Somerset and Bristol Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Headless Horseman
Location: Bristol - University of Bristol and Tyndall, Avenue area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Students have reported seeing a headless horseman patrolling this area late at night.
Second World War Nurse
Location: Bristol - Vassall Centre, Fishponds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: It has been reported that staff at the building have encountered a nurse dressed in attire from the Second World War, who pushes a trolley. The entity is said to be friendly in nature.
The Duchess of Beaufort
Location: Bristol - Vassals Park, Fishponds
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of the Duchess of Beaufort is said to drift around the fishponds and over the little footbridge. Chanting has also been heard in the area.
Face at the Window
Location: Bristol - Veterinary Practice, Wells Road, Whitchurch
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An exorcism was once performed in this building after a previous owner reported an apparition staring through the window, watching their movements. The building was once a morgue.
1972
Location: Bristol - White Hart Inn, Lower Maudlin Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: The wife of a former landlord named this mischievous spirit Aloysius. The poltergeist would throw small items around the bedroom and has smashed plates in the kitchen. The entity would become active for a three to four week period before falling silent again for a while, and may have last visited when alterations were being performed in the building.
Murdered Lady
Location: Bristol - Works Nightclub, Nelson Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: The ladies' toilets are said to be haunted by the presence of a murdered woman. The nightclub was built on top of an old burial site.
Goram's Remains
Location: Bristol Channel - Flat Holm and Steep Holm
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After losing a girl and a bet to his brother Vincent, the giant Goram threw himself into the Bristol Channel. There he petrified, his head and shoulders forming Flat Holm and Steep Holm.
Gildas
Location: Bristol Channel - Old Barracks
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1981
Further Comments: Two girls who stayed the night in the barracks came off the island prematurely after hearing disembodied footsteps outside the building. Gildas, a sixth century monk who is said to haunt the island, was blamed.
Hibbetson
Location: Brockley - Area around the church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This evil parson murdered the local squire for his money and must walk the lands for his sin. The ghost of an old woman dressed in brown has also been seen in the church.
Brown Lady
Location: Brockley - Brockley Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This hardworking phantom is said to clean the pews in the church.
Jilted Girl
Location: Brockley - Brockley Combe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The wooded area is home to a phantom girl who leapt from a crag after breaking up with her lover.
John Pigott
Location: Brockley - Brockley Court (aka Brockley Manor)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pigott early 20 century, old woman every 26 years, due either 2032 or 2042
Further Comments: Pigott's shade was frequently seen by members of the family, wearing a frilly collar and carrying a rapier - on several occasions the entity picked up or dragged people out of bed. The apparition of the old woman is said to be so horrific that anyone who sees her is driven mad, although she missed her first scheduled appearance of the twenty-first decade.
Dinah Swan
Location: Brockley - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: December 1833 onwards, normally around midnight, last seen circa 1940?
Further Comments: Swan had her home broken into and was attacked - she escaped, though died a short distance from her home. Her ghostly form, in some distress, may still haunt the area, though has not been seen since the Second World War.
Swerving Coach
Location: Brockley - Road leading to Brockley Combe
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Horseman at midnight on moonless nights, others unknown
Further Comments: This coach and four is said to charge at oncoming traffic, causing accidents and chaos. Some have also reported a headless huntsman in the same zone. A phantom horseman is also said to appear on moonless nights, and finally the area is home to a 'bounding' ghost, a figure that runs ahead of people, only to vanish without trace.
Singing
Location: Brockley - The Court
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Mid-twentieth century
Further Comments: As the Blair family began to move out, they experienced mild poltergeist behaviour (ringing bells and bangs from empty rooms), while the daughter heard choir song from the kitchen.
Screaming Figure
Location: Bruton - Creech Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The entity said to frequent the wooded hillside is tall and black, and charges towards witnesses, both crying and laughing as it approaches.
Fairy Battle
Location: Buckland St Mary - General area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The town is said to have become a battleground for a fairy war - red fairies with pointed ears engaged little green pixies until the former group were driven out.
Moaning
Location: Burnham - Burnham High lighthouse
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom labourer is said to be heard moaning in this lighthouse, now a holiday home.
Sound of Little People
Location: Butcombe - Fairy's Toot, aka Nempnett Thrubwell
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sounds attributed to goblins have been heard underground in this area.
Walking Trousers
Location: Butleigh Wootton - Cedar Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Complete with stout boots, this pair of torso-less slacks has been watched strolling down the middle of the road.
King Arthur
Location: Cadbury - Cadbury Castle, and road between North Barrow and South Barrow villages
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 20 June (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Escorted by mounted knights carrying lances, King Arthur of the Britons traverses this route back to Camelot (as Cadbury is thought to be) on this day in June. One witness said that on 23 June 1995 they encountered an armoured man (more dark age than medieval) holding a standard on horseback - the figure disappeared around a corner, though there was no place that he could have gone. One legend says a door opens every seven years in the hillside so that Arthur and his company can leave to feed their horses.
House with People
Location: Cadbury - Cadbury Fort, fields around the area
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1910s
Further Comments: A witness here reported seeing an old house complete with two people - a male child who wore well-to-do clothing (though very out of date) and an older man, who wore a scruffier outfit. They all vanished without trace.
Quaker Funeral
Location: Calcott - Exact area unknown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ancient funeral procession was seen marching through the area.
Man on Horse
Location: Camerton - Skinner's Hill towards A367
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa May/June 1984, just after sunset
Further Comments: While travelling up the hill, a cyclist spotted what looked like a man on horseback just ahead, illuminated by a passing car. The figure wore a cape or long coat with a hat, and just faded away. Despite making the same journey hundreds of times, the witness never spotted the horseman again.
Cloudy Horse
Location: Cannington - A39, between the Apple Tree Pub and the roundabout
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 November 2016
Further Comments: A driver observed a white cloudy horse run across the road and jump into a hedge on the opposite side.
Records 151 - 175 of 421
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