Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Somerset

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Legends

Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree

I have visited Glastonbury many times over the last few decades, but only got around to visiting the Holy Thron on Wearyall Hill for the first time in September 2011. Unfortunately it was in a poor state after being vandalised the previous December and then apparently further damaged by souvenir hunters.

Big Cats / Cryptozoology

Beast of Badcox (2006)

The following article entitled ‘Hunt is on for the Beast of Badcox’ appeared in the Frome & Somerset Standard on 7th September 2006 and concerns a big cat that was sighted in Victoria Park, Frome.

The hunt is on for a mysterious large black cat that was spotted roaming at night in Frome Victoria Park.

Apparitions / Haunted Pubs / Hauntings

The Crystal Palace, Bath

The Crystal Palace on Abbey Green in Bath is so called in commemoration of The Grand Exhibition which took place in Hyde Park, London between 1 May 1851 and 15 October 1851. Prior to this name change, the Inn was known as The Three Tuns.

Festivals / January

Wassailing The Apple Trees – Carhampton

Wassail originates from the Old English "waes hael", meaning "be well".  It is a mulled cider or ale seasoned with honey and spices.  Wassailing the apple trees is a traditional way of blessing th etrees to ensure a good harvest.  Villagers would gather around the apple trees making a racket to awaken the tree spirits and scare away any lingering deamons.  The strongest tre

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Articles / King Arthur / Legends / Merlin

Glastonbury Arthur’s Avalon

Beside the main roads leading into the dreamy Somerset town of Glastonbury, are a series of signboards welcoming all to ‘The Ancient Avalon’, and causing a nationwide controversy. Glastonbury claims to be Avalon, to be the final resting place of King Arthur, and the site to which the Holy Grail was borne to by Joseph of Arimethea.

Anniversary Ghosts / Apparitions / Haunted Battlefields / Hauntings

Sedgemoor

Like many of the ancient battlefields of Britain, Sedgemoor – the site of the final defeat of the Duke of Monmouth’s ill armed rebel army – has gathered many folklore traditions and legends.

Folklore / Legends

Wookey Hole

Wookey Hole is famed for "The Witch of Wookey" a giant stalagmite, which resembles a witches face in profile. Folklore tells that the stalagmite was once a witch who terrorised the local area, and was petrified by the intervention of a Glastonbury monk.

Apparitions / Festivals / Hauntings / May

Minehead

Minehead is the scene of the Obby Oss Festival April 30th, May 1st -3rd. The oss or horse is a covered wooden frame with a painted head at the centre bedecked with ribbons. The Oss meets the rising sun early on the 1st of May. In some stories this festival is said to date to a time when the local people scared away Norse invaders by disguising their ship as a sea serpent.

Dragons / Legends / Nordic Pantheons / Pantheons

Shervage Wood

Shervage Wood has is home to a number of traditions, perhaps because it was once perceived as being enchanted. In legend and folklore the wood was the home of a dragon known as The Gurt Vurm of Shervage Wood. The dragon was said to have the girth of at least three mature oak trees, and was the bane of the local villages eating cattle and making a general nuisance of itself.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Hauntings

Croydon Hill

Croydon Hill is the scene of a peculiar English Folktale, that may or may not have its root in real events. Whatever the truth of the tale the hill has a reputation of being haunted by unearthly howls, especially on dark and stormy nights, and here is the story to account for this unearthly manifestation: