Screaming Skulls Gazetteer

A screaming skull resides at Bettiscombe Manor, which in legend cannot be removed from the house. To do so is said to cause great havoc. Read More »

According to legend, the owners, a Mr and Mrs Kraster Cook were framed one Christmas by Myles Phillipson, a magistrate. He planted a silver cup upon their persons when they came around to visit him. The crime was punishable by death and Phillipson gained control of Calgarth Hall, a sixteenth century manor house, but not before being cursed by Mrs Dorothy Cook. Read More »

The farm is associated with a 'screaming skull' that is supposed to create havoc whenever there is an attempt to bury it. The tale was committed to paper in 1791 by John Collinson in his History and Antiquities of Somerset. Read More »

The tradition of screaming skulls seems to be almost entirely isolated to England, where stories of these mischievous bone locked spirits abound. A screaming skull is basically a skull of dubious origin, said to cause great havoc - storms, poltergeist activity, and (given its namesake) unearthly screams - when it is removed from its pride of place within a stately home, or other ancient abode. Read More »

The skull at Burton Agnes Hall is another famous screaming skull, although its exact whereabouts in the hall is unknown. It is thought to reside behind one of the walls, having been bricked up and forgotten about years before. Read More »

The skull that resides at Wardley Hall is another skull with opposing legends to account for its existence. In tradition the skull - which was kept behind a panel - was supposed to be that of royalist Roger Downs who lived in the 17th century. Read More »