The Paranormal Database

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.

Stirring

Location: Portsmouth - Unidentified house, St Mary's Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Circa December 1964
Further Comments: This entity created a nuisance by ripping buttons off clothing, thumping on the staircase, and creating a rattling which resembled a shaving brush being stirred in a tin cup. One man twice witnessed a white figure on the staircase.

Victorian Barmaid

Location: Portsmouth - White Swan inn, Guildhall Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This unfortunate woman was murdered by her violent husband after he returned from sea.

Children

Location: Portsmouth - Wymering Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The oldest building in the city, Wymering Manor is said to be home to several apparitions and cold spots. The sounds of children whispering have also been reported, although one former resident went on record as saying the phantoms were 'quite nice and quite friendly'.