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

Royalist

Location: Cleadon (Northumberland) - Britannia public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom Royalist soldier died on the site from his injuries and has been seen near the bar. A ghostly coach and horses also haunts the area. As a side note, a secret tunnel is said to run from the pub to a nearby house.

Puca

Location: Clonlara (County Clare) - Bridge (may no longer be standing), two miles south west of village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: A dark shadow-like horse was named by some to be a puca, although it would appear no one stayed around long enough to find out for sure.

Sound of a Horse

Location: Clytha (Gwent) - Road on the hillside
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn 1898
Further Comments: The driver of a horse and cart and a passenger were left shaken after encountering the sounds of a horse which passed them, and although nothing could be seen, the sounds were accompanied by a cold gust of wind. A murder had occurred along the road a few years previous, where a woman on horseback was decapitated by a former lover.

Old Man

Location: Coate (Wiltshire) - Path across field heading towards Pond House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972?
Further Comments: This pathway is reputedly haunted by a little old man dressed in old fashioned clothing.

Horse in Chains

Location: Cockpole Green (Berkshire) - Area around Putters Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An old work horse still draped in the chains it used to drag a plough around the fields still manifests and scares the unwary.

Charlotte in White Robe

Location: Colchester (Essex) - Charlotte's Well, Berechurch Hall (demolished 1952)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977, winter
Further Comments: Located in a hidden part of the grounds, Charlotte's Well was built for a woman after which it took its name. Charlotte is said to have loved the well so much that she could never leave and is said to have been seen since her death around the bathing pool. She may have last been seen walking around a wooded area in a white dress during the winter of 1977, although there are stories that a phantom woman still appears in the area. A phantom coach is also said to ride around the area.

Simon Cunliffe

Location: Colne (Lancashire) - Wycoller Hall
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Once a year, middle of winter (reoccurring), sound recorded 26/07/1996
Further Comments: Simon rides the area where he once lived, blowing his horn prior to a tragedy. It is said that he scared his wife to death by riding up the staircase of their home, chasing a fox that had ran inside to escape the hunt (ghost hunters Colin Veacock and Peter Crawley recorded a sound like a riding crop here in 1996). Another tale states that the horseman is not Simon but an assassin, killed by a manservant before he could murder the master of the hall. The young daughter of a family living here during the twentieth century told her mother that a 'white woman' would visit her during the night - the sightings stopped when the child changed bedrooms.

Phantom Coach

Location: Coltishall (Norfolk) - Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 May (reoccurring) (coach)
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. A headless Black Shuck is also reputed to cross this bridge once per night.

Monks with Body

Location: Colwall (Hereford & Worcester) - Road near village green known as 'Haunted Lane'
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 01 February 1940, and circa 1975
Further Comments: A woman cycling along the lane during the Second World War encountered a procession of cowled monks carrying the body of a young man draped in black. Pedalling away from the scene, the woman was overtaken by a ghostly horseman also galloping from the monks. Man and horse vanished as they reached the railway bridge in the village. Many years later two children walking home encountered a tall, hooded monk along a country lane. They quickly ran past.

Sir George Sydenham

Location: Combe Sydenham (Somerset) - Hills around village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Daily, midnight to dawn (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sir George is reported to ride his headless horse up and down the hills near the village. Combe Sydenham is also a place where the Wild Hunt has been reported, always heard as locals were too afraid to look (and rightly so!).

Marbury Lady

Location: Comberbatch (Cheshire) - Marbury Park and former hall (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Exact date unknown, but reported to be around 22:30h (female ghost)
Further Comments: An Egyptian maid was pushed down the staircase of the old manor house, dying in the fall. Her ghost was said to haunt the old hall, though when it was demolished, the spirit changed location and took up residence in the park. A phantom mare named Marbury Dunne is also said to haunt the park.

Rider

Location: Compton Abdale (Gloucestershire) - Puesdown Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014
Further Comments: A man on horseback, considered to be a highwayman, reportedly haunts this building. It may have been this entity which created the loud heavy footsteps from above which followed one witness along the corridor to the back rooms; when asked, the owners said no one else was updates at the time.

White Rider

Location: Corfe (Somerset) - Exact location not known
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pallid figure on horseback has been reported in the village.


Corfe Castle, Dorset.

Headless Woman

Location: Corfe Castle (Dorset) - Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Woman and horse unknown, male figure seen 15 May 2009, around 01:30h
Further Comments: The terrifying shade of the headless woman walks the hill near the gateway of where this castle stands. The same ghost may also be responsible for the lights that flit across the ruins at night, or they could be caused by phantasmal Royalists that used the castle in 1643. The sound of a galloping phantom horse has been heard at the bottom of the castle hill. A cloaked figure with a brown floppy hat was observed by a local man in 2009 while he was picking worms for fishing. The figure was in the middle of a field but vanished after the witness took his eyes off the man for a few seconds.

Peg Sneddle

Location: Crackenthorpe (Cumbria) - General area
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Peg Sneddle, or Elizabeth Sleddall as she was known in life, would manifest prior to a death in the Machell family (she was married to a Machell, but used her maiden name after his premature death). This ceased when her body was hidden under a large rock in the nearby river, though it would reappear every year in September. A phantom coach and four also haunts the same area.

Soldiers

Location: Cregneish (Isle of Man) - Meayll Stone Circle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom army comprising of soldiers and their horses are said to haunt the area round these ancient burial chambers.

Horseman

Location: Crichton (Lothian) - Crichton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This horse backed rider enters the building though the original gate, that is now walled up. The ghost of Sir William Crichton is also said to haunt the site, walking towards castle tower, manifesting on the date of his death (although that date is not certain, only being recorded as prior to July 1454).

Horse

Location: Crockerton (Wiltshire) - Church Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless horse is reputed to gallop along in this area.

Cromwellian Rider

Location: Crondall (Hampshire) - All Saints' Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s?
Further Comments: Cromwellian troops have been seen near the local church, while another soldier rides a horse along the road; he dismounts and vanishes through the church door.

WW2 Soldiers

Location: Cruden Bay (Aberdeenshire) - Slains Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Soldiers dressed in Second World War uniform have been seen around the castle area, and the site is also said to be haunted by a horse and carriage. As a side note, Bram Stoker is said to have been partly inspired to write Dracula after seeing the castle while staying at Cruden Bay.

Coach & Horses

Location: Cuckfield (Sussex) - Butler's Green House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Once upon a time, the coach and its team of horses arrived too late to save a girl who committed suicide in the local pond - out of guilt it now makes its return journey.

Hearse

Location: Cutcombe (Somerset) - A396, between village and Timberscombe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Some accidents occurring along this road have been blamed on the phantom black coach pulled by headless horses that runs wild and driverless.


An old postcard of Furness Abbey.

Monk

Location: Dalton in Furness (Cumbria) - Furness Abbey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2005
Further Comments: A ghostly figure in robes was seen walking towards the gatehouse before vanishing into a wall. It is said the monk sometimes appears on horseback, and the site is also haunted by a white woman.

The Black Prince

Location: Dartford (Kent) - A2 road between Dartford and Bexley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: Dressed in black armour, this ghostly figure on horseback was observed several times walking along the road during the Second World War.

Sam Hunnaford

Location: Dartmoor (Devon) - Combestone Tor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This local farmer hanged himself out of shame after been conned at a fair - his shade has been seen making his last journey on horseback, though instead of hanging itself, the ghost continues towards his former home.

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