The Paranormal Database

Old Man

Location: Coate - Path across field heading towards Pond House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972?
Further Comments: This pathway is reputedly haunted by a little old man dressed in old fashioned clothing.

Wide-Eyed Dog

Location: Coate - Roadside
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Circa 1938
Further Comments: A large dog with saucer sized eyes would sit on the roadside. No one would see it move (it would just vanish from view), although if stones were thrown at the creature, the eyes would grow even larger. It once appeared to one man who discovered the time of the sighting matched the time that his father died. The same area is also haunted by a phantom white donkey.

Dog of Justice

Location: Collingbourne Kingston - Marlborough Road
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Eighteenth century
Further Comments: This shuck appeared to two men who had just committed a murder, chasing them back to the village from where they were trying to escape. The creature vanished once they were arrested.

Catherine Parr

Location: Compton Bassett - Compton Bassett House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2009
Further Comments: TVNZ reported that performer Robbie Williams would often feel the presence of Catherine at his home, which was once her barn, although the entity was not scary.

Coach

Location: Coombe - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This phantom coach is said to travel the roads just outside of Coombe.

Grinning Skull

Location: Corsham - A4 just east of village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Late twentieth century?
Further Comments: A truck driver claimed that he had seen a figure in the middle of the road which he had to slow down to drive around. The person then sprung onto the side of the cab of the truck, the driver realising that instead of a face, the figure had only a grinning skull. The entity vanished after a few moments.

Mill Owner

Location: Corsham - Arnold House, currently the Tourist Information Centre, High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: One of a pair of ghosts here, this ghostly gentleman is kept company by the shade of the spinster Joan Pictor who was the last of a great quarry owning family. They are both blamed for playing with the electrics within the building.

Ugly Fairy

Location: Corsham - Churchyard
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This little creature, standing no taller than one metre, was seen sitting upon one of the gravestones. It was once seen by two women - one fainted, the other traumatised. A third woman with them saw nothing.

Lady on Staircase

Location: Corsham - Corsham Court
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: A maid scrubbing the rear stairs at the court noticed a woman standing at the top of the steps. She moved out the way, only to see the woman had vanished.

Driverless Car

Location: Corsham - Hilly road around Pickwick
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century?
Further Comments: A woman reported driving past a large American-style car heading in the opposite direction. The car had no driver and its lights were on full.

A ghostly man and equally ghostly doorway.

Old Man

Location: Corsham - House no longer standing
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1890s
Further Comments: A young girl staying with her grandparents said she could see an old man emerge from a doorway on the wall by the staircase - neither man nor door could be seen by other witnesses. When the building was demolished, a skeleton was discovered in a secret recess where the 'door' was seen.

White Friar

Location: Corsham - Priory House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1946
Further Comments: A child was taught the Ave Maria prayer by a 'man in white' while being looked after by the housekeeper. It was speculated that the 'man in white' was a White Friar, who once used the house.

Shadowy Figure

Location: Corsham - Private residence north of town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2014 - 2015
Further Comments: A shadowy figure would occasionally be seen, as tall as the doorframe under which it stood. The family also felt a horrible presence in the living room which felt like it was observing the people within, and they would also avoid spending time by the staircase for the same reason.

Roman Soldier

Location: Corsham - Private residence, Monks Park area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Little more has been said of this reported lost shade.

Shadows

Location: Corsham - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: Twelfth Hour Investigations offered to spend a night in this pub after a barmaid reported seeing a black figure out of the corner of her eye.

Dark Monk

Location: Corsley - Royal Oak public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A landlady of the pub reported seeing a tall figure dressed in a dark monk's habit walk across his bedroom early one morning. Other members of staff glimpsed the figure in other parts of the building.

Henry

Location: Corsley - White Hart public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 July 2021
Further Comments: The ghost nicknamed Henry was blamed for moving a bar measure across the counter, which was noticed on CCTV. Customers have claimed to have seen 'something' behind the bar, and in another incident, the landlady felt a hand grab her leg while working.

Phantom Dog

Location: Cricklade - Abingdon Park Lane
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 1940s
Further Comments: A Woman's Institute member encountered a ghost dog here, terrifying her.

Horse

Location: Crockerton - Church Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A headless horse is reputed to gallop along in this area.

Fire Breather

Location: Crockerton - Unnamed road in the area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This ghostly hound was said to be able to blow fire from its nose.

Huge Hound

Location: Deane Water Bottom - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: 2008
Further Comments: The phantom black dog that haunted this area was believed by some to be a former murderer, or the Devil. The dog was said to have been banished in 1931, after a local Reverend buried some bones in the churchyard which had been discovered in a cottage, although it has been seen since, most recently in 2008 by a witness who described it as having an abnormally shiny coat and a spiked collar.

Silver Ball

Location: Devizes - A361 heading towards Avebury
Type: UFO
Date / Time: Spring 2023, midday
Further Comments: From the passenger seat, a witness watched a silver ball bearing-like object hovering in the sky. The large, stationary object hung quite low and did not move for two minutes, despite the windy conditions.

Ambrose Sainsbury

Location: Devizes - Black Swan hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Ambrose was named by the Paranormal Site Investigators team as one of the ghosts that haunts the hotel, one of the other entities being a murdered woman. Shadowy figures have been reported in the building, as well as cold spots and strange tapping.

Smashed Glass

Location: Devizes - Castle Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 15 March 2011
Further Comments: It was reported that a glass flew from a shelf and landed in pieces on the ground. Staff have had objects vanish only to reappear in different locations and have heard music coming from the old ballroom.

Crop Circle Creation

Location: Devizes - Fields around Oliver's Castle, aka Roundway Castle, aka Rundaway Castle
Type: Other
Date / Time: 11 August 1996
Further Comments: Video footage of small balls of light flying over a field here and creating a crop circle came to light in August 1996, though the authenticity of the footage has been called into question.