Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: English Folktales

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Hauntings / Occult / Occult Biographies / Occult Traditions / Witchcraft

Molly Leigh

In St John’s graveyard, Burslem, can be found the last resting place of Molly Leigh, a local woman accused of being a witch but dying before she could be brought to trial. Her body is the only one positioned North to South, putting it at a right angle to every other grave in the cemetery. The story of Molly Leigh is a mixture of fact and folklore that has grown over the years.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

Gormire Lake & White Mare Crag

Surrounded by the dense Garbutt Wood, Gormire Lake is the result of glacial activity and is one of the few natural lakes in Yorkshire. Gormire Lake has a few little known gems of folklore attached it. One tale involves a witch who was being chased across the moor.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Hauntings

Leeds Town Hall

Beneath the front steps of Leeds Town Hall is the old Central Charge Office or Bridewell (a general term for a small prison), the reputed haunt of the ghost of the notorious burglar and murderer Charles Peace.

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English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

Elidor and The Golden Ball

This story was first collected by the medieval chronicler Geraldus Cambrensis, and tells of how a young boy lived for a time in the fairy kingdon, until the day he tried to steal one of their belongings. This version is from Joseph Jacob’s More Celtic Fairy Tales, 1892.

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English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

King Herla

In this tale Herla was the King of the Britons in ancient times. The tale seems to date from the medieval period but may have had earlier origins.

One afternoon after a hard days riding, Herla, the wise King of the Britons took leave from his men, and rested for a while among the ancients trees, part of the great forest that had stood in his kingdom for millennia.

English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

The Green Children of Woolpit

This story was told by medieval writers (Ralph of Coggestall and William of Newbridge), about the discovery of fairy children in the South of England in the twelfth century.There are two versions of the story, one placed in Suffolk and one in Norfolk, with only a small distance separating them.

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:

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Articles / English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Giants / Legends

The Origin of The Wrekin

This is one of two folktales, which explain the origin of the Wrekin, a 1,334 foot high hill standing on the Shropshire plain. The hill has the remains of an Iron Age Hillfort on its summit, and folk evidence suggests it was an important focal point for our prehistoric ancestors.