The most famous legends in Staffordshire
Chad Comes HomeLichfield · FamousSmuggled, hidden and moved to Birmingham, St Chad's bones finally began coming back in 2022.
The Black Mere MermaidLeek · FamousNo bird flies over this pool, they used to say. The mermaid in it has a long memory.
The Green ChapelGradbach · FamousA green, dripping cleft in the moorland woods. Could this be where Gawain met the Green Knight again?
The Hermit's RockKinver · FamousFamilies lived inside this cliff until the 1960s. Long before them, a hermit may have carved his cell here.
The Horn DanceAbbots Bromley · FamousSix men carry ancient reindeer antlers round the village every September. Its origin is a genuine mystery.
The Kidsgrove BoggartKidsgrove · FamousBoatmen legged their barges through this tunnel in the dark. They were not always alone.
The Stone PrincesStone · FamousA king killed his own sons for becoming Christian, and their grave gave a town its name.
The Sun Sets TwiceLeek · FamousOnce a year, from this town, the sun sets twice in one evening.
Thor's CaveWetton · FamousAncient burials, bone whistles and the name of a Norse god. Nobody knows who named it.
Customs you can still see
Ghosts 3
- The Kidsgrove BoggartKidsgrove · FreeBoatmen legged their barges through this tunnel in the dark. They were not always alone.
- Margaret of the Fox EarthKinver · FreeThe parish register calls her only Margaret of the fox earth. Her cave still bears a nickname.
- The Blue NymphUpper Hulme · FreeA tiny moorland pool with a big reputation. Walkers have reported a face in the water.
Giants 1
Heroes and kings 2
Saints and holy places 8
- Chad Comes HomeLichfield · FreeSmuggled, hidden and moved to Birmingham, St Chad's bones finally began coming back in 2022.
- The Hermit's RockKinver · Pay to get inFamilies lived inside this cliff until the 1960s. Long before them, a hermit may have carved his cell here.
- The Stone PrincesStone · FreeA king killed his own sons for becoming Christian, and their grave gave a town its name.
- Bertram's GriefIlam · FreeA runaway prince, an Irish princess and a pack of wolves. The pilgrims came to his tomb for cures.
- Lud's Hidden ChurchGradbach · FreeA ravine in the woods that persecuted heretics used as a church. Or so the Victorians said.
- St Chad's WellLichfield · FreeA spring by a quiet church where a seventh-century bishop is said to have baptised converts.
- The Field of the DeadLichfield · FreeLichfield, the legend says, means field of the dead. Historians are not convinced.
- Werburgh's HillHanbury · FreeA Mercian princess-saint was buried on this hill. Then the Vikings arrived.
Customs 3
- The Horn DanceAbbots Bromley · FreeSix men carry ancient reindeer antlers round the village every September. Its origin is a genuine mystery.
- The Sun Sets TwiceLeek · FreeOnce a year, from this town, the sun sets twice in one evening.
- The Bawd StoneUpper Hulme · FreeA stone villagers whitewashed each year and crawled their children under. The processions lasted into the 1940s.
Curses