Somerset and Bristol Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Giant Meteorite
Location: Weston-super-Mere - Skies over the town
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 10 January 1869
Further Comments: A large fireball was seen passing overhead. Several hours later there were a series of shockwaves that were attributed to an earth tremor.
Long Necked Creature
Location: Weston-super-Mere - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 02 December 1988
Further Comments: Three witnesses watched for several minutes a strange creature possessing a long neck swimming around in the mist covered sea.
Man in Black
Location: Weston-super-Mere - Weston General Hospital
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: The top two floors of this hospital contain wards that are exact copies of each other. One night in 1998, nurses attending a sick patient followed by an elderly man in a black suit. He disappeared, and it was found that the female patient on the ward below had died. It was believed that black-dressed gentleman was her husband come to collect her, but he arrived on the wrong floor. The figure has not been seen since.
Running Girl
Location: Weston-super-Mere - The Causeway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2002
Further Comments: While walking along the causeway, two witnesses heard sloshing water and running footsteps behind them. They turned around and briefly spotted a young girl moving quickly towards them, with her hands held up. The girl moved through one witness's body and brushed against the other before spinning round and vanishing.
Many Accidents
Location: Weston-super-Mere - Kewstoke Toll Road
Type: Other
Date / Time: No exact date
Further Comments: Though only a mile long, there have been a high number of accidents along this coast road, leading some to speculate that a paranormal source may be at work.
Old Soldiers
Location: Westonzoyland - Sedgemoor Battlefield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 06 July (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The spirits here reportedly include voices that call out to witnesses over the nearby River Carey, and horsemen who gallop silently along. People have also reported pockets of cold air, and watching a white woman glide over the marsh, near where her lover was murdered by Royalists. On the anniversary of the battle, sounds of fighting have been heard.
White Dog
Location: Wick St Lawrence - Back lanes around the village
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 2015
Further Comments: A young man driving his car was said to have been chased by a large white dog which reached up to speeds of thirty miles per hour for prolonged periods.
The Devil's Mount
Location: Wievliscombe - Area around the church
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: 1827?
Further Comments: When the church in Wievliscombe was being rebuilt, the devil manifested riding a green dragon and began hurling rocks at the construction. Saint Andrew materialised and used a crucifix to drive both Devil and dragon away.
Thrown Stone
Location: Williton - Battlegore tumulus
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Battlegore was the landing site of a stone thrown by a giant from West Quantoxhead, competing with the Devil. Old Nick's rock fell short, resulting in his banishment from the area.
Sir John Popham
Location: Wilscombe Bottom - Area between village and Wellington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Capable of only moving a cock's stride per year, the ghost of Popham is on the move from Wilscombe Bottom where he died to the church in Wellington, where he seeks salvation.
Wagon
Location: Winsford - Winsford Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The wagon that haunts this spot was supposedly crushed as its owner tried to move aside the heavy monolith located here, to steal the treasure beneath.
Dog with Glowing Eyes
Location: Winsford - Winsford Hill, and surrounding Exmoor area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The devil dog found in Exmoor has been known to dematerialise slowly, leaving just a pair of red glowing eyes behind.
Joan Carne
Location: Withycombe - Area which is currently Sandhill Farm
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: This woman is thought to have killed her three husbands, and soon after her death in the early seventeenth century, came back and was seen in her kitchen. A nineteenth century exorcism may have laid her for good, though some believe her phantom's appearance is an ill omen.
Giant Eel
Location: Wookey Hole - Flooded Caverns
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A huge eel, some ten metres in length was chased into this cave system by angry fishermen.
Witch of Wookey
Location: Wookey Hole - Cavern
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Cottage haunting occurred 1947-1954, diver seen 1998
Further Comments: It was once believed that an old hag lived in this cave, cursing anyone who tried to visit her. She was finally turned to stone by a monk. A cottage on the site was briefly haunted by an old woman wearing black and white; the ghost vanished after the site was blessed by a vicar. A tour group in the cave in 1998 reportedly observed a figure in an old fashioned goldfish bowl helmet silently moving through the caves. When they checked with the tour guide the group was told it was the ghost of a diver who had been seen several times previous.
Dancing Stone
Location: Wrington - The Waterstone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Nights of the full moon
Further Comments: This stone becomes animated on nights of the full moon.
Robed Figure
Location: Yatton - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1952
Further Comments: Two witnesses reported, at separate times, seeing a female figure in a grey robe walking away from the altar. The ghost had her head bowed and hands clasped.
Bear in Ball
Location: Yeovil - Road between town and South Petherton
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Seventeenth century?
Further Comments: Travelling between the two towns, a lone man reported a huge bear with flaming eyes along the road, rotating within what sounds to be a large plastic ball (like the hamster 'toy'). The witness's horse then bolted and ran back home.
Molly
Location: Yeovil - Railway Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: Molly worked at the railway restaurant during the 1960s and died on the platform. Her ghost is held accountable when items are moved around, and electrical items are switched on and off.
Tizzy
Location: Yeovil - Ilchester Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: This spirit, thought to be a teenager who died of fever, was heard typing late at night. The teen is also blamed for creating the sounds of barrels being rolled over cobbled stones - the stones had been removed many years previously.
Woman with Sword
Location: Yeovil - Elephant and Castle public house, Middle Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This lady is said to walk about the building holding both a lamp and sword (or possibly just a lamp). She was seen passing through a closed wardrobe.
Hungry Jack
Location: Yeovil - Barwick Park - Jack the Treacle Eater Tower
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This monument tower has a statue of Jack perched on top of it - it is said that he will descend the building at night and eat any treacle left at the base of the tower.
Footsteps
Location: Yeovil - Shop along Middle Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2000s
Further Comments: Marching footsteps could be heard in the upper part of the building in the evening. It was said that the building was used for drills during the Second World War.
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