Jock Brocas On Spiritual Life: England’s Haunted Woods & Forests: A Beginner’s Guide

Around 6,000–7,000 years ago, up to 75% of England was covered by ‘Wildwood’ forest. By 1066, human activity meant this figure declined to 15% and just 5.2% in 1905. Reforestation has increased the current percentage to 13%.

Through my garden gate, I can enter both relatively recently forested woods and the much older Blue Bell Woods, where folk once passed by on the ancient Icknield Way Path, ‘The Oldest Road in Britain’. Finds from the area include a Neolithic flint knife discovered at Jackdaw Hill (now Chestnut Hill) in the 19th century.

A number of Bronze Age barrows may have stood in the area between Linslade Wood and the railway until the area was cleared for agriculture and ballast for the railway.

haunted woods in england — Wikimedia Commons

All I will say, speaking personally, that after dusk, it’s definitely NOT a place to tarry in. The sounds of local wildlife (owls, foxes and snuffling badgers) can be unsettling, as well as the occasional presence of the local youth, smoking dope and generally frolicking.

England has a long, storied history of supernatural activity associated with its woodland, from The Green Man, elves and goblins, wolves, humungous dogs, the (many) shades of highwaymen and also homicidal topiary; witness the horrifying beginning of 1990’s THE GREEN MAN, the BBC adaptation of the Kingsley Amis ghost story:

Especially evocative is 1984’s THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, a Gothic fantasy film based on Angela Carter’s novel, which employs many familiar tales associated with the forests of Olde England:

But where ARE the still remaining haunted groves, woods and forests of my home country?

Fortunately for those in search of a paranormal buzz, there are still many to explore, including my selection below. (For additional information, see the reference list at the end of the article.) But remember: ALWAYS KEEP TO THE PATH.

Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

Despite being one of the world’s most famous forests, the now much-much-shrunken Sherwood isn’t that impressive. But it does possess a wealth of supernatural phenomena, including strange folklore, hauntings, and the occult.

In terms of the occult, the area known as the ‘Bowl’ is rumoured to have been a site of witchcraft and rituals. Lee Roberts, a ‘professional’ ghost hunter from Sutton, said:

“Sherwood Forest has a history of witchcraft. The bowl area of Sherwood Forest is a very haunted area – it was also known as a Medieval burial ground and also where people used to gather and do witchcraft back in the 18th and 17th Century.”

There have also been accounts of dark hooded druidic figures wandering the woods - pagan worshippers from England's dim and distant past - or just cosplayers?

According to Brooke’s Paranormal website, the ghost of a White Lady is a presence in Sherwood, along with the unsettling sound of children laughing nearby.

Maidenhead Thicket, Berkshire

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the part of Bath Road that ran through Maidenhead Thicket was famed for the number of highwaymen who practiced their trade there, including Captain James Hind. Amongst his exploits was the failed robbery of Oliver Cromwell and his bodyguards.

Clapham Wood & Angmering Park Estate, West Sussex

This 275-acre vestige of ancient woodland has occasioned reports of glowing UFOs, spectral dogs and other strange occurrences. One old beech tree is said to mark the meeting point of a coven called ‘Friends of Hecate’; and there’s also a crater, where nothing is said to grow.

West of Clapham Wood and nearby Angmering Park Estate is Wepham Wood, the site of Jack Upperton’s Gibbet. Executed for highway robbery in the 1770s, his tarred corpse took two years to decompose and the gibbet itself lasted more than a century longer.

Lydford Gorge, Devon

haunted forest and woods — Wikimedia Commons

On the edge of Dartmoor lies the ancient wooded Lydford Gorge, supposedly a home to the paranormal. At Whitelady Waterfall, a ghostly figure said to appear; whilst a notorious band of outlaws called the Gubbins were made their home in the woods.

Savernake Forest, Wiltshire

This ancient royal forest was mentioned in King Athelstan’s Charter of Safernoc. For a thousand years the estate and forest have been passed down an unbroken line of hereditary forest wardens.

