Beyond the Veil Magazine

Christmas Ghosts: Seasonal Hauntings Across Britain

Issue #24: December 1980

The Christmas season has always been a time when the dead are believed to walk among the living. From the Roman Saturnalia to the medieval Feast of Fools, the year’s darkest days have been associated with supernatural visitation. Here we present further accounts of Christmas hauntings from across Britain.

The Coach of Doone Court

In the wilds of Exmoor, near the border of Devon and Somerset, the ruins of what was once a great house stand surrounded by legend. Each Christmas Eve, according to local tradition, a phantom coach approaches the site.

The coach is drawn by headless horses. A headless coachman holds the reins. And within, witnesses have reported seeing a woman in white, her face pale as death, her hands folded in prayer.

The legend connects the apparition to the Doone family, once lords of this valley, who were notorious for their cruelty. On Christmas Eve in the seventeenth century, they are said to have murdered a young bride who was travelling to her wedding. Her ghost, and the ghost of her wedding coach, return each year to the site of the crime.

Witnesses as recently as 1972 have reported seeing the coach pass through the valley. They describe the sound of hooves, the creak of wheels, and a cold that penetrates to the bone.

The Bellman of Sherborne

In the Dorset town of Sherborne, Christmas Eve brings a different visitation. At midnight, a figure dressed in the robes of a medieval town crier walks the streets, ringing a bell.

The bellman speaks no word. He walks his route (the route, local historians confirm, that the town crier would have walked centuries ago), rings his bell at each corner, then disappears as the last stroke of midnight fades.

Local tradition holds that the bellman died of plague in the fourteenth century, still performing his duties even as the sickness claimed him. His devotion to his office transcended death itself.

Those who have seen the bellman describe a figure of unusual solidity. He does not flicker or fade like many apparitions. He walks with purpose, performs his office, and departs. Some have attempted to follow him; all report that he vanishes when pursued.

The Children of Trerice

Trerice Manor in Cornwall is a well-preserved Elizabethan house now owned by the National Trust. It is haunted by children.

On Christmas morning, staff have reported hearing laughter and running footsteps from the upper floors, which are closed to visitors. Investigation reveals nothing. On one occasion, a cleaner found a Christmas treat (a preserved orange studded with cloves) in a room that had been locked for days. The style of the decoration dated from the sixteenth century.

The ghosts are believed to be children of the Arundell family, who owned Trerice for generations. Perhaps they return each Christmas to celebrate a festival they loved in life.

The manifestations are gentle. There is nothing threatening about the laughter of ghost children. But staff find it unsettling nonetheless: laughter echoing through empty rooms, on a day when no one should be there.

The Monk of Fountains Abbey

The ruined Cistercian abbey in North Yorkshire is beautiful in any season, but at Christmas it takes on a particular atmosphere. Several visitors have reported seeing a hooded figure standing among the pillars of the nave.

The monk (for so he appears) stands motionless, as though in prayer. He does not acknowledge observers. When approached, he fades from view.

Local tradition suggests that the monk died on Christmas Day, perhaps during the Dissolution when Henry VIII’s commissioners evicted the religious from their home. He returns each year to celebrate the mass he was denied.

The National Trust, which administers the site, neither confirms nor denies the sightings. They do note that “some visitors report unusual experiences” and advise visitors to treat the abbey with respect.

The Lady of Longleat

Longleat House in Wiltshire, famous for its safari park, harbours a Christmas ghost of great antiquity. The Green Lady walks the corridors each Christmas Eve, searching for something she will never find.

She is believed to be Louisa Carteret, who married the second Viscount Weymouth in 1733. Her marriage was unhappy. According to legend, she took a lover (one of her husband’s servants) and was discovered. The servant was killed; Louisa died of grief or violence.

The Green Lady appears in the top-floor corridor, moving from room to room as though searching. Some have seen her face: beautiful, but marked by terrible sadness. Others have encountered only a cold presence and the rustle of silk.

Longleat’s current occupants acknowledge the haunting. They report that the Green Lady is most active during the Christmas season and that she seems to be looking for her lost lover.

The Purpose of Christmas Ghosts

Why Christmas? The association between the festive season and supernatural visitation appears universal.

The winter solstice marks the year’s turning point. Ancient peoples believed that on the longest night, the barriers between worlds grew thin. The dead could return; the living could glimpse beyond.

Christianity absorbed these beliefs. Christmas Eve became a night when angels sang, when shepherds saw visions, when the holy family walked the earth. It was a night of miracle and wonder, a night when anything might happen.

The ghosts of Christmas reflect this. They are rarely malevolent. They seem drawn back by memory, by longing, by unfinished business that the festive season brings into sharp relief. They seek warmth, celebration, the company of the living.

Perhaps they remind us that Christmas is, at heart, a festival of reunion: of families gathering, of absences felt, of those who are no longer with us remembered. The ghosts of Christmas are, in a sense, the visible manifestation of our own memories.

Readers with accounts of Christmas hauntings are invited to write to our research department.