Oxfordshire Gazetteer

The churchyard is said to be haunted by the headless apparition of Hampden Pye, who was an Officer in the Royal Navy during the 17th century.

According to the story Hampden's step mother hated him and bribed the captain of his ship to have him accidentally decapitated by a cannon during an engagement. Read More »

1st May - is Garland Dressing Day in Charlton On Otmoor.  A wooden cross is bedecked with Yew and Box leaves.

The Story of Llud and Llevelys appears in the The Mabinogion and here is the translation published by Lady Charlotte Guest (1877). Read More »

This ancient trackway, believed to date to the Neolithic period, is said to be haunted by Roman legionaries and Black dogs.

At one time, before modern transport allowed freedom of movement, it was believed to lead directly to hell.

The Kenton Theatre in Henley on Thames dates from 7 November 1805 and is thought to be the fourth oldest working theatre in Great Britain. With a 234 seat capacity the theatre is small and run by a group of volunteers. It is also a location where haunting like activity has been reported. Read More »

Mary Blandy (Born 1720) was executed on 6 April 1752 outside Oxford Castle for murdering her father, Francis Blandy at the request of her lover, Captain William Henry Cranstuon.  As with Mary Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell and several other famous ghosts, Miss Blandy reputedly haunts at numerous locations over several counties. Read More »

Mary Blandy was executed on 6 April 1752 for the muder of her father Francis Blandy in Henley on Thames. The location of Mary Blandy’s execution was either the Westgate prison mound or in the Castle Yard in Oxford, both of which are very close to each other. Read More »

Although the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin in Henley on Thames dates from the 13th Century (with alterations and remodelling from the 15th and 19th Centuries), it is suspected the origins of the church may date back as far 1000AD. Read More »

The Rollright Stones are an early Bronze Age stone circle consisting of around 70 weathered stones, the ring is 100 feet in diameter and none of the stones are over 4 feet in height. Read More »

Within a small woodland adjacent to the ancient Ridgeway path, where it crosses the parish of East Hendred, stands Scutchamer Knob. It is a raised earth mound and legend has it, that it is the burial mound of the Saxon king Cwichelm. Read More »

Sinnoden Hill standing next to Harp hill, was once a Roman Fort during the period of their occupation. Legend suggests that there is buried treasure on the hill, hidden in Roman times in an area called the money pit. Read More »

The church has a siting legend attached to it, every morning when the stone masons returned to the field in which the church was being built, they would find the stones to have mysteriously moved to another site. Eventually after happening on a number of occasions the workmen gave up and built the church where the stones reappeared. The Devil was blamed as the prime suspect. Read More »

There is an early mention of the house formerly known as Poplars having been haunted. This is included on the website just a piece of historical interest and to add to the geographical mapping of reported activity, old and young. Read More »

It has been suggested that the ghost of Mary Blandy was witnessed by a number of people at a re-enactment of her trial at the Henley Town Hall sometime prior to 1969. Her actual trial took place on 3 March 1752 at the Oxford Assizes held in the hall of the Divinity School. Read More »

The White Horse of Uffington is one of the most impressive sites close to the ancient Ridgeway path, which traverses the steep chalk downs brooding over the Vale of the White Horse. Other sites include Dragon Hill, The Manger and Uffington Castle, which have been the subject of legend and folklore for over a thousand years. Read More »

Wayland's Smithy is one of the most impressive and atmospheric Neolithic burial chambers in Britain. Read More »