The illustrations on this page are by the late Myghal Colgan

Cornwall has been described as the most haunted place in the British Isles, and for good reason! Stories of Ghosts abound and most towns and villages have had more than their fair share.

Unfortunately, virtually any unexplained phenomenon seems to result in a ghost story and in Cornwall, there seem to be as many ghosts as there are people. What I will therefore do is mention a few of the more famous stories and then reprint a lot more on the stories page. Click here to read them.

The term 'ghost' is a generic term that we apply to any kind of unexplained physical - or near physical - manifestation of a human or animal otherwise believed to be dead. However, for the purpose of this site, we'll include all such phantasms, whether they be traditional ghosts or angels, spirits or separable/external soul.

 

Cornish Ghosts

The most familiar of all Cornish ghosts is that of Jan Tregeagle, or Tregagle, the cruel and wicked steward of Lanhydrock, who is said to have cheated death, cheated the Devil, and who now pays his penance by performing eternal, impossible tasks. You can read his story here.

And yet, the vast majority of Cornish Ghosts are women. Sarah Polgrain, Kate Penfound, Charlotte Dymond, Nancy Trenoweth … these are probably quite unfamiliar names and yet they are the main characters in some of the most emotive stories we have. The forlorn Lovers of Porthgwarra are slightly better known but they don't even get the luxury of names.

And the list is being added to by the year. A sadly now out of print book, Cornish Ghosts by Di Francis (published by Francis Pike, St Ives 1977) lists a number of Cornish ghostly sightings from the 1960s and 70s including a rusty knight from Camelford, a phantom diner from Portreath, a haunted cannon in Penzance and even a flaming ghostly car from Hayle! Most recently, I heard from an old schoolfriend about a ghostly figure seen in a Helston churchyard wearing a cracked crash helmet ... quite who this poor unfortunate was, we will never know.

As time and space permits, we will add more ghost stories to the site.