The Paranormal Database

Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

Home > Reports: Browse Type > Horses & Riders

Phantom Horses & Riders from across the Isles

Old Coker

Location: Hill Deverill (Wiltshire) - Gun's Church (or Gunschurch) barrow
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s?
Further Comments: Even though he died in 1730, Henry Coker is said to still ride his horse, follow his hounds, rattle his chains and blow his hunting horn in the area.

Horse Drawn Coach

Location: Hindon (Wiltshire) - Junction of the A303 and the A350
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghoulish coach is drawn by a team of four grey spectral horses.

Waving White Lady in a Coach

Location: Hockley (Essex) - Road outside the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August (possibly) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: After losing control of the horses, a coach driver and his female passenger died. Now, the phantom vehicle is seen outside the church; the white woman in the carriage waves at witnesses before the coach pulls away and the accident is repeated.

Horses' Hooves

Location: Holbrook (Suffolk) - Stutton Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hill is apparently home to the sound of horses moving around, the noise providing an uneasy feeling to any witness.

Coach

Location: Holford (Somerset) - Normansland driveway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Appearing on the stroke of midnight, this coach pulled by a team of black horses circles the driveway before mysteriously vanishing again.

Galloping

Location: Hollingbourne (Kent) - Hollingbourne House, north of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard only at night (and it is said seen only during the day) a ghostly horseman haunts the north part of the village, near where he failed to jump a gate, breaking his neck in the process.

Sounds of Fighting

Location: Holme Hale (Norfolk) - High Street, near the public house
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A couple of witnesses reported hearing horses and fighting which moved through the village street and over a field in the early hours of the morning.

Grey Woman

Location: Holyport (Berkshire) - White Hart public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen carrying a small baby, this woman dressed in grey was often heard walking about just prior to manifesting. The sounds of a horse passing outside have also been reported.

Coach

Location: Horstead (Norfolk) - Meyton bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A ghostly coach and four passes over this bridge once a year. It is said to be driven by a headless Sir Thomas Boleyn and is one of eleven (or twelve) bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.

Horseman

Location: Horwich (Lancashire) - Surrounding moors
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A wild horseman travels the desolate moors, looking for souls to take.

Lady in Brown Dress

Location: Hove (Sussex) - Hangleton Manor Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mostly unknown, tap felt in October 1995
Further Comments: Local legend says this ghost is a serving girl whose child was killed when the lord of the manor threw it from an attic window. A pair of disembodied hands have been reported floating around the building, also said to belong to the former servant, while on the odd occasion, a male figure in spurs has been observed. A visitor to the manor in 1995 felt a strong tap on her shoulder. Expecting it to be her boyfriend, she turned, but was alone in the room. There are several other local legends about the manor, including hauntings by a horse and carriage, a phantom woman, and ghostly birds.

Lady on White Stallion

Location: Hungerford (Berkshire) - A338, south of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1957 (white horse)
Further Comments: Appearing during the day, this female rider has been observed galloping across the road only to disappear once reaching the other side. The same area is haunted by a spectral coach being pulled at breakneck speed by four horses, and by a hooded man riding a bicycle.

Horse Worrier

Location: Icklingham (Suffolk) - Hill near Deadman's Grave (now an SSSI)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a man and his horse, supposedly buried under the hill, were blamed for worrying other horses after dark, preventing them from using tracks through the area.

Headless Shape on Horseback

Location: Icklingham (Suffolk) - Icklingham Way, southern corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Archbishop of Sudbury (or another senior religious figure) was decapitated near to this point by his enemies, the man now returns on dark nights to retrace the route of his death. Another story names the headless horseman as a highwayman, or one of three rebels executed nearby for the murder of the Archbishop.

Horseman

Location: Ightfield (Shropshire) - Path between Ightfield Hall and village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom horseman is said to appear and charge at pedestrians before vanishing.

Screaming

Location: Inverurie (Aberdeenshire) - Pittodrie House hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The cries for help heard only on Halloween emerge from the staircase. They may belong to a maid once caught in a fire which engulfed the building - she fell to her death trying to escape. A ghostly carriage pulled by a single horse haunts the driveway, while another spook has been reported in the library.


Pipers Vale, Ipswich.

Pale Figure

Location: Ipswich (Suffolk) - Pipers Vale, aka The Lairs
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s, 2000s
Further Comments: This pallid person spotted standing around the area could be the phantom of one of many suicides which have occurred on the nearby Orwell Bridge. At least one witness has heard an invisible horse.

Ewen of the Small Head

Location: Isle of Mull (Argyll and Bute) - Duart Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to a death in the MacLean family
Further Comments: This decapitated figure on horseback is seen as a member of the family who killed him lies dying.


Sketch by Franz Marc.

White Horse

Location: Ivinghoe (Buckinghamshire) - Ivinghoe Aston to Slapton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Winter 1980/81
Further Comments: While travelling along this road during heavy rain at night, a taxi driver encountered someone riding a white horse. The driver had to stop abruptly to avoid the rider, and when the driver looked up, man and horse had vanished. When the witness later mentioned the encounter to other people, they said it was not the first time the entity had been seen.


An old postcard showing Roxburgh Castle.

James II

Location: Kelso (Borders) - Roxburgh Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: James II was killed storming the castle, and it is reportedly his ghost on horseback that still charges around the area.

Sound of Hooves & Screams

Location: Kempston (Bedfordshire) - Kempston Manor (currently office space)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a family home, local legend has it that a child ran out of the manor to meet his mother and father who were returning for Christmas in a horse-drawn coach. The child was hit by the horses and died of his injuries. The anniversary of the event is marked by the reoccurring sounds of the tragedy.

Farmer

Location: Kentisbeare (Devon) - Bradfield Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This entity rides on horseback pulling a roller across the fields.

Sounds of a Coach

Location: Keswick (Cumbria) - A6
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: A cyclist who paused on the road to relight his lamp heard the thump of hooves and the wheels of a coach pass him, even though nothing was visible. A local legend says that the phantom sounds belong to a couple who ran away to wed, but one angry parent followed and shot them both.

Headless Horseman

Location: Kilcummer (County Cork) - Hill in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This area was the haunt of a headless horseman who died while racing the country roads. His ghost was put to rest after a local man was brave enough to let the decapitated figure ride by his side.

Horseman

Location: Kilmington (Wiltshire) - Bull Lane region
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A grisly headless horseman rides around this area of the village.

Quick Links
Contribute
Contribute to the Paranormal Database

Reports: Type
Reports: Type

Reports: Places
View Reports: Places

Reports: People
View Reports: People

Calendar
View the Paranormal Database Calendar