Port Isaac Smuggler Hauntings
A picturesque Cornish fishing village haunted by the ghosts of smugglers who used its secret tunnels and caves for illicit trade.
Port Isaac, a charming fishing village on Cornwall’s north coast, has a dark history beneath its picture-postcard appearance. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the village was a notorious smuggling hub, with brandy, tobacco, and tea brought ashore under cover of darkness and hidden in a network of tunnels, cellars, and caves. This criminal past has left an indelible paranormal mark, with numerous reports of ghostly smugglers, phantom footsteps in hidden passages, and unexplained phenomena that terrify residents and visitors alike.
The most famous haunting involves the ghost of a smuggler seen in the narrow lanes and on the slipway near Roscarrock Hill. Witnesses describe a man in 18th-century clothing carrying a barrel or sack, who vanishes when approached or turns into the old tunnels that connect many of the village’s ancient buildings. Several pubs and cottages built into the cliff have reported phantom footsteps in their cellars, the sound of barrels being rolled, and whispered conversations in old Cornish dialect. The Golden Lion Inn has a particularly active cellar where staff refuse to go alone after dark, reporting the feeling of being pushed and seeing shadow figures moving among the beer kegs. During renovation work, workers have fled after hearing disembodied voices telling them to “get out” and experiencing sudden drops in temperature.
Along the harbor, fishermen have reported seeing phantom rowing boats approaching the shore at night with dark figures aboard, only for them to disappear before landing. Some believe these are the ghosts of smugglers who drowned when their boats capsized in storms while fleeing revenue men. The coastal path above Port Isaac is said to be haunted by a customs officer who was murdered by smugglers and thrown from the cliffs—his ghost allegedly appears on stormy nights, still searching for the criminals who killed him. The network of tunnels beneath the village is largely sealed now, but those who have explored them report overwhelming feelings of dread, the sensation of being followed, and the smell of tobacco smoke and brandy despite the passages being empty for centuries. Port Isaac’s beauty belies its dark history, and many believe the souls of those who lived outside the law still guard their secret routes and hidden treasures.