The Paranormal Database

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

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Phantom Horses & Riders from across the Isles

Young Man

Location: Briantspuddle Heath (Dorset) - Rimsmoor Pond
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer months (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This lone figure on horseback slowly heads towards the pond where he vanishes. He was a local man thought to have drowned in the pond's waters, though his body never found.

Pocock

Location: Bridgwater (Somerset) - A39 between Street and Bridgwater
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1980s
Further Comments: Pocock, a highwayman, was badly injured in a fight. Pocock managed to escape and hide, only to die of his wounds in a cave which has never been discovered. His ghost has been seen on horseback, curiously galloping on the spot, and has been blamed for several accidents in the area.

Squire Lighte

Location: Bridport (Dorset) - Bagley (or Baglake) House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building was once believed to be haunted by the spirit of a squire who took his own life on the property. His ghost is also seen riding a horse towards the nearby river.

Heavy Cart Wheels

Location: Brigg (Lincolnshire) - Queen Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: July 2006, around 04:00h
Further Comments: From their home a witness heard heavy cartwheels and horses' hooves on the road outside, but nothing could be seen. The witness was later told that the road was haunted by a horse and cart which still travelled to the Britannia Brewery, which closed in 1924.


St Nicholas' Church in Brighton.

Knight in Armour

Location: Brighton (Sussex) - St Nicholas' Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Moonlit Nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Appearing on horseback, this knight clad in armour appears around the church neighbourhood.

Coach

Location: Brimpton (Berkshire) - Lane running through village, leading to Able Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January (exact date not known)
Further Comments: Carrying its occupants to a ball, the coach was caught up in a storm that washed away Able Bridge - the coach plunged into the water, killing all the passengers. The event is heard once a year after sunset, marking the anniversary of the tragedy.

Sounds of Horses

Location: Briningham (Norfolk) - Mission Hall Cottage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 10.30pm, irregular, (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sounds of horse hooves have been heard moving around the house at night - at one time the property was a stable. The sitting room has experienced sharp falls in temperature, accompanied by strange smells.


Ashton Court, Bristol.

Decapitated Horseman

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - Ashton Court Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Clear moonlit nights (horseman)
Further Comments: Ashton Court is best known for its ghostly headless horseman, though there are also reports of grey ladies and a phantom hound.

Young Girl on Horseback

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - Monument on a grassy hill next to the M32
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This female jockey broke her neck in a fall while attempting to ride down the hill - her shade, still on horseback, has been seen since her death.

Shocked Lady

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - 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.

Headless Horseman

Location: Bristol (Somerset) - 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.

Funeral Procession

Location: Broadwindsor (Dorset) - B3162, leading from Drimpton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A hearse pulled by four black horses, followed by a large crowd of people, is said to head into the village, though the procession suddenly vanishes before reaching the church.


An old fashioned coach sits in shadow.

Coach

Location: Brooksby (Leicestershire) - Brooksby Agriculture College
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The sounds of a coach being pulled by horse can be heard in the hall here - the building was moved and rebuilt in the nineteenth century, with the hall being placed where a road once lay. A phantom woman also reportedly roams the building.

Dullahan

Location: Bryansford (County Down) - Hill between Bryansford and Moneyscalp
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Riding headless on a black horse, the Dullahan are said to be bearers of ill-omen. The entity carries his severed, decaying head in his right hand. Wherever the Dullahan stops, it is said that a mortal will shortly die on that spot.

Aunt Charlotte

Location: Bryanston (Dorset) - Portman (aka Bryanston) House, currently the school
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-twentieth century
Further Comments: The shade of Aunt Charlotte was so prevalent the first building here was pulled down and rebuilt solely to rid the living of her ghost. Charlotte may never have been seen again, but a phantom horse and carriage now haunt the drive.

Phantom Coach

Location: Buckland Newton (Dorset) - Park Lane, between village and Glanvilles Wootton (aka Wootton Glanville)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The origins of this phantom coach and team of horses is unclear.

Lady Bolingbroke

Location: Bucklebury (Berkshire) - Manor House, and general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After her husband escaped to France with another woman, Lady Bolingbroke (nee Frances Winchcombe) died of a broken heart. Her ghost has been reported at the manor house, while the streets of the village are home to her coach.

Riders

Location: Buckstones (West Yorkshire) - A640, near the Nont Sarah public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: A policeman returning home after a late shift spotted a small group of horsemen dressed in Cavalier-style clothing riding along this road. He drove past the figures three times to prove to himself that they were not a figment of his imagination.

Grizelda the Highway Woman

Location: Buckton (Northumberland) - Roads in the village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: At the end of every month (reoccurring), last seen 1987
Further Comments: Dressed as a male highwayman, this girl has been seen still riding her midnight black horse. She reportedly held up a stagecoach carrying an execution order condemning a friend of hers, which bought him enough time to escape the noose.

Horseman

Location: Bunbury (Cheshire) - College Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly man on horseback is said to cross the lane before vanishing.

Horses and Coach

Location: Bungay (Suffolk) - Road between Ditchingham and Bungay at Lions Grave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Reported by at least one driver, a coach with a team of horses haunt the road, seemingly charging at incoming traffic and turning away at the last possible moment. One version of the tale says the coach is either seen or heard, but never both.

Horses

Location: Burbage Bridge (Derbyshire) - Layby along Ringinglow Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: 11 December 2016
Further Comments: Two witnesses in the back of a camper van heard horse's hooves outside their vehicle (even though they did not hear the creature approach). They heard the creature depart before it returned soon after, this time brushing against the rear window. The witnesses drove away, unable to see anything in the darkness. The driver turned the van around a few hundred metres down the road and returned to see what had been harassing them, but nothing was found.

Sir Thomas

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

White Horses

Location: Burnham Green (Hertfordshire) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Galloping around the neighbourhood at night, these creatures are thought to be connected to a battle fought more than a thousand years ago.

Headless Horse

Location: Burnham Green (Hertfordshire) - Roads in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The result of a Danish skirmish over a thousand years ago, this decapitated horse runs along the lanes surrounding the area.

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