English Folktales
Leeds Town Hall
Beneath the front steps of Leeds Town Hall is the old Central Charge Office or Bridewell (a general term for a small prison), the reputed haunt of the ghost of the notorious burglar and murderer Charles Peace. Read More »
The Lyme Regis Black Dog
This old story provides an explanation for the naming of the Black Dog Inn near Uplyme in Devon. The black dog seems to be a spirit guardian of treasure. Read More »
Mab's Cross
The remains of this 13th century (earliest known mention 1277) stone cross can be found on Standishgate and is thought to have been a medieval waymarker between Chorley and Wigan. It was moved from its original position on the other side of the road in 1922 when the road was widened. The cross’s name is derived from its legendary association with Lady Mabel Bradshaw. T Read More »
Meg Shelton the Fylde Witch
Meg Shelton (Mag Shelton or Margery Hilton) the Fylde Witch (Fylde Hag) who died in 1705 is said to be buried beneath a large boulder in the grounds of St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton. She was buried in a vertical position, head first with the boulder placed on top to prevent her from digging herself out of the grave, which apparently she had done twice previously. Read More »
Molly Leigh
In St John’s graveyard, Burslem, can be found the last resting place of Molly Leigh, a local woman accused of being a witch but dying before she could be brought to trial. Her body is the only one positioned North to South, putting it at a right angle to every other grave in the cemetery. The story of Molly Leigh is a mixture of fact and folklore that has grown over the years. Read More »
Muchelney Abbey
The abbey is associated with a folk tale that has many variations around the country, most notably at Borley, on the site of an old monastery. Read More »
Old Mother Nightshade of Gedney Dyke
Until the middle of the 20th century the villages of the Lincolnshire fens were isolated, insular places. Everyone tended to know everyone else and a stranger in town would be cause for much suspicion and gossip. It was during the early 18th century, that an old fenwoman who lived in the village of Gedney Dyke, became the subject of much gossip and rumour. Read More »
Radcliffe Tower
Radcliffe Tower is all that remains of a fifteenth century (1403) manor house and is a Grade I listed building. At twenty feet high, this ruined remnant of the manors demolition in the nineteenth century is linked to a tragic tale of a stepmother arranging the murder of her husband’s daughter and is reputed to be haunted by a phantom Black Dog. Read More »
Sedgley’s Beacon Tower
Sedgley Beacon lies some 237 metres (777 feet) above sea level in the heart of the West Midlands. It is said that the top of Beacon Hill is the highest point between Sedgley and the Ural Mountains in Russia. Commanding views were once enjoyed right across the industrial Black Country and beyond to the Clee and Malvern hills and the mountains of Wales. Read More »
Southport Phantom Voice
John Roby recounted the following story entitled ‘The Phantom Voice’ in his ‘Traditions of Lancashire’ (1872) Read More »
Strange Lands By Andrew L Paciorek
Andy Paciorek is one of Mysterious Britain & Irelands favourite contributors and his amazing artwork can be found illustrating articles throughout this site. Read More »
Stretford Great Stone
By the entrance of Gorse Hill Park from Chester Road is a large boulder known as the Great Stone. This stone gave its name to Great Stone Road (beside which it stood until 1925) and the old Great Stone Farm. There are many stories, legends and theories concerning the origins of the stone. Read More »
The Black Lady of Bradley Woods
Hundreds of years ago there lived a poor woodcutter in Bradley Woods with his pretty young wife and their baby boy. They lived very happily together until the woodcutter was pressed into military service for the local lord. He was sent to fight in the wars that were then raging in England. Read More »
The Lost Child
Robert Hunt in his 'Popular Romances of the West of England; or, The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall' (1865) gives an account of the lost child of Trefonick which was given to him thirty years earlier by an old woman of the parish. Read More »
The Mumby Boggart And The Crafty Farmer
A farmer bought a new field, which was inhabited by a squat, hairy boggart, a kind of troll. The boggart refused to allow the farmer to plant anything in the field, claiming it was his and the farmer had no right to it. The farmer, in turn, pointed out that he'd paid good money for the land and by right he ought to be able to use it. Read More »
The Smuggler's Leap
"Near this hamlet (Acol) is a long-disused chalk pit...known by the name of 'The Smuggler's Leap.' The tradition of the parish runs that a riding officer from Sandwich, called Anthony Gill, lost his life here...while in pursuit of a smuggler. A fog coming on, both parties went over the precipice...The spot has, of course, been haunted ever since". [Lewis's History of Thanet, by the Rev. Read More »
Tyrone's Bed
A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 (1911) explains that 'On the north side of Marland, by the Roch, is a wooded clough known as Tyrone's Bed, a story invented by Roby and William Nuttall (d. 1840) gaining currency that the Earl of Tyrone, outlawed by Elizabeth, took refuge there.' Below is the story of Hugh O'Neill (Hugh The Great O'Neill) (Born c. Read More »
Wild Edric's Wife
In ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891), Edwin Sidney Hartland recounts the following tale told by the medieval writer Walter Map (Born 1140- Died c. 1208–1210). ‘Wild Edric*, of whose historic reality as one of the English rebels against William the Conqueror there is ample proof. Read More »
The Wild Hunt, A Tale From Devon
This particularly sinister folktale of the wild hunt is from Devon, and is based in the Dartmoor area, a place full of tales of the supernatural, especially the wild hunt.
One wild stormy night a farmer was returning home from Widecombe, somewhat worse the wear from the strong local beverages brewed on-site. Read More »
The Origin of The Wrekin
This is one of two folktales, which explain the origin of the Wrekin, a 1,334 foot high hill standing on the Shropshire plain. The hill has the remains of an Iron Age Hillfort on its summit, and folk evidence suggests it was an important focal point for our prehistoric ancestors. Read More »
