Wiltshire’s Curious Ghosts: Tales from the County

Happy New Year my friends! It has been a quiet Christmas here at Weird Wiltshire HQ. The liminal time of what I call ‘the inbetween’, the strangely quiet days between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, have now passed by. It’s a period of the year when you don’t even know what day it is or even what time it may be.

Tomorrow I will be back on the hamster wheel of life. You currently find me sitting here, writing to you from under a pile of blankets on the sofa. Having very little on the agenda has made for a welcome change. My days have slumbered by, broken only by visits to the stables and to take the dog gang out. In between that, I have been mulling over what weirdness I’m going to get up to 2026.

I will undoubtedly be out and about for some more Wiltshire explorations, but they require me to leave the house. But not today! Sorry folks, today the infernal cold is keeping me inside my own four walls. Still, I wanted to send you something to get the year off to a spooky start. How about some short tales from around Wiltshire to get us in the mood for another year of weirdness?

The Black Dogs of Calne – Omens of Death

The black dog is said to be a supernatural, spectral or demonic hellhound. Legendary descendants of the Hound of Odin, or the guard dogs of the old Bronze Age, they terrorise the ridgeways, Roman roads, streams and pathways that border parishes.

‘People most likely to see hellhounds are those born under chime hours, or towards the small hours of a Friday night.’

Black dogs are seen as omens of death or harbingers of a storm. They are generally regarded as sinister or malevolent, presenting with large, saucer-like, red or black eyes. Some are seen wearing chains, some snarl, some are just menacing. Occasionally, they are helpful to the living.

Black dog Halt

Black Dog Halt is a private station in Calne; a halt being a small station on a country railway line. Typically it is just a station without a building. It was originally built in 1873 to serve the Marquis of Lansdown of nearby Bowood House. By 1952, it became a public request stop, but by 1965, it was closed down when the railway line shut.

Mrs Read tells her grandfather’s story of taking the train to Calne and then walking on to the village of Coate. He was going to visit his family. As he walked through the darkness along the lane, the man was met by a large dog with blazing eyes as big as saucers. He threw a stone at the beast and it immediately vanished. Continuing along the lane, he met with the local undertaker, who informed him that he had just come from his grandfather’s house. Sadly he had just died. 

Quermerford Black Dog

In a small hamlet near Calne, called Quermerford, a young man called William Turner worked at a mill before World War Two. He witnessed a black dog with a chain dangling from its collar. It passed by noiselessly and went through a closed door. It has also been seen in several other local spots. 

I had the joy of working with some Wiltshire College students studying for their Film and Digital Media Level 3 Diploma back in September. They were tasked with creating a 60-second documentary on a local folklore tale, (featuring me!) and here’s the best of the Black Dog short films, created by Nia Davies.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Visitors at The Angel, Chippenham

Since at least 1613, The Angel, once known as The Bull, has been an important grade II* listed coaching inn on the London to Bristol route. There have been many travellers passing through over the years. Some of them may have decided not to leave though…

Apparently, bloodstains were still visible, until the 1950s, on the floor of a bedroom where a duel had taken place.

A ghost of a servant girl who died of a fever in the late 1800s makes her presence known on the top floor. Another ghost is said to be a man’s valet who had collapsed and died in the inn. He carries a jacket in his arms.

Visitors and staff have reported strange noises and footsteps throughout the inn.

Here’s another Wiltshire College student YouTube video, created by Reg Car.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Phantom Man on a Horse in Atworth

It was in 1944 that Mr Burcombe, a taxi driver from Bath, was heading back towards Melksham with his wife one winter’s evening at around 7pm.

Something appeared out of the high hedge on the offside of the road. It crossed in front of the headlights’ beam. Mr Burcombe slammed on his brakes in fright as he thought he was about to collide with whatever this apparition was. It looked like it was a man on a horse. The couple watched as the chilling phantom vanished through a wall on the other side of the road. There were no possible openings for a man or horse to pass through.  

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Westbury Library After Hours Activity

Originally a family home, built around 1800, Wiltshire Council purchased Westbury House in 1970. A tunnel connected this home with another part of the house containing the servant’s quarters and billiards room. It allowed the servants to move around the house without disturbing the family or guests and was closed off in 1936.

There is a sad story associated with the building, that of a servant girl who worked there in Victorian days. She was jilted by her lover and was driven to suicide in utter despair, either in one of the house bathrooms or her bedroom. Since it was converted into the town’s library, staff have had many unexplainable encounters they attribute to the sad spirit of the housemaid.

A former librarian encountered the apparition of a grey lady. Another member of staff told of loud bangs and slamming doors when the library was closed for the day. They would hear heavy furniture moving around, sash windows opening and slamming shut. But when they go to investigate, nothing is disturbed and all is quiet.

One member of staff was left alone, working one Saturday afternoon when the building was closed. She heard the sound of a party going on in one of the upstairs rooms; shouting and cheering, music, footsteps and closing and opening doors. Thinking there was an unscheduled event going on up there, the librarian marched up the stairs. She flung the door open only to find it empty and deserted. There was no sign of any party.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Hunting the Hare of Bally Hag Lane, Downton 

Six farmers were shooting hares on the Earl of Radnor’s Estate in Downton. From Bally Hag Lane (so called because of an old witch who lived in a nearby cottage and gathered herbs in the lane) emerged a hare. Despite the farmers being good shots, and each discharging two bullets from their shotguns, the hare ran them ragged. One of the boldest hunting dogs eventually chased the hare through the garden hedge of the cottage, but something happened as the dog raced back, scared, her tail between her legs. The farmers departed- the hare lived.

For some time after, the old woman was not seen on the lane. When she eventually emerged, she had bandages on her hands and neck and was very lame. It was a normal belief that ‘witches’ could turn themselves into animals to be able to get up to mischief; particularly hares, cats, owls, corvids and toads.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s short Wiltshire ghost and folklore stories. I’ll be back with you again soon with a new Weird Wiltshire adventure. In the meantime, even though the world is a scary place at the moment, I hope you have a peaceful and happy new year.

Main blog image credit: Sonia Hill, Facebook

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Don’t forget; I’m always on the lookout for spooky and weird stories from Wiltshire and beyond. If you have a tale you would like to share I’d love to hear from you. Contact me here.

If you enjoy my weird tales from Wiltshire and beyond and can spare a few pennies, please head over to Ko-fi and buy me a cuppa. Every bit is used to help bring you more stories. I sure would appreciate it.

I’m over on Bluesky. Hurrah! 

 

abbey all hallows day All Saints Day apparition astral projection avebury black cats bowerchalke British folklore calne castle crop circles cryptid dartmoor devizes devon essex Fae fairies folklore ghost ghosts Grovely Woods guising halloween haunted house haunted houses haunted pub haunted pubs hauntings history history of wiltshire monks paranormal salisbury stone circle stone circles stonehenge swindon tisbury UFOs Wales warminster wiltshire witches