The Paranormal Database

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

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Phantom Horses & Riders from across the Isles

Captain Blundell

Location: Granard (County Longford) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Eighteenth century onwards
Further Comments: Blundell, a British officer, rides decapitated upon horseback in this area. His headless body was found in a nearby barracks, and an investigation ruled that the officer had killed himself. Some people thought this to be unlikely and believed his ghost had returned to prove that a murder had really occurred.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2005-04-13 | Last updated: 2005-04-13 | ID #6119

Poisoned Horses

Location: Great Ayton (North Yorkshire) - Area near the river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of dying horses neighing haunts this area - a story tells how thirty men and over a dozen horses died after drinking poisoned water from this river. The river itself is said to reflect the dead soldiers, if one examines it for long enough.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-10-20 | Last updated: 2002-10-20 | ID #2770

Kate Slough

Location: Great Holland (Essex) - Pork Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The apparition of blonde-haired Kate on horseback has been observed near the area where she once drowned. Her white horse has also been observed riderless.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2005-07-22 | Last updated: 2005-07-22 | ID #6419

Woman in a Crinoline Gown

Location: Great Holland (Essex) - Treasure Holt - farmhouse in marshes
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s?
Further Comments: The history of this building goes back to 1138, and several ghosts have attached themselves to it and the surrounding area. The woman dressed in a crinoline gown drifts silently through the house, while a woman with blonde hair sits in front of the fireplace. This may be the same ghost who rides a white horse down the lane outside. A cavalier has been observed in the lounge, and a phantom monk walks a foot above the ground outside in the garden. Finally, just around the corner of the building the spectre of a highwayman still hangs from a tree.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2004-06-20 | Last updated: 2004-06-20 | ID #5194

Sir John

Location: Great Missenden (Buckinghamshire) - Chiltern Hills
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Upon his death, Sir John de Plessis reportedly requested that he be buried upright, sitting on top of his favourite steed. The executors of his will made it so, and Sir John has since been seen riding along the hillside. The same story is attributed to a Captain Backhouse, though his haunting stopped after being dug up and laid out traditionally. A female phantom rider has also been reported haunting the area, her head sitting on her lap.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-08-09 | Last updated: 2003-08-09 | ID #4440

Coach

Location: Grimsby (Lincolnshire) - Abbey (demolished 1967)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The site was said to be haunted by a phantom coach and horses that were heard coming to a halt on the gravel driveway but were never seen.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-09-24 | Last updated: 2002-09-24 | ID #12115

Earl of Shaftesbury

Location: Gussage All Saints (Dorset) - Lanes in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This Earl of Shaftesbury, who died in 1683, is said to drive his coach around the lanes in the area, looking for souls to take.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-08-10 | Last updated: 2008-08-10 | ID #8745


Witch ducking.

Abigail Carstair

Location: Hambleton Hills (North Yorkshire) - Whitestone Cliff
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Carstair was on the run after being accused of witchcraft - she leapt from the cliff rather than being tortured by the religious fanatics. Her shade is sometimes seen trying to hide in the area, while the ghostly horseman also reported in the same place may be one of her hunters.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2003-01-05 | Last updated: 2003-01-05 | ID #3491

Coach Sounds

Location: Hankerton (Wiltshire) - Road through the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An invisible, phantom coach is driven through the area by a team of horses.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-06-07 | Last updated: 2009-06-07 | ID #9435

Waiting on the Platform

Location: Harperley (Northumberland) - Former station (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: When overgrown and unloved, the station was said by some to be haunted by a figure. Some assumed the ghost was a woman thrown from her horse and trap into the path of an oncoming train. The area was also said to be home to a phantom carriage.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2005-05-10 | Last updated: 2005-05-10 | ID #6251


An old illustration of Hatfield House.

Coach

Location: Hatfield (Hertfordshire) - Hatfield House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Coach unknown, figure in August 2017
Further Comments: The coach, pulled by a team of horses, belts down the driveway, enters the house, and disappears while ascending the staircase. In 2017 a visitor to the house spotted a man in Stuart attire reading a book while sitting by a window. The witness, believing the figure to be a reenactor, pulled out their phone to take a photograph, but the figure had vanished. The witness asked around and staff said there were no costumed actors present on that day (nor any scheduled for the near future).

Source: Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2002-11-07 | Last updated: 2021-05-13 | ID #3026

Pale Horse

Location: Hathersage (Derbyshire) - Sicklehome Hollow, between Hathersage and Bamford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom white horse is said to roam the area but only visible to those with second sight.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2007-05-07 | Last updated: 2007-05-07 | ID #7418

Rider

Location: Haugham (Lincolnshire) - Orgarth Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1850
Further Comments: A phantom man upon a shaggy horse was once said to haunt this hill, manifesting to other riders and causing their mounts to bolt.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2016-02-13 | Last updated: 2016-02-13 | ID #12028

Sir Thomas

Location: Hautbois (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 bridges that he passes over on the night of his daughter Anne's execution.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-07-10 | Last updated: 2007-07-10 | ID #7619

Cavalier

Location: Hawton (Nottinghamshire) - Road across the bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A fisherman encountered a spectral Cavalier passing over the bridge on horseback. The entity faded away.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2008-05-11 | Last updated: 2008-05-11 | ID #8581

Dunny

Location: Hazelrigg (Northumberland) - St Cuthbert's Cave
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost would take the form of a dun coloured horse (though really it was the shade of a pirate-cum-raider) and harass anyone who came too close to his treasure which was buried somewhere nearby.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2003-09-07 | Last updated: 2003-09-07 | ID #4565

Men and Horses

Location: Heddington (Wiltshire) - Downs near the Vicarage
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The vicar called the police after hearing many men and horses traversing the nearby downs. Police found nothing.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2009-05-31 | Last updated: 2009-05-31 | ID #9386

Hedley Kow

Location: Hedley (Northumberland) - All over village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A spirit that plagued many households in the village, the Hedley Kow would take the form of human or beast, sometimes luring the living into marshy areas. The entity finally disappeared after it manifested as a horse and ran off, escaping the fury of a victim of one of its 'jokes'.

Source: Historical Record, User Submission
First added: 2002-10-24 | Last updated: 2002-10-24 | ID #2818

White Horse of Clumly

Location: Hestwall (Orkney) - Clumly Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: Both horse and rider were killed in an accident as they galloped back home, the rider having just disposed of a body. Now the pair only appear when the environment is right.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-07-14 | Last updated: 2002-07-14 | ID #1724

Headless Highwayman

Location: Hickleton (South Yorkshire) - Area near the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly figure still rides his horse, still seeking his head that was taken from him as punishment for his crimes.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-10-17 | Last updated: 2002-10-17 | ID #2713

Lady on Horseback

Location: High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) - Loakes Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly woman is reported to ride her mare along the lane where she fell from her horse and died.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2007-06-08 | Last updated: 2007-06-08 | ID #7562

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.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2009-04-12 | Last updated: 2009-04-12 | ID #9177

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.

Source: Historical Record
First added: 2004-11-26 | Last updated: 2004-11-26 | ID #5662

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.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2001-09-06 | Last updated: 2001-09-06 | ID #839

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.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2017-12-08 | Last updated: 2017-12-08 | ID #12645

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