Hampshire Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Frog Fall
Location: Portsmouth - Copnor area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa July 1954
Further Comments: Many tiny frogs were said to have fallen from the sky during heavy rainfall.
Buckingham
Location: Portsmouth - Former Greyhound public house, now a private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: The site where John Felton assassinated the Duke of Buckingham was widely believed to be haunted by the tragic figure.
George and Emily
Location: Portsmouth - Groundlings Theatre, Portsea
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghosts of two children, Emily and George, are said to be among the nine (or ten) phantoms at home within this Georgian Theatre.
Jack Aitken
Location: Portsmouth - Harbour area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Windy weather
Further Comments: Hanged for attempting to commit arson in a naval dockyard, Aitken's body was then displayed in a gibbet - the chains of which can still be heard clinking in the wind.
First World War Soldiers
Location: Portsmouth - Hayling Avenue
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: A woman walking down the road walked by a detachment of soldiers travelling in the opposite direction. She noticed they were wearing an old style of uniform. It was only when she looked back and realised the soldiers had vanished did she know she had witnessed something strange.
Shaking Bed
Location: Portsmouth - HMNB Portsmouth, HMS Nelson, Saumarez block (now demolished)
Type: Other
Date / Time: September 1990
Further Comments: A witness reported waking up after the room fell cold. He could feel something sitting on his legs, but nothing could be seen. After several minutes, the bed began shaking violently, and the witness felt his legs being lifted slightly, before the top half of his body was also lifted at a forty five degree angle.
Flashing Lights
Location: Portsmouth - HMNB Portsmouth, Leviathan Block
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre-2013
Further Comments: It was reported that journalists working on the Navy News newspaper would see flashes of light emerging from the corridor outside their office. An uncomfortable feeling would accompany the light.
Buster Crabb
Location: Portsmouth - Keppels Head hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of two hotels claiming Crabb spending his final night here, the Navy frogman is said to haunt the building. Crabb vanished while attempting to spy on a Soviet warship which docked at Portsmouth during the Cold War.
Footless Figure
Location: Portsmouth - Portsmouth & Southsea Train Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 January 2016, between 05:00h - 05:30h
Further Comments: Standing alone at the empty station, a commuter suddenly spotted a man wearing a 1940s suit standing at the opposite end of the platform. The slightly transparent figure did not have any facial features and, despite also lacking feet, started to walk towards the commuter, who fled in terror. The commuter refused to return to the site and subsequently used another station to travel.
Clothes Thrower
Location: Portsmouth - Private house along Agincourt Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: At its peak, the entity in the house pushed an occupant down the stairs. It also scattered clothing around rooms and snatched items from people's hands. A blessing performed at the house was said to make things worse.
Landing Figure
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Buckland Park area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1986
Further Comments: The poltergeist activity in this home included items being thrown and pictures falling from the wall. A figure observed on the landing may have also been seen walking up the stairs.
Scratching
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Copnor area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2001-2009
Further Comments: A homeowner was forced to move after experiencing several years of scratching noises, footsteps, and having the duvet removed from the bed during the night.
Chair Thrower
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Cosham area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2013
Further Comments: Figures could be seen walking through the kitchen into the larder, knocks would rattle on the doors, and items thrown or occasionally hidden before turning up in unusual places.
Man in Navy Uniform
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Cumberland Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990-1992
Further Comments: A family living in a property here were subjected to kitchen equipment moving unaided, exploding lightbulbs and the smell of cigars, although no-one smoked. A child would talk to a male figure wearing navy uniform with cuts over his face.
Victorian Woman
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Powerscourt Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1994 - 1996
Further Comments: A family ultimately decided to move from this property after five members encountered the apparition of a Victorian woman who would manifest in the corner of a bedroom. Poltergeist activity also resulted in items being moved around the house, disembodied footsteps, and a mirror thrown at two people on the stairwell.
Chair Thrower
Location: Portsmouth - Private residence, Stamshaw area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1993
Further Comments: Chairs would repeatedly be thrown from a table while the occupant cleaned the kitchen floor. Pictures were also propelled across the room. An eerie sensation could be felt in the back bedroom, as if that part of the building did not belong to the front of the house.
Evaporating Man
Location: Portsmouth - Railway bridge, St Mary's Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: A driver slowed to take a better look at a man who stood on the side of the bridge which did not have a footpath. The driver thought that the man did not 'look right', which was proved correct as the driver watched the figure evaporate in the rear view mirror.
Black Mask Attacker
Location: Portsmouth - Royal Arena wrestling venue (later became New Theatre Royal)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa July 1960
Further Comments: A wrestler known as the Black Mask claimed he was attacked in the Rutley dressing room by an unseen presence. Several dancers also complained about the atmosphere in the room. The building's owner denied the site was haunted.
Pool of Blood
Location: Portsmouth - Royal Portsmouth Hospital (no longer standing)
Type: Other
Date / Time: 1940s-1970s
Further Comments: Local folklore says that the operating theatre had a pool of blood on the floor which could never be cleaned, no matter how hard the staff tried to remove it.
Buster Crabb
Location: Portsmouth - Sally Port hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One of two hotels laying claim to Crabb spending his final night here, the Navy frogman is said to haunt the building. Crabb vanished while attempting to spy on a Soviet warship which docked at Portsmouth during the Cold War.
Murdered People
Location: Portsmouth - Site of the White Garter public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When the White Garter was pulled down, dozens of bodies were found under the building - it is thought that a landlady and a male 'friend' murdered and stole goods from many of their guests. The ghosts of the murdered people are restless and have been seen around the public house or felt as they pull the sheets off beds.
Figure
Location: Portsmouth - St Agatha's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1954-1970
Further Comments: While the church was used for storage, a rumour existed of a ghostly figure which haunted the site. More recently, a local legend speaks about ghostly nuns in the area, although there is nothing to suggest there was a nunnery here.
Dark Figure
Location: Portsmouth - St Ann's Church, Dockyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2018
Further Comments: Having worked in the building before many times without incident, a member of the chaplaincy team had two fleeting glances of a dark figure standing on the balcony, looking over the edge as if watching the witness. The figure was described as curious and unthreatening.
Looking for Child
Location: Portsmouth - St Mary's Hospital
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1969
Further Comments: A ghostly woman in a dressing gown was once said to wander the hospital looking for her baby, who had died of unknown complications.
Actor
Location: Portsmouth - Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A brown coloured figure was once seen sitting in the empty theatre. A piano was recorded playing a single note in the building after closing time when all the doors had been closed and locked. Another story says an actor who cut his own throat here in the 1880's is said to remain earthbound.
Records 176 - 200 of 278
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