The Paranormal Database

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

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Phantom Horses & Riders from across the Isles

Headless Monk

Location: Outer London: Bexley (Greater London) - Lesnes Abbey, Erith
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 October (reoccurring), last seen 1981?
Further Comments: The monk was caught with a woman and killed for his crime. The entity now returns once a year. He may have last been seen in 1981 by a teenager who would search the woods near the abbey for old pots and pipes. After returning home one night from the woods, the teenager reportedly spotted a monk in a brown robe holding a lantern on a hooked pole outside his window. The abbey is also home to phantom horsemen, and Roesia of Dover who is looking for her heart (it was buried here by her father).

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-11 | Last updated: 2026-09-05 | ID #1146

Horse Drawn Carriage

Location: Outer London: Bexley (Greater London) - Maisonettes, Slade Green
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1976 or 1977
Further Comments: While sitting in bed in his maisonette on the fourth floor, this witness was startled to see the tail end of a black liveried horse drawn carriage fade through his room and wall. He later learnt that a neighbour had died at exactly the time of his sighting. Soon after this, the now empty flat in which the neighbour had died became the scene of strong paranormal disturbances. Though the windows and doors were sealed, items in the building were smashed and thrown around, and it was not until an exorcism was carried out that the apartment fell silent.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2004-11-06 | Last updated: 2026-09-03 | ID #5522

Rider

Location: Outer London: Bromley (Greater London) - Field along Pickhurst Hill, Beckenham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1926
Further Comments: A ghostly figure riding a white horse was spotted galloping across this field.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2012-12-16 | Last updated: 2026-09-05 | ID #11192

Coach

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - Exact area unknown, Riddlesdown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This coach pulled by a team of four horses is driven over a piece of private land, where a county lane once ran.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-11-09 | Last updated: 2026-09-05 | ID #3076

Turpin and Bess

Location: Outer London: Enfield (Greater London) - Rose & Crown public house, Clay Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reportedly once owned by Dick Turpin's grandfather, the highwayman would visit the family when he needed to hide out. His ghostly form has been seen both inside and out, sometimes accompanied by his horse.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-08-25 | Last updated: 2002-08-25 | ID #2302

White Woman & Coach

Location: Outer London: Havering (Greater London) - The Manor, Harold Hill, Romford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It is said that a phantom white woman haunts this area, sometimes seen climbing into a ghostly horse-drawn coach which then drives off.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-10-11 | Last updated: 2026-09-05 | ID #6638

Heavy Breathing

Location: Outer London: Hillingdon (Greater London) - Heathrow Airport, general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: This ghost was heard several times, breathing heavily around female members of staff, but never being seen. A second entity wears a bowler hat and has been known to ask about the whereabouts of his briefcase - both case and man were in an aircraft that crashed in the late 1940s, killing all on board. A phantom Dick Turpin rides a brown horse across the runways (or cargo sheds), while cleaning staff during the 1970s reported a presence which held them down, applying pressure around their throats. Finally, prior to the airport being built, a phantom Saxon prince reputedly haunted the area close to a pond where he drowned.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-25 | Last updated: 2026-09-03 | ID #1488

Queen Elizabeth

Location: Outer London: Richmond upon Thames (Greater London) - Richmond Palace
Type: Manifestation of the Living
Date / Time: 1603
Further Comments: As she lay dying elsewhere, Elizabeth was observed standing at a window of the palace. A few reports say she still haunts the building. The palace may have been the location where Edward Seymour, Lord Protector of England, and Anne Seymour witnessed a 'hand with a bloodied sword' emerge from a wall. Edward was beheaded a short time later. There are also more recent reports of phantom horses' hooves heard clopping around the courtyard.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-06-02 | Last updated: 2026-09-03 | ID #1056

Invisible Mare

Location: Outer London: Sutton (Greater London) - Orchard House (no longer standing), Lower Beddington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1934
Further Comments: Heard but never seen, a horse would gallop up to the gates of the house before stopping.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-07-04 | Last updated: 2026-09-03 | ID #1599

Footsteps

Location: Outer London: Waltham Forest (Greater London) - Chingford Mount Cemetery, Old Church Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: People have reported strange voices and the sounds of footsteps walking on the grass behind them - though no one is present when the witnesses look around. A spectral man dressed in black rides on horseback between the graves, occasionally dismounting before vanishing.

