The most famous legends in Essex
Agnes and SathanHatfield Peverel · FamousIn 1566 a woman confessed she kept a cat that spoke and drank blood. She called it Sathan.
Boudica's Last StandEpping · FamousVictorian guidebooks told of a great slaughter of Britons inside these banks. The diggers who came later found something different.
King Coel's CastleColchester · FamousMedieval Colchester said a British king founded it in 219 AD. His castle, they claimed, was this Roman gate.
King Harold's GraveWaltham Abbey · FamousAfter Hastings, a woman who loved the dead king was the only one who could find his body. It was brought back here.
Scrapfaggot Green Witch StoneGreat Leighs · FamousIn 1944 a bulldozer shoved aside a boulder at a crossroads. Then the church bells started ringing on their own.
The Borley NunBorley · FamousA Victorian rectory became England's most famous haunted house. Its star ghost was a nun who may never have existed.
The Dunmow FlitchGreat Dunmow · FamousSince the Middle Ages, couples have claimed a side of bacon here for a year without quarrels. A mock court decides whether they are lying.
The Henham Flying SerpentHenham · FamousIn 1669 a pamphlet named local men who had seen something in the woods. It had wings, and it was nine feet long.
The Witchfinder's TownMistley / Manningtree · FamousIn 1644 a young man in Manningtree decided his neighbours were witches. Within a year dozens of women stood trial at Chelmsford.
Turpin's CaveLoughton · FamousA wanted highwayman ran into this forest with the law behind him. An old fort's banks hid a pit that took his name.
Customs you can still see
- The Dunmow FlitchLeap-year Saturday in July (next 15 July 2028) · Great Dunmow
- Harwich Kitchel ThrowingMayor-making and kitchel throwing, mid-May (15 May 2025; 16 May 2024) · Harwich
- Thaxted Morris WeekendSpring Bank Holiday weekend (29-31 May 2026) · Thaxted
- The Bradwell PilgrimageBradwell Pilgrimage, a Saturday in early July (5 July 2025) · Bradwell-on-Sea
Ghosts 9
- The Borley NunBorley · FreeA Victorian rectory became England's most famous haunted house. Its star ghost was a nun who may never have existed.
- Lucky Corner's Headless WomanFoulness · PrivateOn an island at the edge of Essex, one place had a cheerful name. Its ghost was not cheerful at all.
- Skeleton Under the StairsLeigh-on-Sea · FreeFor years no one wanted to live in Blacke House. Then someone dug out the cellar.
- The Strood CenturionWest Mersea · FreeA road to an island floods twice a day under the North Sea. Some travellers swear a Roman soldier still walks it.
- White Lady of HadleighHadleigh · FreeA girl from the castle farm was given an order by a pale lady at dawn. She chose to ignore it.
- The Baker's TreeBarling · FreeWalk round the baker's tree a hundred times and you will see him. One man made it to ninety-nine.
- The Boot-Throwing GhostRochford · PrivateA country parson's letters from 1776 tell of trouble at this old hall. Something unseen was attacking the men.
- The Canvey GoblinCanvey Island · FreeA ghost was due to be laid after twenty-one years. In September 1709, it seemed it would not go quietly.
- The Shrieking BoyHawkwell · FreeAt night a child's voice begged its mother not to kill it. Crowds came to listen, and then someone brought a gun.
The Devil 3
- The Devil of DanburyDanbury · FreeA stranger in a friar's robe walked in during a holy-day service. Moments later a storm tore the church apart.
- The Devil's BeamTolleshunt Knights · PrivateEvery night the walls of the knight's new house were pulled down. So he went at midnight to see who was doing it.
- The Devil's Claw DoorRunwell · FreeThe old oak door of this church carries a strange scorch mark. The story of how it got there starts with a sermon.
Witches 8
- Agnes and SathanHatfield Peverel · FreeIn 1566 a woman confessed she kept a cat that spoke and drank blood. She called it Sathan.
- Scrapfaggot Green Witch StoneGreat Leighs · FreeIn 1944 a bulldozer shoved aside a boulder at a crossroads. Then the church bells started ringing on their own.
- The Witchfinder's TownMistley / Manningtree · FreeIn 1644 a young man in Manningtree decided his neighbours were witches. Within a year dozens of women stood trial at Chelmsford.
- Cunning MurrellHadleigh · FreeBy day he mended shoes in Hadleigh. By night, people said, he was the man witches feared.
- Dummy of Sible HedinghamSible Hedingham · FreeIn the age of trains and telegraphs, a village still feared a witch. They tested him the old way, in the brook.
- Six Witches of CanewdonCanewdon · FreeA Victorian historian wrote down a strange village saying about this steeple. It promised the witches would never leave.
- Ursley Kemp's FamiliarsSt Osyth · FreeA village midwife who claimed she could lift curses was asked to lift one too many. Her confession dragged in half the parish.
- The Widow CommonCoggeshall · FreeFifty years after the Witchfinder, Coggeshall still feared witches. One widow was tested in the river three times.
Beasts 4
- The Henham Flying SerpentHenham · FreeIn 1669 a pamphlet named local men who had seen something in the woods. It had wings, and it was nine feet long.
- The Crocodile of WormingfordWormingford · FreeA village named for a worm needed a dragon. It ended up with three, one of them a royal crocodile.
- The Salcott Black DogSalcott · FreeA tough marshman was driving home in the dark. Then something as big as a calf fell in beside the trap.
- The Walden CockatriceSaffron Walden · FreeA monster whose stare could kill was emptying the town. One knight thought of a very shiny answer.
Heroes and kings 3
- Boudica's Last StandEpping · FreeVictorian guidebooks told of a great slaughter of Britons inside these banks. The diggers who came later found something different.
- King Coel's CastleColchester · FreeMedieval Colchester said a British king founded it in 219 AD. His castle, they claimed, was this Roman gate.
- King Harold's GraveWaltham Abbey · FreeAfter Hastings, a woman who loved the dead king was the only one who could find his body. It was brought back here.
Outlaws 2
Saints and holy places 6
- Crawling Up Ashingdon HillAshingdon · FreePilgrims once climbed this hill on their knees for a miracle. The neighbouring priests were not impressed.
- Helen's Own ChapelColchester · FreeColchester once claimed the mother of an emperor was born here. By 1400 they said she had built this chapel herself.
- The Headless SaintSt Osyth · FreeA Saxon princess refused to worship the Danes' gods and lost her head for it. That was not the end of her walk.
- The Holy Cross of WalthamWaltham Abbey · FreeA Somerset blacksmith dug up a cross after a dream. The oxen hauling it would only head one way.
- The Resting KingGreensted · FreeMonks carrying a dead king's body stopped here for one night. The wooden walls they slept beside still stand.
- Our Lady's SmileRayne · FreeA mother was dying in childbirth, and the women ran to the church to pray. Then one of them looked up.
Customs 6
- The Dunmow FlitchGreat Dunmow · FreeSince the Middle Ages, couples have claimed a side of bacon here for a year without quarrels. A mock court decides whether they are lying.
- Harwich Kitchel ThrowingHarwich · FreeHarwich has been making mayors for over 400 years. On the big day, watch the upstairs window.
- Thaxted Morris WeekendThaxted · FreeEvery spring, morris sides from around the world descend on one Essex hill town. The night ends with a dance of antlers.
- The Bradwell PilgrimageBradwell-on-Sea · FreeA Saxon missionary built this chapel from the stones of a Roman fort. Every summer people still walk the last mile in silence.
- The Common MazeSaffron Walden · FreeA path of turf winds seventeen times around a mound on the town common. Young men once raced it for beer and glory.
- The Lawless CourtRochford · PrivateOnce a year, tenants gathered here in pitch darkness and spoke only in whispers. Their ancestors' crime was the reason.
Curses 2
Mysteries 4
- A Coggeshall JobCoggeshall · FreeCoggeshall's name became Essex slang for a hopeless job. Blame the clock, the cow and the wheelbarrow.
- Anne Boleyn's HeartEast Horndon · FreeAfter Anne Boleyn's execution, rumours said her body did not stay in the Tower. One trail stops at this hilltop church.
- Gone to JerichoBlackmore · PrivateA king's mistress gave birth to his son in a hidden house here. The court had a code name for his visits.
- The Skeleton in the GardenSt Osyth · FreeA gardener's spade turned up a skeleton the whole village called a witch. Visitors paid to see her for decades.