Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: Legends

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Giants / Legends

Spinsters Rock

Spinsters Rock is a burial cairn dating to the early Bronze Age. The structure was re-erected in the 1862 after collapsing earlier in the year.

According to folklore the rocks where erected by a group of three spinsters who where on a journey to deliver some wool. Obviously these three women where seen as giants having the strength to carry such a heavy burden.

Folklore / Legends

Peak Cavern

Known charmingly as the Devil’s Arse in past centuries, the cavern has long been seen as an entrance to the otherworld.

Legend tells how during the one winter during the Middle Ages, a swineherd lost one of his sows.

Devil / Legends

The Devil’s Elbow

A curved stretch of road on the B6105 between Glossop and Woodhead is known as the Devils Elbow, it has been the scene of strange events and is associated with a Devil legend. Many place names in this area may have strange origins. Names such as Shining Clough and Lantern Pike suggest places associated with mysterious light phenomena.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Featured Sites / Legends

St Bees Priory

The atmospheric church at St Bees is all that remains of a small Benedictine monastery closed down during the reformation. The priory is associated with the legend of St Bega, who is said to have fled here to escape an arranged marriage in Ireland.

Apparitions / Hauntings / King Arthur / Legends

Blencathra Mountain (The Saddleback)

This mountain is one of the locations associated with an army of sleeping knights, this time King Arthur and his men, waiting for the call to arms when he is most needed. In old Cumbrian, Blencathra means ‘Devils Peak’

Directions: A footpath leads to the hill from Blencathra Centre.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Giants / King Arthur / Legends

Eamont Bridge and Arthur’s Round Table

Two prehistoric henge monuments have become known as Arthur’s Round Table, a common theme in folklore were ancient structures become romanticised into legendary sites.  A cave near Eamont Bridge called giants cave is associated with two legendary giants called Tarquin and Isir.

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Articles / Folklore / Folktales / Legends / Vampire

The Phantom Of Croglin Grange

The phantom of Croglin Grange is one of the best known vampire stories in Britain. It is as famous in the annals of vampire lore as Whitby and its Dracula associations. The actual story bears the marks of fiction and first appeared in a book called ‘In My Solitary life’ by Augustus Hare. What follows is an adapted and shortened version of his story.

King Arthur / Legends

Pendragon Castle

Pendragon Castle is associated with an Arthurian legend. It is said that Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon tried to re-route the river Eden to create a moat for the castle.

The ruin dates to the 1100’s and was built by Hugh de Morville one of the knights who killed Thomas of Cantebury, so is out of the time scale for King Arthur.