According to the author Keith B. Poole, on "dark winter nights" the village is haunted by the ghosts of four men dressed in black carrying a coffin. The casket is said to hold the body of John Head.

 

Head was apparently murdered and decapitated sometime shortly after 1746, when he refused to hand over his stables to the Duke of Cumberland. His headless body was eventually discovered in the grounds of his home, and some time later his head was found during renovation work at the church.

According to local folklore, West Ilsley had its own village witch during the mid 19th century. She could turn herself into a hare and race across the local countryside. One day she was pursued by a pack of dogs, only managing to escape by leaping through the keyhole of her cottage door. However, just before she cleared the jump, one of the dogs bit her. She was later found by neighbours treating a dog-bite. As a consequence of the incident it is claimed that she lost her magic powers.