White Hart Hotel

Judge Jeffreys is said to haunt this building, as does a young woman in a long black flowing cloak who appears at the front of the hotel (or walks from the courtyard to South Street, where she vanishes according to some reports); a child's face has also been reported in one of the windows in the bar. A local legend is that members of staff were sent to investigate a smell coming from a well in the courtyard; they never returned but cries for help have allegedly been heard ever since. Another version of this tale is that two men died when they went to repair the long neglected well, but died after being overcome by "an uncommon stench." A third man barely survived. Another legend blames a cockatrice (a mythical creature part lizard, part rooster) for their deaths. Additionally, a spectral boy in old fashioned clothing has been seen crying in this hotel, but he runs off when people approach him. A little girl in a long dress has been seen seated on the steps of the manager's accommodation, seemingly waiting for someone. In the courtyard, a man carrying a whip and wearing a three cornered hat was glimpsed; also in the same area, a "solid looking" woman in a Puritan dresses has also been observed. It is said that it seems as if she is walking up some stairs which no longer exist; first the top half of her body is seen, and then her legs and feet. Also to be seen are "three toga-clad ghosts who march through a wall."In the bedrooms, a bed was felt moving - it faced the corner where a priest hole is to be found; when the furniture in the room was reorganised, the disturbances stopped. Additionally, boxes and other items are found in disarray in the attic, and next door, hand dryers in a disused bathroom often activate by themselves. Taps have also been found turned on, and a former owner's dog reacted in a terrified fashion when taken to the attic. A recent report says that a customer's father was disturbed by someone tapping him in the early hours of the morning, followed by a little boy who ran up and down the corridor, laughing.

Link: Devon Live