The Paranormal Database

The Groaning Tree of Badesly

Location: South Baddesley (once Badesly) - Exact location not known
Type: Other
Date / Time: Circa 1750, over a twenty month period
Further Comments: The sound resembling a person in extreme agony would emerge from an elm tree in a villager's garden. The tree became famous and a tourist attraction, with the Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta amongst the sightseers. The owner drilled a hole into the tree to ascertain how the noise could be created, after which the tree never groaned again.

Straw Fall

Location: South Wonston - General area
Type: Other
Date / Time: 28 July 1992
Further Comments: Locals reported seeing clouds of straw that then fell over the village. This is possibly connected to the straw that fell on Basildon (Essex) on the same day.

Mary the Maidservant

Location: Southampton - Berkeley Homes Imperial Apartments, Canute Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1900 onwards
Further Comments: Dying of a broken heart after discovering her boyfriend was seeing other women, Mary has haunted this area ever since. She is credited by the Ghost Club as being one of the first cases investigated where the spirit created electrical interference.

Ascapart

Location: Southampton - Bevis Mound and general area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ascapart the giant was beaten in a fight by Bevis of Hampton, after his club (a tree) became stuck in the mud. Instead of slaying the giant, Bevis appointed Ascapart his squire. When the giant finally died, he was buried under Bevis Mound.

Romans

Location: Southampton - Bitterne Manor and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Various Roman troops and Legionnaires walk around this part of the town.

Flower Stealer

Location: Southampton - Delbridge's Florists, Bedford Place
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: Over a six month period, hundreds of carnation blooms were removed from the plants. Security was updated several times, and the floor lightly dusted to detect footprints, though none were ever found. The local police, probably speaking off the cuff, blamed a poltergeist.

Footsteps

Location: Southampton - Detached private residence, Portswood area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: Owners of one house in this area were reported to have experienced disembodied footsteps which walked around, windows which would fling themselves open unaided, and tapping.

Molly

Location: Southampton - Dolphin Hotel, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former cleaner at the hotel, the shade of Molly is said to always materialise at two in the morning, drifting a couple of feet above ground level.

Pagan Help Required

Location: Southampton - St Mary's Stadium
Type: Curse
Date / Time: November 2001
Further Comments: Cerridwen Dragonoak Connelly was called in to cleanse this stadium after it was believed the location was cursed or jinxed. After the blessing, the football team went on to their first win at their new home.

Frightened Dogs

Location: Southampton - Tudor House Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Staff say that there is a room where dogs refuse to enter and another room in which many people have had paranormal experiences.

Free Top Ups

Location: Southsea - Apsley House public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2009
Further Comments: The resident ghost was nicknamed 'Reedy' and was reported to add an 'extra inch of beer' to half empty glasses.

Strange Shadows

Location: Southsea - Kings Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2006
Further Comments: Staff and visitors to the theatre have reported seeing weird shadows and hearing strange noises. Wessex Ghost Hunters investigated the site and the team's medium declared the theatre to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who committed suicide.

Blonde Figure

Location: Southsea - Royal Marines Museum, Eastney
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 2008
Further Comments: A worker at the site reported briefly seeing a blonde haired figure in a dark blue uniform, like one worn by marines during the First World War. Other staff are said to have unusual experiences on site.

Slim Woman Crossing

Location: Southsea - Zebra Crossing, Elm Grove
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: A driver stopped at the crossing to allow a woman to cross the road. She was in her 30s or 40s, wearing a short skirt and knee high boots. As she started to cross, the driver heard the car behind sound its horn. The driver glanced in their rear view mirror for a second, before looking back to the road - the woman had vanished.

Vanishing Man

Location: Stockbridge - Unidentified road in village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 January 2023, approx 20:40h
Further Comments: Sitting in their car, a witness watched an old man in a trilby carrying an umbrella (or cane) cross the road ahead then just seemingly disappeared into thin air.

More Monks

Location: Stubbington - Church of the Holy Rood, Crofton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A phantom monk is said to walk around this area. He may be connected to the sighting at the nearby Manor Hotel - an underground passageway is said to connect the two buildings.

Crying Lady

Location: Swanick - Station
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: Waiting for the last train on a Sunday night, a man sat by a distressed woman who, between sobs, repeated 'I can't go back'. The train pulled up; the man reluctantly left the crying lady and leapt aboard. Arriving at his station, and feeling guilty about leaving her, the witness phoned the police, gave her description and asked if someone could check she was okay. The following morning, the man read a story in the local paper about a woman who had died after being hit by a train near Swanick station on Saturday night - the accompanying photograph was of the upset lady he had encountered twenty-four hours after she had died.

Priest on Horseback

Location: Tangley - Tangley House (destroyed by fire in 2000, since rebuilt)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Disputed by the owners of the site in 2014, local myths say that the site was haunted by a priest on a black horse and a grey lady on a white horse.

Monks

Location: Titchfield - Abbey and A27
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: As well as being observed drifting around the abbey grounds, this phantom monk is said to appear in the backseat of cars driving along the nearby A27, though he quickly vanishes once seen.

Tall, Dark Stranger

Location: Totton - Testwood House (aka Rumasa House)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20 October (reoccurring), though not always the case, last seen 1972
Further Comments: This enigmatic figure stands at the entrance to the driveway and it is thought he murdered a young lady in the property. Those who have seen the man say he is dressed like an old coach driver, which would explain the occasional sounds of a phantom coach passing through the area.

Exhausted Horses

Location: Totton - Testwood Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1935
Further Comments: The mill's horses would be found exhausted every morning; a night watch discovered the horses straining as if ridden by unseen riders.

Riders

Location: Totton - Testwood Mill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Every morning the mill horses would be found sweating and exhausted. When someone stayed awake to watch over the site, they reportedly watched the horses being ridden by unseen entities.

Witch with pet dog, from a chapbook.

Black Dog

Location: Twyford - Exact area not known
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A demonic black dog once haunted this area.

Cursed Motorway

Location: Twyford - Twyford Down (now area of the M3)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: A week after a motorway construction team disturbed the graves of eighteen men, some two metres tall, two of the men suffered fatal heart attacks and a night watchman dropped dead at his post. People protesting the construction of the motorway pronounced the incidents 'the curse of the giants'.

Mr Chicket

Location: Upham - Brushmakers Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Chicket was murdered for his money while staying at the pub. Even though this event occurred a couple of hundred years ago, his shadowy form still flits around the site.