Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: English Folktales

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

St Andrew’s Parish Church, Alfriston

St Andrew’s Parish Church is a Grade I listed building dating back to 1370. It was built in a cruciform shape and is referred to as The Cathedral of the Downs. There is a siting legend attached to St Andrews Church dating back to its original construction.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Witchcraft

A Witch-Hare at Sedgefield

The following account of the story is extracted from ‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘A similar incident* is said to have happened at the small market town of Sedgefield, about seventy years ago. A party out coursing hares raised one in a field near that place, towards which they were astonished to see that it ran direct.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Witchcraft

Leddy Lister

The following account of the story is extracted from‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘A retired farmers wife at Hedworth, who went by the name of Leddy Lister, was commonly held by the people round about to be a witch.

English Fairies / English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

Witch Cat, Staindrop

The following account of the story is extracted from‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘Mr. Hylton Longstaffe relates that a farmer of Staindrop was one night crossing a bridge near that place, when a cat jumped out, stood before him, and looking him full in the face, said "Johnny Reed, Johnny Reed!

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

A Witch Cat

The following account of the story is extracted from‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘Mr.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales / Witchcraft

Bewitched Child, Wearmouth Colliery

The following account of the story is extracted from‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘It is far from uncommon, in Sunderland, Shields, Durham, Hartlepool, and other towns and villages, for mothers whose children are not thriving to think them bewitched.

English Fairies / English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

Osebury Rock

Osebury Rock (or Rosebury Rock) is a remarkable cliff with dense woodland on the River Teme which, according to Edwin Hartland in his ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890), has an association with fairies.