The Paranormal Database

Black and White

Location: Taunton - Field in the Parish of St James
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After hearing that Molly, who lived in the workhouse, liked to take a walk around the local fields at night, one man decided it would be fun to cover himself in a white sheet and scare her. Molly did indeed run, shouting out that two entities could be seen, one in white and the other black. The man dressed in a sheet also spotted the figure in black and ran home, where he died a few minutes later.

Green Haired Ghost

Location: Taunton - Hammett's Walk & Upper High Street areas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghost may have drowned in a nearby stream.

Blonde

Location: Taunton - Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in seventeenth century clothing, this fair haired wraith drifts around the museum. Not so pretty is Judge Jeffrey's shade that also appears within the same building.

Argument

Location: Taunton - Naval and Military Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A group of three ghost hunters were apparently scared away from the haunted room here, when the sounds of a phantom argument grew too strong.

An old postcard showing Taunton Castle in Somerset.

Marching Army

Location: Taunton - Taunton Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Heard marching through the castle's museum, these invisible troops are thought to belong to the untrained army of the Duke of Monmouth that were slaughtered during a failed attack. Another ghost heard but not seen is a rather loud fiddler named Tom who frequents a room in the attached hotel. The ghost of a lady dressed in seventeenth century clothing makes the odd appearance in the castle, as does a cavalier holding a pistol.

Judge Jefferys

Location: Taunton - Tudor Tavern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spotted in the inn, Jefferys' shade still haunts the town where he held the Bloody Assizes.

Henry Transom

Location: Taunton - Tutor house (no longer standing), East Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1802
Further Comments: Henry Transom, a local teacher, spent much of his life helping the sick and died of smallpox in 1758. Friends said that his warm personality seemed to remain in his home. A new family moved into the house and their ten-year old child fell ill. A nurse treating the boy said she witnessed Henry Transom drift pass her, place his hands on the boy's forehead and say, 'I was sick and ye visited me'. The ghostly figure then vanished through a wall. The child soon recovered.

Coach

Location: Taunton - Unnamed house (3 miles from town)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom coach would rush around outside this unnamed house. One place, known as the Blue Room, became home to a poltergeist that would bang around and lock people in - on one occasion the owner had to climb out the window and down a drainpipe, only to find the door ajar when he returned to the room.

Banishing the Dog

Location: Thorne St Margaret - Church
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ancient custom of 'clipping the church' once preceded the chasing of the black dog, which was thought to be Satan, out of the village's boundary.

Garden Monks

Location: Tolland - Gaulden Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several shades have been reported here, including monks walking about the garden, a small dog that runs around the same area, a grey lady that stands by a fireplace and another female who haunts a bedroom. A phantom coach can only be seen or heard by members of the family and is an omen of impending death.

Slain Beast

Location: Trull - Castleman's hill
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Little is known about the dragon said to have been killed in this area.

Aged Man

Location: Twerton - Unnamed council house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: An elderly man was said to appear on three successive nights, his skin wrinkled and his face indistinct.

Guardian Dog

Location: Wambarrows - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This large black hound was said to protect the nearby hill from treasure hunters.

Fireball

Location: Warmley - Skies over the village
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 6 March 1912
Further Comments: A fireball with three points was seen speeding across the sky. The witness said that the object was like an aircraft.

Too Many to Count

Location: Washford - Barton House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Owners of this house say literately dozens of ghosts haunt their building, though neglect to state whether these are metaphorical or metaphysical.

Hunting Pack

Location: Watchet - Cleeve Hill
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: These Yeth hounds stalk as a pack after dark on the hill side.

Florence Wyndham

Location: Watchet - Kentsford Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mistakenly thought dead, Florence was placed in a coffin and left in the church overnight. She awoke from her coma when the sexton tried to cut off her fingers to steal her rings (he died of shock), and she returned home. Her ghost has been seen making the journey back to the manor, tapping on the windows and door once she arrives home.

Waking the Dead

Location: Watchet - St Decuman's Church
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A schoolmaster walking past the church was approached by robbers who forced him to take them to the grave of a wealthy woman who had recently died. Opening the crypt, the schoolmaster was made to remove the gold rings from the corpse's fingers. Halfway through this ghastly task, the dead woman sat up and cried for her brothers and sisters to help her - nearby coffins opened and the dead sat up. The robbers and schoolmaster escaped, but the schoolmaster died soon after sharing his story.

Gurt Dog

Location: Weacombe - Area of Quantocks
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This shuck has proved quite helpful when encountered, appearing to lost walkers and leading them to safety. However, another entity in the same area known as the Wild Rider is considered fatal if met.

Grey Lady

Location: Wedmore - George Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This Edwardian lass dressed in grey silently walks the corridors here. Guests at the hotel are said to have more than their fair share of sleep paralysis incidents.

Man with Torch

Location: Wellington - A38, near the Heatherton Grange Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: Appearing to be a man in a raincoat, this phantom uses his torch to try to flag passing cars down. One woman who refused to stop narrowly avoided hitting him. A truck driver reported once giving the ghostly man a lift to Holcombe Bridge, not realising the man was a ghost until a short time later; the driver almost hit the man as he stood in the same place where he was first picked up. Stopping to ensure that the hitcher was okay, the truck driver watched as the stranger vanished before his eyes. This may be the same entity which has been seen at Taunton.

Rising Woman

Location: Wellington - Barracks, and St James Park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1804
Further Comments: Several guards stationed at the barracks reported the ghost of a headless woman, which rose from the ground in front of them wearing a striped dress. The figure then set off towards the park.

Reading Man

Location: Wellington - Blue Mantle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: Owner Peter Green spotted an older man reading a newspaper in the lounge of the hotel, who soon vanished without being seen or triggering the alarm. Green later found a Victorian portrait which resembled the unknown man.

Treasure

Location: Wellington - Cockcrow Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: This stone, animated by the sound of a cockerel's crow, is said to cover a secret treasure.

Harmless

Location: Wellington - Cothay Manor
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1960s
Further Comments: A harmless ghost was said to haunt the site, knocking on a particular door and walking through a room. The haunting ceased after a manacle, which was found with the skeletal remains of a hidden body, was sprung open.