Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: England

Apparitions / Hauntings

St Mary the Virgin Church, Ilmington

In ‘Haunted Churches’ (1939), Elliott O’Donnell (27 February 1872 – 8 May 1965) gives the following brief description of a haunting at the 12th century parish church of St Mary the Virgin. ‘THE parish church of Ilmington in Warwickshire was, and some say still, at times, is, haunted by the ghost of a parish clerk who died in 1793.

Apparitions / Hauntings / Road Ghosts

Headless Coachman, Norwich

The following extract is taken from ‘Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders by William Henderson’ (1879). ‘The Headless Coach, or more correctly coach with headless coachman, appears again in Norfolk. Mr.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Swine Drawn Coach (1684)

In his ‘Memorials, or the memorable things that fell out within this island of Britain from 1638 – 1684’ (Published 1818), Robert Law quotes the diary of Jacob Bee of Durham, who refers to a strange experience that was deemed a portent of death. “John Borrow departed this life the 17th day of January being Satterday this yeare 1684 and twas reported y’he see a coa

Apparitions / Buried Treasure / English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Hauntings / Legends

Sexhow Ghost

According to ‘Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders by William Henderson’ (1879). ‘Mr. G. M. Tweddell thus relates the history of an apparition which with fitting retributive justice haunted a certain Yorkshire farmer.

Legends

Tunnel Between Finchale Abbey and Durham Cathedral

The following tunnel legend was printed in ‘Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders’ by William Henderson (1879). ‘There was a wild legend in my native city of a subterranean passage between Finchale Abbey and the cathedral of Durham, and of an attempt to penetrate it.

Hauntings

Awd Simmon Beeather

A Glossary of Words used in Holderness (1877) gives the following description for the word Simmon and mentions an associated ghost. ‘Simmon, pounded brick or tiles, used by brick-layers for colouring the mortar. Beating simmon was formerly the hard labour punishment in Beverley Borough Gaol.

Apparitions / Folklore / Hauntings

Fimber Crossroads

The following extract is taken from ‘History of Fimber. A treatise on Agricultural Improvements, Memories of Remarkable Events and Village Tales’ by T. Edmondson (1857), in which he describes local folklore concerning the haunting of the crossroads at Fimber.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds

Ba’l Hill, Neolithic Round Barrow

The Neolithic round barrow at Wold Newton stands nearly three meters and has a diameter of around 40 meters. It stands beside an intermittently flowing stream known as the Gypsey Race. It was excavated in 1894 by JR Mortimer.