the location.
Lake with Sword in a Stone
Location: Beaulieu - Exact location unknown, somewhere in the New Forest
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1951
Further Comments: A family driving in the New Forest while on holiday passed a mist covered lake, with a sword set in a large stone a few metres off the shoreline. The lake had disappeared when they drove back and, to the best of our knowledge, has never returned.
Loud Whispers
Location: Beaulieu - Palace Lane Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: This cottage was haunted by loud whispers and footsteps heard in empty rooms. The presence also opened and closed doors around the building.
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