The Paranormal Database

Cursed Stone

Location: Bulford - Stone along a bend in the River Avon (stone no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1960s
Further Comments: A stone on the riverside was considered cursed, and it was believed could not be removed (until it was).

Black Dog

Location: Cadley - Fields between village and Marlborough
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A black dog may haunt this area.

Evocation via Tree

Location: Cadley - Oak in Savernake Forest
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Running around the tree known as Big Bellied Oak seven times (or twelve) at midnight was said to bring forth the Devil.

Red Eared Pigs

Location: Calcutt - A419?
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Several small white swine with red ears cross the road once a year on Christmas Eve.

A ghostly coach for Christmas.

Coach

Location: Calcutt - Bridge in the area (A419?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: This coach, pulled by a team of four horses, crosses a bridge close to Calcutt.

Whistling

Location: Calne - Area around Black Dog Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer 2016, 0200h
Further Comments: A group of friends exploring this area heard a loud, tuneful whistling with no discernible source. One of the witnesses was later told the site was the haunt of a phantom highwayman who would whistle while he worked.

Road haunted by a figure in white.

White Figure

Location: Calne - Road along Derry Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: A driver and his passenger spotted a white figure in the road in front of them as they drove late at night. Their sighting tied in with a local legend about the road being haunted by a person in white.

Naked Man

Location: Calne - Road in the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A naked man is said to haunt a road in this area. One story says that the figure was a highwayman who stripped and oiled himself up, to ensure that no one could grab him.

Scotsman

Location: Calne - Scot's Corner
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This figure has been seen wearing a kilt and is thought to have been murdered on the site.

Something Unlucky

Location: Calne - Swindon Football club training ground
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2024
Further Comments: Swindon Town Football Club's boss Ian Holloway claimed that the squad's mediocre performance in the league could have been due to the training ground being haunted. The story featured in national press, and although the exact nature of the phantom remained elusive, a nearby 'ancient burial site' was blamed.

Russian

Location: Calne - Whetham House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Second World War
Further Comments: A man awoke one night to see a tall, cloaked figure standing above him. He leapt out of bed and tried to grab the figure, only to realise the man was not there. Later investigations indicated that the figure was a Russian killed in a duel.

Pale Girl

Location: Castle Combe - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The shade of an unknown girl walks around the gravestones of this church.

Miller

Location: Castle Combe - Private Cottage near bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in traditional white clothing, this miller is reported still to walk back from a long forgotten mill to his former home.

Rustling

Location: Castle Combe - Salutation Inn (was The Gibb Inn)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early - mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The rustling of a woman's skirt could occasionally be heard behind the walls, as could ghostly music.

Disembodied Voices

Location: Castle Coombe - Parsonage Wood
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Winter nights (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The phantom ranting of a small crowd has been heard in the forest after dark - those who continue to listen have reported a piercing scream that finally lays quiet the voices.

Fiery Eyed Hound

Location: Chapmanslade - A36, Black Dog Woods
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: As the name of the location suggests, this wooded area is home to a black dog whose eyes glow as red as hot coals. To see him means death within the year. One story says the hound once belonged to a man killed in a duel; the dog tore out the throat of the surviving fighter.

Horseman

Location: Chippenham - Convent land
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A phantom horseman is reputed to haunt these grounds.

Old Woman

Location: Chippenham - Five Alls public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1963
Further Comments: The family here in 1963 were all awoken by the sounds of an old woman, though no such lady was on site at the time. They also found lights switched on and furniture moved around.

Brown Feline

Location: Chippenham - Railway line near Cocklebury Lane Bridge
Type: ABC
Date / Time: April 2021
Further Comments: A large brown cat could be seen from Cocklebury Lane Bridge as it crossed the railway line.

Lady in Grey

Location: Chippenham - The Bear public house (currently a hotel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: A barman was disturbed by loud voices in a room which he thought was unoccupied. When the barman checked, he realised that he was right - no one could be found. A maid outside the building spotted a figure in grey drawing a curtain inside a bedroom. When she investigated, she found the room unused and empty.

The golden coffin of Chiseldon.

Non-Removable Treasure

Location: Chiseldon - Barrow along Gypsy Lane (southwest of village)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Barrow still present
Further Comments: It was once believed that a golden coffin was contained within the barrow, and any attempt to remove it would fail.

Bangs

Location: Chiseldon - Chiseldon House Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1995
Further Comments: A local newspaper reported that staff in the hotel had experienced five years of poltergeist behaviour in the hotel, which included moving pictures and loud bangs from an empty kitchen.

Canon

Location: Cholderton - Cholderton House and well
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1900s
Further Comments: After the discovery of the Canon's body in the well, the powers-that-be ruled he had accidentally slipped and drowned. For years afterwards, the house and well were haunted by sounds of someone moving around.

Sadness

Location: Cholderton - Tress at Yew Grove
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: The yew trees here create a sad and oppressive atmosphere - some believe this to be related to pagan sacrifices once executed by druids.

Retriever

Location: Cholderton - Wilbury House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This friendly dog is said to escort visitors up the driveway before vanishing. A phantom clergyman also haunts the vicinity, moving between the house and gates.