Author: Kate Cherrell
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A Day at Greenbank Cemetery, Bristol.
Greenbank is a large Victorian Garden cemetery, but like so many others, has suffered from years of neglect.
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Cleethorpes Cemetery: Seafarers and Odd Fellows
Sitting in 31 acres, just off Beacon Avenue, Cleethorpes Cemetery opened in 1877 and is one of four cemeteries serving the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.
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Antoine and the Red Dress
In 1960, Dorothy Jenkins was perusing a junk shop in Fulham when an old oil painting caught her eye…
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Mary Toft: The Woman Who Birthed Rabbits
In 1726, when the rest of the country were dealing with periodic harvest failures, Mary Toft sat at home and gave birth to rabbits.
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A Sensation in Quebec!
‘A Quebec Woman Creates a Sensation, Riding Through St. John Street in a Hearse, Reclining on the Coffin-Bed, and Smoking a Pipe…’
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Mind that Ectoplasm! A Short Popular History of Masturbating Ghosts
Can’t a spirit enjoy a little self-love after death?
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The Thief’s Arm of Prague
The 400 year old arm, impaled on a meat hook, serves as a warning to all future criminals considering robbing the church.
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Love in the Time of COVID-19
As we adapt to our new, restricted lifestyles, we find ourselves altering the way we connect with our wider community.
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Collection Feature: Rev. Timothy Carey
This week, with the help of some wonderful WWI archive websites, I hope to share a little of the life of the Reverend Timothy Carey.
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Collection Feature: Agnes Sturgeon
The life of Agnes Sturgeon has expanded beyond her small, folded memorial.
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Nancy Luce, The Chicken Lady
For company, Nancy may not have had humans, but she had her chickens…
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The Peterloo Massacre: Culpability and City Memorials
The Peterloo Massacre was as a result of police brutality during a protest. A protest that essentially occurred as a result of two public issues…
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Ice, Ice, Body: Introducing Ice Caskets
In the age before embalming and refrigerated storage, keeping bodies preserved and cool was a serious issue for undertakers and families alike.
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Crisis, What Crisis? The Gravediggers’ Strike of 1979
1979 was the Winter of Discontent, when industrial action (or inaction?) brought the UK to a standstill.
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‘Scratching Fanny’, The Ghost of Cock Lane
In 1762, the haunting of Cock Lane gripped a nation and sent the capital wild with fear and excitement
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Two Towers and an Eccentric Priest: Booton St Michael
Lying in such an isolated place, Booton St Michael has come to be known as ‘the cathedral of the fields’.
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The Smithfield Ghost
Not all ghosts are veiled ladies, shrieks in the night or headless horsemen. Some are undead lawyers, tormenting butcher’s stalls in the 17th century.
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Death Cheese: A Short History
In life, three things are for certain: Birth, Death and Cheese. The greatest of these is cheese.
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Birdcage Walk: Remnants of a Bombed Churchyard
While the church is long gone, its churchyard remains, with tombs and monuments hidden behind metal railings and overgrown bushes. Although the site seems closed…
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Bornstedt Cemetery, Potsdam
‘What dies in Sanssouci will be buried in Bornstedt.’
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Medieval Secrets at St Faith’s Church, Little Witchingham
Medieval wall paintings. Grand, loud, bright and famous. They fill the pages of guidebooks, celebrated by tourists for centuries. They are never forgotten. Right?
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Hudds, Huds and Hudes: Graveside Shelters of Yesteryear
Shelters may seem to have been a rather excessive addition to the world of ecclesiastical furniture, after all; what’s a little rain between a vicar…
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A Day at Southampton Old Cemetery
Southampton Old Cemetery is a historical site, a nature reserve, a place for tours and relaxation. Its also a place to dodge dog poo by…
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The Gloson: Demon Ghost Pig of Sweden
The Gloson is not just any normal common or garden ghost pig. The Gloson is special creature…
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Tiles and Victoriana at St Martin’s Church, Waithe.
By a small turning off the A16, sits a little shrine to the Victorian Gothic.
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5 ‘Real’ Christmas Ghost Stories
Read on for 5 ‘real’ ghost stories from the festive season. From ghost pigs to undead highwayman, local legends cover it all…
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The Bramshill House Bride, or the Legend of the Mistletoe Bough
From moralistic Victorian novellas to the terror-filled tv specials of today, the festive season just isn’t right without a tale or two about the undead.
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Tudor Effigies and Memento Mori at Snarford
When visiting the church and circling these monuments, it seems a miracle there was ever any room for religious services…
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All Saints Church Snelland: Where Lightning Splits the Dead
Nestled in the country lanes by Wragby, Lincolnshire, flanked by yew trees and heavy swags of long-abandoned cobwebs, sits the tiny church of All Saints…
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Gef the Ghostly Mongoose
Ghosts and ghouls, hauntings and mournful spirits; one theme remains constant throughout. They are all human. Then there’s Gef.
Burials & Beyond 