Source: Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2005-09-04 | Last updated: 2026-09-05 | ID #6519

Phantom Coach

Location: Oxnead (Norfolk) - Oxnead 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 bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17 | Last updated: 2000-08-17 | ID #126

White Horse Upright

Location: Oxwich (West Glamorgan) - Churchyard
Type: Other
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century
Further Comments: This ghostly creature walks around on hind legs, ending the jaunt as it vanishes down an ancient well.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-01-21 | Last updated: 2003-01-21 | ID #3667

Bobby Bannister the Bastard Landlord

Location: Passenham (Northamptonshire) - Churchyard, & Millstream
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Being dragged by a ghostly horse, this tragic figure bounces around the roads, his neck broken whilst hunting. One report says that the ghost was laid by a team of holy men who banished it to the bottom of the millstream. Screaming sometimes comes from the millstream, the sounds belonging to a girl who fell and was crushed by the wheel.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-01-09 | Last updated: 2003-01-09 | ID #3523

Coach

Location: Pawlett (Somerset) - Roads in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghostly team of horses pulling a coach travel aimlessly in the neighbourhood.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-02-13 | Last updated: 2003-02-13 | ID #3833

Young Horseman

Location: Penicuik (Lothian) - General area
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Often heard and sometimes even seen, the horseman is thought to have been a young lad who stole a horse from his master to speed up the journey to meet his secret lover. In his haste, he galloped past the scene of an accident involving a cart - he could have saved the life of the driver who was trapped underneath, but lust took priority and the rider left the site without offering assistance. The victim of the accident later died but managed to curse the lad who rode on by; hence, the boy's ghost now roams.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2003-03-20 | Last updated: 2003-03-20 | ID #4044

Headless Horses

Location: Penryn (Cornwall) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Christmas Time (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Pulling a coach, this team of headless horses manifests around the season of goodwill. Legend states if stared at, it will whisk the witness away to the nether realm.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-12-31 | Last updated: 2002-12-31 | ID #3315

Horse & Dog

Location: Penselwood (Wiltshire) - Sloane Track - between Penselwood and Stourton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: A man who wagered that he could cross the track in record time fell from his horse and snapped his neck. The man on horseback, now minus a head, with a hound in tow, tries again and again to make the journey once a year.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2006-08-08 | Last updated: 2006-08-08 | ID #6917

Smoking Hooves

Location: Penzance (Cornwall) - Beach
Type: Other
Date / Time: 15 July 1757
Further Comments: After an earthquake here, an area of the beach was discovered to be covered in small hoof prints, some smoking, and others spouting water. Some blamed the Devil, others a phantom horse and carriage that travels through the town.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2002-11-14 | Last updated: 2002-11-14 | ID #3205

Horse-Drawn Coach

Location: Pershore (Worcestershire) - High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1975
Further Comments: A woman heard a horse drawn coach outside her place of employment, but when she looked out of the window, nothing could be seen.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2015-01-17 | Last updated: 2015-01-17 | ID #11712

Hounds All Black and Wide-Eyed

Location: Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) - In all the woods between Stamford and Peterborough
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Between Lent and Easter (reoccurring), but last reported 1100s
Further Comments: These woods were the scene of a wild hunt, which included large black hounds and loathsome riders on the backs of mares and goats.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2001-09-06 | Last updated: 2001-09-06 | ID #600

Headless Horseman

Location: Pettistree (Suffolk) - High Street?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: Witnessed by at least two different people since 1990, a headless horseman has been seen trotting down the high street during the early hours.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2000-08-17 | Last updated: 2000-08-17 | ID #399

Monk

Location: Pewsey (Wiltshire) - Fyfield Manor, the Monk's Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Monk in mid twentieth century, coach unknown
Further Comments: One man was told by a gardener that a phantom monk could be heard ascending the staircase in the tower. The man went on to spend three years living in the tower and never heard a thing. Another local story states that the driveway of the building is haunted by a phantom coach and four.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-06-07 | Last updated: 2009-06-07 | ID #9454

Horses & Carriage

Location: Pluckley (Kent) - The main village street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen trotting down the main street, the history of the carriage pulled by two horses (or four, depending on the source) is unknown.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-03 | Last updated: 2002-06-03 | ID #1077

Horse and Coach

Location: Polstead (Suffolk) - Near the village green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer, 1990s, around 16:00h
Further Comments: Mrs Hackford was driving her car at around 4pm when a horse and carriage carrying an old lady and two men in Victorian clothing rode past her in the opposite direction. Because of the weirdness of the situation, the witness looked behind her, only to realise the coach was no longer there.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2005-08-06 | Last updated: 2005-08-06 | ID #6476

Hanging Judge Jeffreys

Location: Pontblyddyn (Clwyd) - Plas Teg
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: As well as the notorious judge's ghost drifting around the building, one witness has also reported seeing the shade of a young blonde girl. She also haunts the road outside the building, causing passing motorists to stop sharply. The road in turn is also haunted by three horsemen.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2004-05-03 | Last updated: 2004-05-03 | ID #5122

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