My mother used to recall the tale of the Headless Horseman of Dungee Corner

There is a long straight road known as ‘Mile Strret’ heading out of the village of Bozeat that joins a Roman Road at a T-junction known to the locals as ‘Dungee Corner’.

My mother used to recall the tale of the Headless Horseman of Dungee Corner

There is a long straight road known as ‘Mile Strret’ heading out of the village of Bozeat that joins a Roman Road at a T-junction known to the locals as ‘Dungee Corner’.

In the 1900’s my great grandfather who resided at Wymington would attend the Market in the nearby Northamptonshire town of Wellingborough. In that period, travel by horse-drwan transport was still the norm in rural Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

On one occasion after a successful days trading at the market, my Great Grandfather had stopped off at the Golden Lion Inn (incidentally one of the few ancient hostelries in England that despite several clumsy refurbishments by brewerty owners, still retains to this day its original Minstrel’s gallery).

Travelling back that afternoon from Wellingborough to Bozeat, and then turning left down Mile Street, he claimed to have seen the phantom ‘headlkess horseman’, the black wraith-like figure that is said to haunt ‘Dungee Corner’. Its presence was also allegedly manifested by the refusal of cart horses or other living equines to go approach or go past that haunted junction, despite any form of coaxing .

At least that was his excuse tendered to my maternal great grandmother allegedly oft used when trying to justify his later return from the Golden Lion.

The Roman road in question peters out to a country track just north of that junction, andcabn be followed across the fields past farndish and Irchester, to terminate at an overgrown and abandoned caster (Roman fortified site) on the southern bank of the River Nene that gives nearby ‘Chester House’ its name.

Having travelled past that site for decades at all seasons of the year and times of day, I cannot say that I have ever seen the ‘headless horseman’. Was the tale just an excuse to be late backfrom the pub? if so it does has a certain style.