The most famous legends in Bedfordshire
A Voice on Elstow GreenElstow · FamousA young tinker ignores the sermon and goes to play a game on the village green. Mid-swing, a voice asks him a question that leads to one of the most famous books in English.
The Black Magic ChurchClophill · FamousIn 1963 two teenagers are seen in Clophill carrying a human skull. What police then found inside the old ruined church made national headlines.
The King the River TookBedford · FamousOne of the most powerful kings in English history is said to have been buried in Bedford. Then, the story goes, the river took him.
The Lacemakers' QueenAmpthill · FamousBanished to a Bedfordshire castle while Henry VIII ended their marriage, Katherine of Aragon waited for news. Lacemakers say she spent the time teaching them something.
The Real WendyCockayne Hatley · FamousA little girl in Victorian London has a special name for her father's friend, the writer J. M. Barrie. He gave it to one of the most famous characters in children's books.
Customs you can still see
- Ickwell's MaypoleMay Day bank holiday (next Monday 3 May 2027) · Ickwell
- Pelting OrangesEaster holidays (revived as orange races at the visitor centre) · Dunstable
- The Pancake WitchShrove Tuesday, about 11:50, when it falls in school term (2027: 9 February, to be confirmed) · Toddington
- Upside Down for Mr WilkesRogation Sunday (next 2 May 2027) · Leighton Buzzard
Ghosts 6
- Rosata of ChicksandsChicksands · Pay to get inA nun falls for a canon at a medieval priory, and both are punished horribly for it. Airmen stationed there 800 years later say she still keeps a monthly appointment.
- The Flying DuchessWoburn · Pay to get inA duchess takes off alone in her plane and never comes home. At Woburn, her grandson was sure she hadn't entirely left.
- The Strangling LadyBedford (Goldington) · FreeIn 1896 a Bedford family writes to a London newspaper: their servants keep fleeing the house. Soon ghost-hunters are queuing to spend the night.
- Echoes at WrestSilsoe · Pay to get inAt closing time, staff at a grand Bedfordshire house follow the last visitors to the gate. Some of them never get there.
- The Brown MonkBattlesden · FreeA boy practising the organ looks up and sees a monk in a brown habit watching him. The trouble is, no monks round here ever wore brown.
- Wenlock's Unfinished HouseHyde, near Luton · FreeA lord begins one of England's first great brick houses, then rides off to war and never returns. His half-built home stands empty, but perhaps not unoccupied.
The Devil 2
- Sir Rowland Rides AgainOdell · FreeOdell's wicked lord was banished into a pond after he died, but the Devil still came looking for him. Look closely at the church porch and you'll see how close he came.
- The Devil's JumpsMarston Moretaine · FreeSome young men break the Sabbath with a leaping game, and a stranger asks to join in. His jumps are impossible, and so is what happens next.
Witches 3
- Sally in the BottleDunstable · FreeA Victorian schoolmaster writes a ballad about a medieval witch to embarrass the rector. It ends with her sealed in a bottle and buried in the churchyard, and nobody knows where.
- Where the Witches MetDunstable · FreeAccused of killing two children by witchcraft, a Dunstable woman names three neighbours and a talking cat. She says they met at night on the burial mounds above town.
- Swum at Oakley MillOakley · FreeTo clear her family's name, an old woman lets the village throw her into the River Ouse. Floating means guilty, and then they fetch the church Bible.
Heroes and kings 1
Outlaws 2
- Black Tom's GraveBedford · FreeA highwayman is buried under a Bedford crossroads with a stake through his heart. More than a century later, people are still seeing him stagger down Union Street.
- Dun's StapleDunstable · FreeA ring is fixed to a post at a lawless crossroads to see who dares take it. The thief's name, the story goes, is still on every road sign into town.
Saints and holy places 2
- The Well That Never FreezesStevington · FreeA spring pours from under Stevington's church through an arch in the wall. People say no frost or drought has ever stopped it, and pilgrims once came for its cures.
- The Banned WellOld Linslade · FreeMedieval pilgrims flock to a little well at Linslade with their offerings. In 1299 the bishop puts a stop to it, and the vicar has some explaining to do.
Customs 6
- The Lacemakers' QueenAmpthill · FreeBanished to a Bedfordshire castle while Henry VIII ended their marriage, Katherine of Aragon waited for news. Lacemakers say she spent the time teaching them something.
- Ickwell's MaypoleIckwell · FreeOne green, one giant maypole and a May Day that has run for more than 450 years. There's also a ball up there that nobody ever got down.
- Pelting OrangesDunstable · FreeEvery Good Friday for two centuries, Dunstable climbed the Downs to throw oranges at each other. The favourite target? Anyone wearing a top hat.
- Simon and NellieLeighton Buzzard · FreeScratched into a church pillar 600 years ago, a woman is hitting a man with a spoon. Local legend says it's the argument that invented an Easter cake.
- The Pancake WitchToddington · FreeWhen the pancake bell rings on Shrove Tuesday, Toddington's children run to an old castle mound and press their ears to the grass. Something underground is said to be cooking.
- Upside Down for Mr WilkesLeighton Buzzard · FreeOnce a year a procession arrives at some Leighton Buzzard almshouses to hear a 17th-century will read aloud. One of them has to listen upside down.
Mysteries 8
- The Black Magic ChurchClophill · FreeIn 1963 two teenagers are seen in Clophill carrying a human skull. What police then found inside the old ruined church made national headlines.
- The King the River TookBedford · FreeOne of the most powerful kings in English history is said to have been buried in Bedford. Then, the story goes, the river took him.
- The Real WendyCockayne Hatley · FreeA little girl in Victorian London has a special name for her father's friend, the writer J. M. Barrie. He gave it to one of the most famous characters in children's books.
- The Keysoe MiracleKeysoe · FreeIn 1718 a builder slips from the top of Keysoe's spire. His own plaque on the tower tells you what he cried out on the way down.
- The Palace BeautifulAmpthill · FreeA grand house on a Bedfordshire ridge, built for a poet's sister and now a roofless shell. Many believe John Bunyan saw it and put it in his most famous book.
- The Queen's Bull HideTotternhoe · FreeA queen bets a king she can fit a whole army inside the skin of one bull. All she needs is a sharp knife and a hilltop.
- Pulloxhill's Gold RushPulloxhill · FreeIn 1680 someone spots gold glittering in a Bedfordshire field, and the Crown claims it at once. Prospectors pour in, but what exactly did they find?
- The Vikings' DockWillington · FreeA strange square dock beside the River Ouse has been called the Danish Camp for centuries. The Vikings did attack Bedford, but did they ever moor here?