The Paranormal Database

Sebastian Pitfield

Location: Warblington - Vicarage along Pook Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: Having taken the lives of his children by strangulation in 1677, this man of the cloth was hanged for his crime. His shade was still being seen in his former abode a hundred years later.

Pipe Smoker

Location: Waterlooville - Ferndale
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: Haunted by a drover who committed suicide by hanging himself from an oak tree (or so a legend says), the figure is reported still to hold a pipe which leaves a smell of pungent tobacco even after the phantom vanishes.

The First Owner

Location: Waterlooville - Hopfield House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that the spirit which haunts this building has driven two previous owners to suicide, as he only wanted his family and their descendants to live here.

Female Hitchhiker

Location: Waterlooville - Hulbert Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1976
Further Comments: Apparently seen several times, this girl stands in front of incoming traffic, vanishing when hit. She is said to be the ghost of a hitchhiker hit by a car along the road.

Roman Soldiers

Location: Waterlooville - Wecock Farm estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Shortly after the completion of this housing estate in 1974, reports came in from several areas of poltergeist-like activity. Some witnesses reported phantom Roman troops in the area.

Cursed Hoard

Location: Wherwell - Exact location unknown
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Somewhere in the village, a fabulous treasure is hidden; searching for it will do little good, however, as anyone who finds it will die.

A woodcut of a cockatrice, part dragon, part cockerel creature.

Cockatrice

Location: Wherwell - Wherwell Priory
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Taking up residence under the priory, this monster was finally killed (after many, many failed attempts) when a man named Green tricked it into attacking a large, mirrored sheet of polished steel - when it dropped to the floor semi-conscious, he penetrated its scales with a spear. The building is also reported to be haunted by a couple of nuns.

Horse

Location: Wickham - Road heading towards Droxford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2017
Further Comments: A driver spotted a white horse crossing the road ahead and commented to her passenger, who said she could not see anything. As the driver reached the spot the horse crossed, she realised there was nowhere the horse could have gone.

Broken Windows

Location: Winchester - Caer Gwent House (no longer standing), Abbey Hill Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: pre-1945, and July 1947
Further Comments: After windows were smashed, the occupants who took over the site in 1947 discovered that the military unit which had been previously stationed at the house had experienced moving furniture and other 'such things'.

Winchester's Castle Hall.

Man in Three Corner Hat

Location: Winchester - Castle Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: Seen by a prisoner in the building, this ghost disappeared as it walked through a wall. As a side point, the hall is also home to King Arthur's round table, though it is likely to be a fake.

Looking across Cathedral Close.

Limping Monk

Location: Winchester - Cathedral Close
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This brown coloured entity hobbles down the closed street.

Man in Silver Suit

Location: Winchester - Chilcomb Road, near the A272
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 14 November 1974
Further Comments: A couple out driving had to pull over as their car it began to shake out of control. They noticed a large cigar shaped object with three faces peering out nearby, and a bearded man dressed in a silver suit moving towards them. The strange entities then vanished, and the couple were able to drive away normally.

Sir John's Father

Location: Winchester - Fulford House (likely a pseudonym)
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir John Fulford claimed to have seen his father sitting in a chair at Fulford House. Sir John asked the figure why he had returned from hunting early, only to watch his father fade away. A short time later news reached the household that the man had died while hunting. Family folklore stated that the ghost of any recently deceased family member would briefly appear in the chair.

The Hampshire Chronicle offices.

Clanking Woman

Location: Winchester - Hampshire Chronicle, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2001
Further Comments: This entity has been reported in the part of the building that housed cottages and a small printing press, which has been offered as an explanation to the sound which accompanies her.

Starving Woman

Location: Winchester - Hyde Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghost, when flesh and bone, was turned away from the Tavern during a cold winter's night. She died soon after, and to take revenge, her ghost took up residence in the building. The spirit now pulls bedding off sleeping guests.

Henry

Location: Winchester - Jolly Farmer inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Hanged somewhere close to the inn for theft, the shade now torments the bar staff by periodically playing with the pumps.

The High Street.

A Man Vanishes

Location: Winchester - Office building along the High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: Two men sitting in the manager's room eating lunch spotted a figure climbing the stairs, heading towards the top office. No-one should have been in that area, so both men ran upstairs to apprehend the intruder. However, there was no one present, and it would have been impossible for an intruder to pass the men without being seen.

Old Minster, Winchester.

King Alfred

Location: Winchester - Old Minster
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: AD 899
Further Comments: King Alfred's remains were originally buried at the Old Minster, but the monks claimed Alfred's ghost would walk around at night - the King was moved to the New Minster.

Tall Man

Location: Winchester - Private house along Quarry Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: A tall man wearing a black cloak, a woman dressed in white, and a figure resembling a nun are all said to have haunted this property. Two exorcisms failed to remove the entities.

Running Blood?

Location: Winchester - Rising Sun public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 2015
Further Comments: As the pub closed for installation of a mini-cinema, landlord Rob Plunton said that the site was rumoured to be haunted but did not elaborate further. One story says that blood is said to run down the walls of the cellar.

Royal Winchester Hotel.

Maid

Location: Winchester - Royal Winchester Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 11 April 2023
Further Comments: One story says the upper part of the building is haunted by a maid. One visitor reported seeing a head-sized shadow briefly appear on a wall behind a sofa before vanishing; they tried to recreate the shadow but was unable to do so.

The Eclipse.

Lady Lisle

Location: Winchester - The Eclipse public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1685 onwards
Further Comments: Beheaded opposite the pub for assisting local rebels, the tall grey shade of Alice Lisle now haunts the area where she spent her last night on earth. This is one of three locations reportedly haunted by Lady Lisle.

The Theatre Royal.

Lighting Operator

Location: Winchester - Theatre Royal (was the Market Hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1910s
Further Comments: An apparition was seen dressed in combat clothing. A witness identified the ghostly soldier as a former lighting operator who worked at the theatre before going off to die on a First World War battlefield. The builder of the theatre, John Simpkins, is also said to haunt the building.

Winchester's Guildhall.

Ballerina Alien

Location: Winchester - Under the Guildhall clock
Type: UFO
Date / Time: January or February 2004
Further Comments: Councillor Adrian Hicks recalled in 2009 his encounter with an alien entity along a busy street. He described the creature as having large oval eyes, looking almost human, and wearing a tutu. The alien shuffled along the street like a penguin.

Winchester Cathedral.

Monks

Location: Winchester - Winchester Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Disappearing at the knees, these phantom monks reportedly walk on the original floor of the building. In 1957 a photographer caught several male figures dressed in medieval garb. Saint Swithun is buried outside the cathedral, as per his wish - on one fateful 15 July, his body was moved inside the building; the rain began to fall and did not stop until Swithun's body was moved back outside. Now, popular legends say that if it rains on 15 July (St Swithun's Day), it will rain for another forty days.