According to ghost hunters, a number of legendary spectres choose horse carriage as their mode of transport. One site of horse-drawn phantasmagoria is the Royal Castle Hotel in Dartmouth, Devon. It is said that an invisible coach may be heard pulling up to collect a passenger during the wee hours of the morning.
Horses’ hooves, the crunch of wheels on cobbled streets, the crack of a whip and the sound of someone leaping on board: These make for uncanny sounds when heard at 2 a.m. with no one in sight.
Some have speculated that the carriage contains a notable ghostly personage: William III of Orange, come to pick up his wife, Queen Mary II. The couple is among famous personages who have stayed at the Royal Castle Hotel.
A coach also figures in a haunting in Chester. According to HauntedChester.com, a ghostly coachman may be seen descending the stairs of an old carriage house on Nicholas Street, clad in riding boots, breeches and a tricorn hat.
Perhaps the most famous posthumous carriage passenger is Anne Bolyenn, second wife of King Henry VII. Anne, whom the king eventually had imprisoned and beheaded on charges of treason, is said to pay regular spectral visits to Blickling Hall, the estate where she was born. The spurned queen has been spotted arriving in a phantom carriage drawn by headless horses, wearing a white gown and cradling her severed head in her lap. One she alights, the coach disappears and Anne begins her long nightly haunt of the corridors and rooms.
And at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, reportedly one of the U.K.’s most haunted cities, the ghost of a young woman named named Elizabeth Linley is seen eloping—night after night—with Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The couple, whose union ended unhappily (he was untrue and she died of tuberculosis at age 38), ride in an elegant coach pulled by a team of four horses.
Arrange a haunted horse drawn carriage tour
If you are an amateur ghost hunter, you may want to arrange for your own tour of paranormal Bath via horse and carriage. You can hire a horse-drawn carriage and driver through the Bath Carriage Company, at a charge of £40 per hour for up to 4 adults, £50 for 5 adults, and £60 for 6 adults. Which haunts should you haunt on your bespoke itinerary? Your intrepid party might choose from any number of sites, including the Assembly Rooms, The Park, The Theatre Royal, The Garrick’s Head pub, The Grappa Bar and Pizzeria (formerly The Beehive pub) and The Crystal Palace Tavern.
After some suspenseful sightseeing, you may wish to stop for refreshments at one of Bath’s many fine pubs. The Garrick’s Head comes highly recommended, boastsing a selection of four ales and two draught Somerset ciders as well as a number of wines. On Sundays, the pub provides a meal of locally sourced, free-range roast with all the trimmings, starting at just £10.00.