The Highworth Historical Society says the crossing on Cricklade Road has been the scene of several haunting incidents linked to accidents on the Highworth branch line. One story says a man and a woman were run down by a late train in the early years of the line, but the society states plainly that there is no evidence to confirm it.
One event is better grounded. On a Saturday evening in the summer of 1917 the crossing keeper, Mr George Hubbard, was opening the gates to let a train across the road when he was struck by the locomotive and crushed against the gate, dying instantly. The society suggests that any ghost seen at the crossing might be his.
A third tale, told recently to the society by a long term resident, concerns a retired colonel with a large white horse that he claimed could jump any height. Coming home the worse for drink he was told by the keeper that the gates would not be opened for him. Angry, he backed the horse away and charged the gates, but the horse stumbled and threw him, killing him outright. His ghost is also said to haunt the spot. The society also repeats a general idea that accident black spots are linked to geophysical energies, which is an opinion, not an observation. The branch line has long closed, so the exact crossing site is placed approximately on Cricklade Road. No dates or named witnesses are given for any sighting, so this is recorded as a thin local tradition.
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