From Sedgemoor to Yeovil, here’s some haunted places that will give you the chills

Rebellion

I love a battlefield, but Sedgemoor has an atmosphere, and not just because men died here on 6th July 1685. You’d expect spectral armies and there is allegedly some of that. The ill-fated Duke of Monmouth is said to appear. There’s more. If you hear pounding feet, followed by hooves, this might be the alleged ‘race’ between captor and horseman. The man was recaptured and executed. His lover is then said to have drowned herself.

Lady Agnes

Farleigh Hungerford has ‘previous’. When Edward Hungerford inherited in 1516, he married widow Agnes Cotell. After Edward’s death (1522), Lady Agnes was arrested on suspicion of doing away with husband no. one. She’d allegedly had him strangled then burnt in her own furnace. It’s Lady Agnes who’s said to haunt Farleigh today, appearing in the vicinity of the chapel, before disappearing. Perhaps she seeks out the chapel for repentance.

Black Dog

I like a benevolent haunting, especially involving a mutt, as we like our animals. The Quantocks are said to be haunted by a black dog. The beast is usually nocturnal, big, linked with Satan (the ‘hellhound’) and often portends death. The Quantock one is different. The ‘Gurt’ (or ‘Great’) Dog of Somerset is one you could leave your children with, as it’s believed he would protect them. He would also guide and protect lone travellers.

READ MORE: 11 great family days out

Hitching

I’m interested in the Nunney to Frome road, the minor one that goes from the head of the village to the western edge of Frome, a distance of around three miles. This is a road best avoided at night. There’s allegedly a phantom hitch-hiker, dating to the 1970s, who attempts to flag down vehicles, sometimes from the middle of the road, and has even been said to appear on cars’ rear seats. Now, that is spooky.

The 10.45

Molly was a railway employee, who it’s believed worked in the Yeovil Junction station buffet in the 1960s, but somehow died on one of the platforms. Ever since, she’s been blamed for all manner of occurrences, including electrical devices switching on and off, and items, such as cutlery, being moved about in the café. The station, which opened in 1860, still has its buffet today and maybe it still has Molly too.