Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Lincolnshire

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

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.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

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.

Legends

All Saints Church & The Holbeach Gamblers

There were once four men of Holbeach, by the names of Slator, Watson, Barker and Codling who would, in the closing years of the 18th century, would regularly meet at the Chequers Inn in the town. Their heavy drinking was always accompanied by rowdy gambling over the card table, until, one day in 1793, the death of Mr. Codling put and end to their sport.

Anniversary Ghosts / Apparitions / English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Hauntings / Legends

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.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Folklore / Wells

St Mary’s Church, Barnetby-le-Wold

The church of St Mary’s on Church Hill in Barnetby-le-Wold dates from Saxon times though the current building is rebuilt during the Norman era. The church was actually declared redundant and closed in 1972 soo you cannot visit it without making special arrangements. One special item of note regarding St Mary’s was its lead font which dated from the early 12th century.

Apparitions / Folklore / Hauntings

St Vincent’s Church, Burton

St Vincents dates back probably to the Norman occupation with a church in Burton being recorded in the Domes Day Book of 1086 and the earliest recorded rector being Richard de Basingham in 1186.

Ancient Sites / Folklore / Wells

Healing Wells at Healing

The village of Healing near Grimsby has two notable healing wells, though they are probably not the source of the villages name. In the Domesday Book, Healing is shown as being Hegelinge, an Anglo Saxon term, possibly similar to Hægelingas meaning ‘the sons or followers Hægel’.

English Fairies / Fairies / Folklore

Spittal Hill, Freiston

Thought to be the site of monks hospital, Spittal Hill can be found at the end of Fox Hole Lane on the A52 and it has a repution of being the haunt of a shag-foal.

Black Dogs / English Fairies / Fairies / Folklore / Hauntings

Barnoldby le Beck

The Churchyard of St Helen’s in Barnoldby le Beck and the fields and surrounding the village have been said to be haunted by a Shag-Foal, a rough coated goblin horse, described as a cross between a black dog and a horse.