The Paranormal Database

Old Lady

Location: Bristol - 9 St James Parade
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: The great ghost hunter Elliott O'Donnell was called on to investigate this case. The Brittons family living here reported hearing strange taps and footsteps, while Mrs Britton fainted after seeing the face of an old lady moving towards the cot of her child. The haunting is said to have stopped when the family were re-housed.

Woman in White

Location: Bristol - A38 near Barrow Gurney Reservoir
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A certain part of the road is said to be covered in skid marks where various cars have had to brake to avoid hitting a phantom woman dressed in a white coat. The figure always vanishes immediately afterwards.

Jogger?

Location: Bristol - A38, Bedminster Down
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: December 2012, 06:50h
Further Comments: Whilst driving to work this witness spotted a smiling woman in a red top and black jogging bottoms running towards them in the middle of the road. After they passed each other the woman could not be seen in the rear view mirrors.

Black Monk

Location: Bristol - All Saint's Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Last seen 1948?
Further Comments: Many believe that this ghostly monk in black has returned to watch over a pile of treasure which was hidden during his lifetime. The figure has been spotted several times over the last two hundred years, most recently around Christmas 1948 when he was seen walking down the church aisle.

Duchess

Location: Bristol - Area around Duchess Lake (now filled in) and Dower House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December (reoccurring) - exact date not known
Further Comments: Duchess Elizabeth Somerset fell from her horse and broke her neck - her ghost is said to ride around the area. A local legend says that if you wait near her monument, three knocks will signify her presence.

Crying Girl

Location: Bristol - Arnos Court - graveyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman in black has been seen here, crying over the death of her husband taken during the First World War. Another woman has been observed staggering around screaming; it is believed she was accidentally buried alive, and the mistake not realised until the body was exhumed many years later.

Pregnant Nun

Location: Bristol - Arno's Manor Hotel, Room 160 and other areas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: This nun took her own life, and for varying reasons, her sisters bricked her body up in an alcove. The haunting is said to have started during the Second World War, when workmen came across her skeleton and to avoid any delay to their work, just hid the bones elsewhere. Since then, a figure in brown has periodically been reported, and some people have heard a soft female voice calling them by name.

Ashton Court, Bristol.

Decapitated Horseman

Location: Bristol - Ashton Court Estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Clear moonlit nights (horseman)
Further Comments: Ashton Court is best known for its ghostly headless horseman, though there are also reports of grey ladies and a phantom hound.

Goram and Vincent

Location: Bristol - Avon Gorge
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: To prove themselves worthy of the lady Avona's love, the giant brothers Goram and Vincent raced to dig a ditch to drain a lake. Goram started work but fell asleep after digging the Hazel Brook Gorge, while Vincent dug the Avon Gorge that drained the unwanted lake, thus winning Avona's heart.

Victorian Woman

Location: Bristol - Badocks Field, Westbury on Trym
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: August 2015, 19:00h
Further Comments: One witness watched a woman dressed in Victorian clothing picking blackberries. She walked into the bramble bush and just disappeared. The witness was later told that the site was haunted.

Radio Breakdown

Location: Bristol - BBC Bristol, Whiteladies Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: A poltergeist located here is said to be responsible for the high number of electrical breakdowns which occur.

Headless Nun

Location: Bristol - Black Castle public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: This pub is reputedly haunted by one or more headless nuns. Mild poltergeist phenomenon has also been reported in the building, as has the sighting of a ghostly little girl.

Disappearing Islands

Location: Bristol - Bristol Channel
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The islands which appear and disappear without warning are reported to be home to a race of immortals. The area has also been home to sea serpent reports.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Location: Bristol - British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (no longer open)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Brunel once had his office in the area which was dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The smell of his tobacco smoke and the steady pacing footsteps has unnerved several members of staff.

Grey Monk

Location: Bristol - Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure is said to move between the cathedral and the nearby library.

Lady in Black

Location: Bristol - Clack Mill (demolished in 1937)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1937
Further Comments: This dark clothed phantom appeared to a young boy living at the mill - the ghost left through a wall after attempting to have the lad follow it. The mill was also haunted by the shade of a man who hanged himself behind the building.

Old postcard of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Jumpers

Location: Bristol - Clifton Suspension Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The shades seen drifting around on the bridge are thought to belong to those who have jumped off, taking their own lives.

Executed Soldier

Location: Bristol - College Green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Condemned to death and promptly executed for deserting an England/Scotland conflict, the trooper now drifts around the green in the early morning hours.

Roman

Location: Bristol - Coombe Dingle bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: One lady claimed to have seen the ghost of a Roman soldier several times in this area.

Morphing Shuck

Location: Bristol - Dead end lane in Hallen Bristol, next to the M49 bridge
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1908 and December 2004
Further Comments: The large black dog seen here in 1908 was seen to climb out from a hedge, before transforming into a donkey and standing on its hind legs. A very similar creature was seen in 2004, as it passed through a car, shaking the occupant.

Hudd

Location: Bristol - Deep Pit (colliery), Kingswood
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1880
Further Comments: At an inquest held after a miner named Hudd died in the pit, one witness stated that he had seen Hudd's ghost moments after his death, as it headed up an incline towards the bottom of the shaft.

Knight Templar

Location: Bristol - Fire Brigade Headquarters, Temple Back
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1975
Further Comments: This apparition appeared nine times during 1975. While one witness thought it looked like a man wearing waterproof clothing, others thought that the ghost's dress looked more medieval and speculated it may have been a Knight Templar, the organisation of which once owned lands around the city.

Woman in Brown

Location: Bristol - Former council flat, Horsefair
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-twentieth century
Further Comments: Seen only the once (but heard often), this phantom woman in brown was said to have an 'evil' face. Ghostly footsteps and strange tapping plagued the family here, with much of the activity centred around their baby's cot. The family were moved out after sound recordings picked up a constant metallic vibrating sound, which the council believed to be a health hazard.

Bearded Man

Location: Bristol - Former Vicarage next to All Saint's Church, Corn Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1840s
Further Comments: This figure dressed in ancient clothing was seen stalking the building at night, scaring the occupants, to such an extend on jumped out of a window to avoid the ghost. It is unclear whether this is the same entity as the black monk that also haunts the area.

Fairground Organ

Location: Bristol - Gardiner Haskins store (former soap factory)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2018
Further Comments: A few spooky events were documented in the local press, including the music from a fairground organ, a disembodied male voice, and the fleeting sighting of a Victorian woman dressed in white. A poltergeist was blamed for moving pots of paint around the site.