Tara Fort, a circular earthwork near Portaferry overlooking Strangford Lough, is thought to be early medieval. Below its southern slope stands an old private house known locally as Widecombe's House. It was said to have been home to a coastguard called Jonathan Widecombe, though no record confirms it, and later to a Captain Savage, who according to tradition commanded a ship called The Express lost in 1866 on a voyage from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco with Portaferry men aboard. No shipping register confirms this and the story remains oral lore.
The haunting tales have lasted for decades. A narrow stretch of road between the house and a nearby tree stays wet even in dry weather, and some locals say it is the drowned captain coming home from the sea. Residents have heard coins clinking as if someone were counting money late at night. There are stories of phantom diners: in the 1920s a visiting sea captain passing the house saw a family at dinner, then learned the house had been empty for some time. A later tenant was woken by plates being laid out and found the table set, then heard the noise again and found it cleared, and she moved out. When the house served as a holiday home, a family said their two youngest children refused to sleep in one room as it was cold and noisy.
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