Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: United Kingdom

Apparitions / Black Dogs / Hauntings

Shug Monkey

According to tradition Slough Hill Lane and the area between between Balsham and West Wrattling was haunted by a black dog with the face of a monkey. It was described in James Wentworth Day’s ‘Here are Ghosts & Witches’ (1954) as ‘a cross between a big rough-coated dog and a monkey with big shining eyes.

Apparitions / Black Dogs / Hauntings

Wicken Fen Black Dog

Wicken Fen is a wetland area which has been cared for by the National Trust since 1899. A Black Dog is said to haunt the area around Wicken Fen.

Ancient Sites / Wells

Holwell Mouth Holy Well

The well at Holwell Mouth is the source of the River Smite and described as being a chalybeate spring. It is said that the well was visited for its medicinal waters and there used to be a stone table and seats for the visitors to use. In 1403 the vicarage was granted land called Well Dole and there are records of a Dole building receiving 10 shillings a year in 1790 for its upkeep.

Apparitions / Black Dogs / Hauntings

Wycoller Guytrash

A phantom Black Dog known as Guytrash (or Shriker or Skriker) was said to haunt the lanes and fields around Wycoller, Parson Lee and Height Laithe. As with many Black Dogs, seeing Guytrash was thought to be an ill omen foretelling the death of someone close to the witness.

Black Dogs / English Fairies / Fairies / Folklore

Old Shock

According to County Folklore: Suffolk (1893) ‘Old Shock is a mischievous goblin, in the shape of a great dog, or of a calf, haunting highways and footpaths in the dark.

Apparitions / Black Dogs / Hauntings

St Audries Black Dog

In ‘Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special’ (2000) by John Michell, Bob Rickard and Robert J M Rickard, refer to a Black Dog that is thought to have haunted the road between St Audries and Perry Farm. They quoted their source as the Somerset Volume of County Folklore. The Dog is thought to have been witnessed by two people in 1960 shortly before their deaths.