The Paranormal Database

Washing Spirit

Location: Little Burton - Old Gast's House
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1677
Further Comments: This pesky spirit threw dripping wet clothes at people within the house and hammered nails into bedding. The entity also placed feathers into the mouths of those sleeping and blew out candles.

Sir John Plumley

Location: Locking - Manor House, and Coach House public house (was once the manor house's stables)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hanged for his part in the Monmouth revolt, Sir John and his dog are now seen on his former property. His wife also puts in the occasional appearance - she killed herself after her husband's execution.

An old woodcut of a knight on horseback slaying a dragon.

Dragon of Aller

Location: Low Ham - Church
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The church is home to a spear that was used to kill a local dragon which lived in Athelney Fens - the creature snacked on the local livestock until a local hero bore arms against the beast.

Frozen Nick

Location: Lydmarsh - Windwhistle Hills
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area is said to become so cold at night that the Devil died of exposure and is buried under a hill. Phantom highwaymen are also said to ride around the countryside.

Thomas Parkes

Location: Mangotsfield - Staples Hill crossroads
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1760s
Further Comments: The Magician Thomas Parkes was said to have summoned several entities from this crossroads; the first to manifest were around 45 centimetres high and sang beautifully, though shortly afterwards darker spirits and fiery balls appeared.

Coach and Four

Location: Merriott - Manor House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This team of horses, together with their ghostly coach, have been seen approaching the front door to this building.

Laughing Man

Location: Milton Clevedon - Creech Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This tall, gaunt figure announces his presence by laughing hysterically.

Quaker

Location: Milverton - Friends' Burial ground
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Unsurprisingly, the ghost haunting the Quaker's burial site wears traditional Quaker garb. The ground is said to be filled by perfect peace.

Mrs Leakey

Location: Minehead - Culver Cliffs
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1634 onwards
Further Comments: This spirit was once blamed for every bad occurrence in and around the town - storms, attacks on the roads, sinking ships... These days the ghost is limited to making the odd appearance on the cliff paths.

Older Gentleman

Location: Montacute - Private residence
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: The phantom older gentleman has been observed both in the house and on the grounds. He is blamed for the opening and closing of curtains, disembodied footsteps, and unexplained bangs. On multiple occasions during renovation work builders on the site would investigate sounds which they suspected came from copper thieves, but no one would ever be found and nothing was missing.

Catherine

Location: Moreton - Chew Valley Lake, B3114 road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 05 June 1999
Further Comments: A driver and two passengers spotted a lady who appeared in the middle of the road and drifted across. She was said to have long, wet wavy hair and an old style dress. The driver pulled into a nearby pub and called the police. The driver later attended a historical/paranormal meeting where around twelve other people claimed to have seen the ghostly woman. Another witness believes that the ghost could be Catherine, who drowned near the site before the lake was created.

Walled up Nun

Location: Muchelney - Muchelney Abbey (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A classic tale - the nun was walled up alive after her secret affair with a monk was discovered, and now her spirit can be heard in the area, begging to be freed.

Bright Dress

Location: Nailsea - Nowhere Wood (aka Trendlewood)
Type: Other
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: Two people passing through the woods at night witnessed a bright light in the shape of a bell-shaped dress approaching them. The shape appeared to increase in size as it moved. After a brief conversation on whether they could both see the strange sight, the witnesses ran from the woods.

Fighting and Singing

Location: Nether Stowey - Dowsborough (aka Danesborough or Dawesbury) Camp
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Autumn nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The sounds of a young child singing have been reported here in the past, as have the sounds of soldiers crooning and chanting before starting to fight.

Two Kittens

Location: Nether Stowey - Field off South Lane
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Late August, 2007
Further Comments: Builders on a construction site watched two large black cats on a nearby field. One of the men went to have a closer look and additionally spotted a pair of younger cats; kittens, but much larger than domestic animals.

Female Hiking

Location: Nether Stowey - Road between village and Holford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This feminine shade walks the road connecting the two villages.

Coffin

Location: North Petherton - Unknown road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century, early twenty-first century
Further Comments: A coffin laying in the middle of the road with a phantom man sitting upon it would cause horses to stop and not go on. One century on, cars are reported to occasionally have mechanical issues in the area, and the coffin has been blamed for one, non-fatal, car accident.

Fulk's Fire Breather

Location: Norton Fitzwarren - Norton Camp hillfort
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Thirteenth century
Further Comments: Born from a pile of decaying bodies left in the hillfort, this creature was finally killed by the brave knight Fulk Fitzwartine.

Flying Squire

Location: Norton Fitzwarren - Skies above town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Accompanied by his hounds, this evil squire was condemned to remain on earth chasing the escaped souls of the damned.

Gorm

Location: Norton Malreward - Hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A giant by the name of Gorm built this camp as his home.

Wrongly Hanged

Location: Norton St Philip - Fleur de Lys public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A man hanged by mistake by soldiers occasionally appears in the pub. Former landlords and landladies have encountered a shadowy figure and have heard the jangling of chains.

Tommy Tucker

Location: Norton St Philip - Tucker's Grave public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Buried underneath the pub, Tommy's corpse is thought to have been staked to prevent its return. However, it is reported that his ghostly figure has been seen around the area of the public house.

Robert Leigh

Location: Old Cleeve - Bardon House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1700s onwards
Further Comments: One of many ghosts belonging to this building, Leigh was reported to walk around the grounds carrying an unknown person's head under one arm. A woman in white rustling silk glides along the corridors of the building, the sad sounds of a harpsichord can be heard, and on occasion a black dog lurks outside.

Golden Coffin

Location: Orchardleigh - Murtry Hill Long Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This is another location where a golden coffin is reputed to be buried.

Targets

Location: Otterford - Robin Hood's Butts
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Three tumuli here were said to have been used by Robin Hood for target practice. The area is also reputedly home to a phantom procession of soldiers, and when treasure hunters tried to raid the tumuli, the dirt is said to have replaced itself as quick as it was removed.