Inside the UK’s ‘most haunted village’ where nearly every home ‘has a ghost’

An ancient village that’s full of stories about ghosts stalking its homes has been dubbed the ‘most haunted’ in the country.

And the location of this supposedly haunted village? It’s Dunster in Somerset.

Sitting on the edge of Exmoor National Park, close to the coast and not far from Minehead, it’s a tiny village with a castle and plenty of old buildings.

And legend has it that ‘nearly every home’ in the old settlement ‘has a ghost’.

Spirits of monks, soldiers, witches and animals are said to walk the corridors and the castle, as well as the pubs and even the surrounding hills.

But while there are popular holiday hotspots not too far away, the village is pretty remote.

Dunster was once home to a large Benedictine chapel that was destroyed when Henry VIII reigned.

As the story goes, it was this that flooded the village with ghosts.

Some people say almost every building is haunted with all sorts of spectres, including Civil War troops, ‘grey ladies’ and even horses.

Sues Toogood bought a cottage in Dunster and said when she first moved there she ‘woke up in the middle of the night to voices’.

The 55-year-old pharmacy dispenser said: ‘[The cottage] was a wreck, the heating didn’t work at all and a tiny fireplace was the only source of heat.

‘I soon realised that all the smoke from the fire was coming out of a crack in the chimney in the upstairs bedroom.

‘I had nowhere else to go so I slept in the spare room.

‘In the early hours of the morning I woke up in the middle of the night to voices. I was a bit scared at first but I walked through and realised it was the radio.

‘It was a battery radio that I had put out for the builders. I thought it was strange but I switched it off and went back to bed, but then it happened again the next night.’

But Ms Toogood said she believes the ghostly presence actually saved her.

She continued: ‘I realised that if I had stayed asleep I might not have woken up because of the smoke and carbon monoxide coming in from the other room.

‘I felt like the ghost was saving me from dying, it was a kind presence. I truly believe the ghost was saving me.’

Carol Bowden also shared her story. She believes something about the village is unsettling her dog.

‘My husband and I have been coming to stay in the village for years and our dachshund Doogle was only a puppy,’ she said.

‘For the first four days we would walk down to the river past the mound and he would start barking at the trees, although he couldn’t see anything.

‘Also when we were in the little snug of the hotel he would start barking at the mantel piece which wasn’t like him as he was usually quite a calm dog.

‘The following night it happened again, and the receptionist said the old lady stands there by the mantle place at that time.

‘The manager then asked where the dog had been barking and I said about the mound and he said that was where the roundhead and cavaliers were buried.’

Do you live in a town or village spookier than Dunster? Email webnews@metro.co.uk

Janie and Nigel Deeming, 57 and 59, who run the oldest pub in Dunster, the 15th century Stag’s Head Inn, said nearly every building in the village is believed to have a ghost, including their pub.

Janie said: ‘The house that we live in is very active, and we’ve only just managed to settle it down.

‘I nearly didn’t move in here because they gave me merry hell, but now they’ve started to work with me rather than against me.

‘Before we moved here five months ago we stayed in a particular house in the area, and the last time we went, let’s just say the spirits were awake.

‘On the first night, a door on the dresser clicked open, and we didn’t think much of it but then it opened two or three more times.

‘I then put my hand on it to keep it closed, and it pushed back, and I knew that wasn’t normal.

‘The next night a book flew off the bookshelf and fell open on a ghost story, and we all joked about it, but later that night when I was washing up, I could feel a presence behind me.

‘We fell in love with Dunster and I love my house. I’ve managed to bring the spirits on my side, but it took some work.’

Business owner, Benedict Yeandle, 56, believes his resident ghost was the jealous type.

He said: ‘When I first moved in, for the first six weeks we had things happening, and customers would always notice it.

‘A smell of smoke could always be smelt even though there was no explanation for it, and one day a can of coke flew from one side of the room to the other, completely intact, just with a small dent in it.

‘I think whatever is living with me in here is a female, because it has only happened when I’ve employed female staff to work for me.

‘I’m a bachelor and I think it got a little bit jealous. But now there hasn’t been any women coming here, she’s settled down.’

Author Nina Dodd has actually written a book about the ghosts of Dunster called, ‘Witches, Giants and a Ghost Cat’ – a ‘travel guide to the mystery tales of Dunster.’

The 66-year-old moved to Dunster from Finland 12 years ago and became interested in the English obsession with ghosts.

Ms Dodd, who runs the Dunster Living shop on the high street with her husband says she hears lots of stories from local customers.

She said: ‘I find the British fascination with ghosts very interesting. In Finland, we do not have anywhere near as many ghost stories or ‘haunted’ places.

‘I think a big part of it is that England has so many older homes and buildings. In Finland, we built our homes out of timber and wood for a long time – we still do. But in England, they are all old stone – so they last a lot longer.

‘Everyone I speak to in the village has some kind of story to tell. Some like to keep them to themselves, but clearly have had some kind of experience.

‘We get people coming into our shop all the time telling us stories about your traditional grey ladies, or children ghosts. Quite often I hear about Roundheads, soldiers from the English Civil Wars, too.

‘One very common one we hear is about ghost monks, because there was once a Benedictine chapel in Dunster which was destroyed when Henry VIII was King.

‘People always say that they see or hear them. There is also apparently a ghost horse who haunts the hilltops around the village.

The churchyard too always has stories about people seeing ghosts there – but that is not very surprising. One businessman I spoke to even said that he can’t tell his staff about the ghost experiences he has had or they wouldn’t come to work.

‘Dunster is one of the best preserved mediaeval villages, and because it is so old I am not surprised people have so many ghost stories.’

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