There are many haunted buildings in Hampshire – one of Portsmouth’s most famous is Wymering Manor. It was investigated by televisions ‘Most Haunted Live’ in 2006, where cold spots, strange tapping noises and the sound of a baby screaming were amongst the phenomena reported by the team. The imposing property went up for sale in 2010 and caught the attention of the media
Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre has a mysterious ghost story – the figure of an old man who sits in a wicker chair has been seen backstage. Another ghost in the city is said to haunt the Dolphin Hotel in the High Street, reputedly the ghost of a cleaner called Molly who glides down the corridors with her legs below floor level!
The Eclipse Inn in Winchester is one of the city’s most famous haunted sites, said to be roamed by the shade of Dame Alice Lisle of Moyles Court near Ringwood, who spent her last few days in this inn before her execution in 1685. She was condemned to death by the notoriously savage Judge Jeffreys for allegedly harbouring two fugitives from the Monmouth rebellion, one of the first victims of his ‘Bloody Assizes’. The scaffold for her execution was erected against the front of the inn, onto which the 71 year old Lady Lisle stepped from an upstairs window. A plaque in The Square commemorates the event