Bristol Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Woman with Carpetbag
Location: Bristol - Phoenix House, Redcliffe Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly lady carrying a carpetbag was observed by a caretaker and security guards.
Black Monk
Location: Bristol - Private building along Broad Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940
Further Comments: The cellar of a building along this street is reputed to be haunted by one of the city's black monks.
Man with a Bob
Location: Bristol - Private flat along Henacre Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990
Further Comments: Resident Kim Gye was forced to move out after meeting a ghostly man with a bobbed haircut in her flat. The apparition appeared to her young son several times, who said that it 'was coming to get him'. The ghost was finally laid by a medium.
Footfalls
Location: Bristol - Private residence in Totterdown area
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1994-1999
Further Comments: The residents and their friends witnessed a few strange events, including hearing disembodied footsteps up and down the staircase, doors to the pantry opening and closing, extremely loud banging all over the walls late at night, and objects which disappeared for days before reappearing either in strange places or balanced in strange places.
Roar of Anger
Location: Bristol - Private residence, Frenchay
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2006-2008
Further Comments: Witnesses here heard walking and thumping throughout rooms and corridors. Loud guttural groaning was also heard, and a roar of anger, from someone in the room. Two of the witnesses were able to stand either side of the sound without being able to detect the source of the sound.
Figure with Child
Location: Bristol - Private residence, Portland Square
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: November 2017
Further Comments: A national tabloid carried some highly suspect video created by a builder who claimed he had filmed a headless phantom carrying a child.
Glowing Figure
Location: Bristol - Private residence, Stapleton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-1990s
Further Comments: Waking after sleeping on the sofa, this witness felt the room become very cold and heard footsteps descend the staircase and along the hallway. Through a window between the kitchen and lounge, the witness watched a glowing orange/yellow head and shoulders pass by, appearing to be either angry or in pain. After briefly hiding under the duvet, the witness had a look around - the temperature had returned to normal and nothing strange could be seen.
Singer
Location: Bristol - Private residence, York Place, Hotwells
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1970s
Further Comments: Two people heard a woman's voice singing a melody while in the basement listening to records, like something that a mother would sing to a baby. One of the witnesses also heard someone in hobnail boots walk to the front door and the sound of a key being inserted into the lock, although no one entered the house and there was no sound of the person walking away again.
Young Girl
Location: Bristol - Property owned by actor Anthony Head, exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A ghostly, young Victorian lass has reportedly been heard by the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' actor and his family, with at least two guests also reporting sightings.
Watcher
Location: Bristol - Pur Down, Stapleton, passing under the M32
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007 / 2008
Further Comments: One witness felt like he was being watched when passing through this area, but never felt threatened. The same witness also spotted a figure standing on the edge of a hill which disappeared when approached.
Shocked Lady
Location: Bristol - Purdown area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed by a sudden bolt of lightning while out horse riding, this phantom can still be seen galloping by.
Modern Man
Location: Bristol - Rummer public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973
Further Comments: The shade of a man dressed in contemporary clothing was seen in the cellar before quickly vanishing, while the ghost of a woman with long dark hair and dressed in white has been reported in the bar.
Bells
Location: Bristol - Safestore, Ashton Gate
Type: Other
Date / Time: Twenty-first Century
Further Comments: A customer and his parents at the facility heard bells ringing and echoing around the corridors - they spent some time trying to find the source of the discordant sounds but failed.
Radiogram
Location: Bristol - Sea Mills Farmhouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2001
Further Comments: An estate agent with a client were looking around this old, vacant property, still with many of its original fittings, when a 1950s radiogram bust into life playing classical music. Both men checked for a self-timer or other explanation for the machine to start working but nothing could be found. A local story reports that the farmhouse is haunted by a young woman. She died of a broken heart after her father paid the girl's lover to leave, never to return.
Victorian Couple
Location: Bristol - Southmead Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A phantom man and woman in Victorian clothing have been reported walking down this road.
Union Ghost
Location: Bristol - Spillers Animal Feed Mill, Avonmouth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shade was said only to appear to Transport
and General Workers Union members - possibly propaganda by anti-unionists?
Captain John Gray
Location: Bristol - SS Great Britain
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1993 onwards
Further Comments: While on a work placement in 1993, Sonny Graffo encountered a ghostly, middle aged figure who matched the description of Captain John Gray who vanished in 1872. Other people on the ship have heard disembodied footsteps close to them, though nothing is seen.
Pale Lady
Location: Bristol - Stapleton Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1854
Further Comments: Wearing a nightdress and cap, this shade was seen for several nights, moving silently through bolted doors
Roundhead
Location: Bristol - Stapleton Woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom figure approaches unsuspecting witnesses as if trying to say something - he then proceeds to walk straight through them.
Lost Labourer
Location: Bristol - The Severn Tunnel, between Bristol and Newport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed during the construction of the tunnel, the worker's body was accidentally buried underneath tons of brick and concrete, and never found. The ghost is said to seek assistance in recovering his body.
Stooped Figure
Location: Bristol - Unidentified factory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 1906
Further Comments: A night-watchman reported seeing a dark figure walking with a stoop, with a stump where his head should have been. The watchman, together with five others tried to engage the figure - one tried to hit it with a blade and others attempted a grapple, but nothing stopped the entity from passing on by.
Headless Horseman
Location: Bristol - University of Bristol and Tyndall, Avenue area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Students have reported seeing a headless horseman patrolling this area late at night.
Second World War Nurse
Location: Bristol - Vassall Centre, Fishponds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: It has been reported that staff at the building have encountered a nurse dressed in attire from the Second World War, who pushes a trolley. The entity is said to be friendly in nature.
The Duchess of Beaufort
Location: Bristol - Vassals Park, Fishponds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of the Duchess of Beaufort is said to drift around the fishponds and over the little footbridge. Chanting has also been heard in the area.
Face at the Window
Location: Bristol - Veterinary Practice, Wells Road, Whitchurch
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An exorcism was once performed in this building after a previous owner reported an apparition staring through the window, watching their movements. The building was once a morgue.
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