Phantom Horses & Riders from across the Isles
Bloody Horse
Location: Pool (Cornwall) - Road and tunnel close to South Crofty mine
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Circa October / November 1995, around 22:30h - 23:00h
Further Comments: Driving past the mine in bad weather, a driver and his passenger felt a strange negative sensation wash over them. The driver slammed on the brakes and as the car stopped, they spotted a bloody horse standing in the lights. The driver started to climb out of his car to move the horse out of the road, but the creature had gone - there was a steep drop to one side of the road and a wire fence to the other side.
ID #10686, last updated 2012-01-22
Runaway Horses
Location: Porlock (Somerset) - Road leading downhill to the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These horses were all killed when they broke away from their coach on the hill and lost control on a tight bend. They are heard re-enacting their final moments.
ID #3855, last updated 2003-02-14
Tall, White Figure
Location: Portchester (Hampshire) - Portchester Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The pale figure most commonly seen is thought to be Charlotte (see Portchester church entry), though there are other reports of a monk who walks about outside the front of the castle, a Roman soldier, and a lady on the back of a white horse.
ID #933, last updated 2002-05-05
Lord Rokeby
Location: Postling (Kent) - Stone Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lord Rokeby races around the area, minus his head, being drawn by a team of four horses.
ID #9256, last updated 2009-04-18
Lady Carew in a Coach Pulled by Four Black Horses
Location: Potter Heigham (Norfolk) - Arched Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 May, Midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Occurring on the stroke of midnight, the phantom coach driven by a skeleton is seen to crash into the side of the bridge and fall into the river below. After selling her soul to the Devil, Lady Carew was taken away by two skeletons driving a coach pulled by four black horses on her wedding day. The coach disappeared on the bridge over the River Thurne, and the scene is repeated every 31 May. Another version of the story says the phantom is Lady Evelyn, who died when her coach crashed in 1741.
ID #565, last updated 2023-04-21
Charging Horseman
Location: Prestbury (Gloucestershire) - Shaw Green Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 04 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Killed by a Lancastrian arrow in the 1400's, this glowing War of the Roses messenger is doomed to carry his cargo forevermore. Another story says he was decapitated by a thin wire that was placed across the road, while a different version of the tale claims the ghost to be a Royalist courier killed when he rode into a rope strung across his route.
ID #993, last updated 2026-03-22
Headless Horseman
Location: Pulham Market (Norfolk) - Mill Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach and horses is driven down this lane by a headless horseman. The horseman's whip sparks at each crack.
ID #11722, last updated 2015-01-18
Horse & Chain
Location: Purse Caundle (Dorset) - Lane between village and Stourton Caundle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An invisible team of horses pull an equally invisible coach along this lane. The only indication of their passing is the noise of the horses and the jangling of a chain. The sounds are said to reach the top of Stourton Caundle before ceasing.
ID #9547, last updated 2009-06-28
Horseman
Location: Purton (Wiltshire) - Roads in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly horseman has been heard and occasionally observed heading out of the village.
ID #6914, last updated 2006-08-08
Tom King
Location: Rackenford (Devon) - The Stag Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The sound of hooves heard several times from outside the public house are thought to belong to the horse of Tom King, a local highwayman who once frequented the bar.
ID #2348, last updated 2002-08-27
Christopher Bloor
Location: Rainham (Kent) - Lane leading to Bloor Place (no longer standing) and near church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Christopher Bloor had a reputation for being a seducer of women. This proved to be Christopher's undoing - he was decapitated by a posse of local men with wives with whom he had slept. The lane was haunted by the headless Bloor, who reputedly drove his coach pulled by headless horses, and ghostly hoofbeats heard around the church.
ID #8778, last updated 2020-11-17
Man on Black Horse
Location: Ranworth (Norfolk) - Neighbourhood of Ranworth Broad
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Locals tell of an unknown man on a black horse that is believed to haunt the area. The devil is seen riding across the broad every 31 December; under his arm is the soul of a Colonel who had dared hunt on the Sabbath.
ID #221, last updated 2000-08-17
Earl Gerald
Location: Rathkeale (County Limerick) - Castle Matrix
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Every seven years
Further Comments: The earl is said to walk under Lough Gur, emerging on the back of a black horse every seven years to visit his former home. Another former earl, James, is also said to haunt the castle - he was murdered by his servants.
ID #6166, last updated 2005-04-13
Something
Location: Rathronshin (County Laois) - The Dullow Bush
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A vague entry in the Laois Burial Grounds Survey 2011 says that the word Dullow is used to describe a phantom, although details of the haunting are not given.
ID #13976, last updated 2020-10-28
Fast Moving Procession
Location: Ratlinghope (Shropshire) - Road towards village, along the Long Mynd
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large group of people following a horse drawn hearse have been seen on several occasions, moving much more swiftly than one should expect.
ID #1589, last updated 2002-07-04
Woman in a Carriage
Location: Redbrook (Gwent) - Edge of the river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: While walking by the river, Mr Morgan heard horses approaching from behind but could not see anything. As the sound reached him, Morgan leapt to one side and watched as a team of horses pulling a coach appear from nowhere. The coach contained a woman who looked out of the window at the witness. Instead of following the road, the coach entered nearby woodland and vanished.
ID #11650, last updated 2014-11-23
Sound of Horses
Location: Redditch (Worcestershire) - The Lane, Church Hill South
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the phantom horses heard in this area belonged to Roman riders who fell into a large pit trap dug by their enemies.
ID #8090, last updated 2007-12-09
Horse with Trap
Location: Rettendon (Essex) - Road leading to East Hannington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost haunting this road is said to be that of a farmer riding his horse and cart.
ID #649, last updated 2001-09-09
Dog under Horses' Hooves
Location: Reydon (Suffolk) - Road near Reydon Hall
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Shuck 1900s, and coach mid 1800s?
Further Comments: A couple in a trap encountered the Shuck, and it ran under their horses. The driver tried to hit the black dog with his whip, but it passed straight through the creature. The same area is also haunted by a phantom coach, being driven at breakneck speed.
ID #813, last updated 2000-08-27
Coach & Horses
Location: Rhossili (West Glamorgan) - Old Rectory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a smuggler driving his coach runs around the sandy area of this building, while on some nights a macabre entity is seen climbing out of the sea and enters the rectory. This may be the same entity which asks (in a gruff voice) 'why don't you turn around and look at me?' - those who do so have never seen anything.
ID #5910, last updated 2005-03-01
Coach
Location: Riddlesdown (Surrey) - Exact area unknown
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.
ID #3076, last updated 2002-11-09
Horse
Location: Riseley (Bedfordshire) - Eastfield's Corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A farmer heard a galloping horse rapidly approaching him, even though he could not see the creature. Moments later, there was a crashing sound, and a large gust of wind passed the man, even though the creature remained invisible.
ID #7819, last updated 2007-08-26
White Horse
Location: River Wharfe (North Yorkshire) - Wharfedale's Strid
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 01 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Together with a fairy, this pale horse rises from the dangerous waters once a year. It has been known to drown people who come too close.
ID #3553, last updated 2003-01-13
Horses
Location: Rochdale (Greater Manchester) - Gristlehurst Lane, Heywood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This lane is reputed to be haunted by the phantom sounds of horses.
ID #12628, last updated 2017-12-07
Coach Crash
Location: Rockfield (Gwent) - Ancre Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach and horses is seen to crash before vanishing into a wall somewhere in this area.
ID #8183, last updated 2008-01-13
Records 401 - 425 of 557
Quick Links
Contribute
Reports: Type
Reports: Places
Reports: People
Calendar
