Category: Britain
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“I did not give them willingly”: The Friesthorpe Window
A small rural church in Friesthorpe, Lincolnshire holds one of the most poignant memorials to the sacrifices of war in the form of a beautiful…
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Ye Olde Eco-Burial: The Trapdoor Coffin
In the 16th and 17th centuries, plenty of rural parishes in Scotland utilised a communal coffin of sorts called a ‘common mortkist’, ‘bier’ or ‘parish…
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Big Surprises and Bigger Vaults at Laceby Cemetery
A village on the outskirts of Grimsby isn’t exactly the typical location for an enormous Norwegian funerary monument.
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The Tiny Grave of Tom Thumb
According to local legend, the Tom Thumb of Tattershall measured just over 18 inches tall and had reached the grand old age of 101 upon…
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Nanette Stocker, the Smallest Woman in the Kingdom
Nanette (incorrectly recorded as ‘Nanetta’ on her stone) is a forgotten music hall star and little person who died with a huge following.
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The World’s First Ghost Train
The first Ghost Train on record was not a glitzy Disney invention, but a far more humble, home-grown affair.
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William Mackenzie’s Liverpool Pyramid
The idea of a hunched poker-playing corpse inside a pyramid has a undeniable more public appeal.
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Peppy The Polar Bear: Sweet Treats and Taxidermy
This unassuming clear mint had one of the most bizarre taxidermy-based advertising campaigns of the 20th century.
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A Trip to Avebury Church: Henge Not Included
Sitting in the metaphorical shadow of Avebury’s mystical stone circle is the little modest structure of St James’ Church.
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A Preacher and a Horse Walk into a Bar
I don’t know about you, but when I think about Methodism, the first thing that springs to mind is a horse skeleton.
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The Hexham Heads
In 1971, two young boys were digging in the back garden of their family home in Hexham. Deep in the soil, they unearthed two small…
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Andrew Hyslop; Covenanter, Martyr.
One postcard lead to a story of a murdered covenanter who ended his days in a field in Dumfriesshire
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Corpse Candles
Originating in Wales in the 18th and 19th centuries, corpse candles are an omen of death.
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Kim Cattrall: The Unwelcome Cleopatra
What, so you thought I couldn’t link Sex and the City with bizarre grave controversies? Bet your finest patent heels I can.
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Lancaster Priory and the Headless White Lady
Lancaster Priory and the Parish Church of Lancaster are located right next to a medieval castle, on top of a hill overlooking the city.
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Telling the Bees!
Following a death, the list of duties seem endless. From booking the undertaker to choosing the coffin, plot or crematorium, the list of necessities seems…
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Love Me, Love My Dead Husband’s Calcified Heart
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was not simply a literary force, but a tragic, romantic, gothic icon whose exploits in sex and death put the rest of…
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Window Shopping with Queen Victoria
Some of Queen Victoria’s mourning jewellery is going up for Auction on March 24th 2021 and if you can’t treat the catalogue as the ultimate…
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A Very 90s Death: The Tamagotchi Cemetery
In 1996, Japanese toy designers Aki Maita and Yokoi Akihiro debuted the first ever Tamagotchi.
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Druids and Magic, Oh My! A Trip to Avebury Stone Circle
Avebury is a tiny village near Marlborough in Wiltshire and is surrounded by Europe’s largest Neolithic stone circle.
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Judy The Donkey: Grave Stories
In central Liverpool, in a sleepy corner of a sprawling park, sits the headstone of Judy the donkey. Worker, hero, icon.
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Louth Cemetery: Thinking Local
Louth Cemetery, servicing a small market town, holds as much awe and history as any city burial ground.
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The Most Haunted House in England: Borley Rectory
In 1940, psychical investigator and ghost hunter Harry Price produced an account of his stays and studies at Borley Rectory. The book was called ‘The…
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The Drummer of Tedworth: Britain’s First Poltergeist
The Drummer of Tedworth was the first recorded poltergeist report in British history. The 17th century account tells the story of a magistrate, a drummer…
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Legsby St Thomas: Beef Rolls and Busy Farmers
Legsby St Thomas: A place for worship, farmers, locked chest mysteries and grave stories waiting to be told.
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A Trip to Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is a sprawling necropolis, nestled in the busy – and terribly posh – London Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
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The Lambton Worm: Here Be Dragons
Heard the one about the boy who skipped church and summoned the Devil?
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Mourning Gems: Hester Ann Barfield
A hair brooch, a name and a cross-continental journey. Hester Ann Barfield 1853-1856.
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Collection Feature: Ernest Frost
Ernest was a country boy, raised in the fields of Derbyshire, before finding love, achieving a very modern job and dying far too young.
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The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion of 1871
The Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion occurred on a Friday afternoon, on 11thAugust 1871. The explosion killed 28 and injured a further 70.
Burials & Beyond 