The Paranormal Database

Alexander MacAllister

Location: Glenlivet (Moray) - Altnachoylachan Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The site of a battle in 1594 between the troops of George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly and Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll, is haunted by the headless ghost of MacAllister riding on horseback - he fought briefly, although was decapitated by the first cannon shot.

White Horse

Location: Glossop (Derbyshire) - Simmondley Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: It was once said that a phantom white horse haunted a spot at the hall where a former owner had concealed a cache of riches.

An old postcard of Goodrich Castle.

Drowning Lovers

Location: Goodrich (Hereford & Worcester) - Goodrich Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Stormy weather (screaming)
Further Comments: A failed escape from Cromwellian soldiers resulted in a young officer and his lover drowning in the river Wye. Their ghosts, mounted on horseback, have been reported struggling in the river, standing in the ruins of the nearby castle, or heard screaming during storms. In addition, an imprisoned Irish chieftain who died trying to escape is said to haunt the Macbeth tower.

Civil War Skirmish

Location: Grafton Regis (Northamptonshire) - Exact location not known
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 23 December 1943
Further Comments: Six workers claimed they heard charging horses, the clash of swords, and gunfire, though could see nothing strange. A local historian said that a small fight had happened nearby, between Roundheads and Cavaliers.

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.

Poisoned Horses

Location: Great Ayton (North Yorkshire) - Area near the river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The sounds of poisoned 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 in that day (nor any scheduled for the near future).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.