One was Sir John Seymour, whose daughter Jane caught the eye of randy King Henry VIII on a deer-hunting trip there in 1535.

Savernake also contains the highest concentration of veteran trees in Europe. The huge, 1,100-year-old Big-Bellied Oak beside the A346 is probably the oldest tree in the forest. Legend says the devil can be summoned by dancing naked around it.

From THE WITCH (2015):

Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor National Park

From The Independent:

The early 19th-century writings of local historian Eliza Bray suggest the Druids conducted human sacrifices in the wood eight centuries ago; Devon folklore claims the devil and his hell hounds, with blood-red eyes and fearsome yellow fangs, roam the land looking for wayward travellers. The Druids conducted pagan rituals within the wood, carving spirals and symbols into the moss that can still be seen today – most clearly in a huge boulder known as “The Druid’s Stone” or “The Buller’s Stone”.

Come nightfall, the wood becomes the kennels of Wisht Hounds – dogs with huge fangs and a bone-chilling howl – who hunt across the leaf and moss strewn moors for lost travellers. It’s an ancient but pervasive legend, with locals still reluctant to venture to the wood once the sun goes down.

Shervage Wood, Somerset

In legend, Shervage Wood was the otherworldly haunt of the Gurt Wurm – a monster that ravaged the surrounding countryside until a drunk whortleberry (bilberry) picker called Joe Tottle mistook it for a log and cleaved it in half with an axe.

Nearby Wayland’s Pool, believed to be where a supernatural smithy cooled horseshoes for Odin’s (or Woden’s) Wild Hunt across the skies in search of lost souls. Real horses fear the area, where strange sounds and a spectral horse-drawn carriage have been reported. Also another haunted gibbet, where in 1789 charcoal burner John Walford was executed for murdering his wife left in an iron cage. See also in the area Dowsborough or ‘Danesborough’ Camp Iron Age Hillfort, associated with a massacre of the Danes.

Chiddinglye Wood, West Sussex

On a triangular sandstone spur is a mysterious Iron Age earthwork known as Philpots Promontory Camp. Isolated from the main cliff, Great-upon-Little (or Big-upon-Little) is a massive 400-to 500-ton block that has been undercut on all sides, thought to be the meeting place of witches and Druids west of Great-upon-Little is the ‘Executioners Rock’. The black dog scared a poacher who once said:

‘There’s one thing I dare not do; I’d be afear’d to walk through that girt valley below Big-on-Little after dark. It’s a terrible ellynge [eerie] place and a gurt black ghost hound walks there o’nights.”

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire

Here lurks the ghost of Ippikin, a 13th-century robber who made his home in the woods; also Major Smallman, who supposedly galloped his horse off the Edge to escape capture during the English Civil War. Although he survived the 200-foot drop, his spirit returned here after he died. For some reason.

Potsford Wood, Suffolk

Take the old path and you’ll sees the remains of the Potsford Gibbet, last used in 1699 when Jonah Snell was executed for killing John Bullard and his son with an axe at nearby Letheringham Water Mill.

The wood is also said to be haunted by unearthly lights and a spooky hooded figure.

Blickling Great Wood, Norfolk

Blickling was the ancestral home of the Boleyn family, and Anne Boleyn's father, Sir Thomas, is said to haunt the woodlands and grounds. Cursed for failing to stop Henry VIII from executing both Anne and her brother. Anne is reported to appear here every 19 May, on the anniversary of her execution.

Sir Thomas in action:

And Mark Rylance, who played Thomas Cromwell in WOLF HALL, this time as Boleyn in 2008’s THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL:

Windsor Great Park, Berkshire

Haunted by Herne the Hunter, a legendary ghost who is recognizable by the stag antlers on his head; a keeper in Windsor Forest, who hanged himself from an oak tree after being disgraced for poaching. His ghost appears at the sound of barking hounds and a hunting horn.

Alternatively he’s ancient Celtic or Anglo-Saxon God. See the bibliography for my previous investigation of Herne and The Wild Hunt for PDN .

Dering Wood, Kent

Ancient Dering, sometimes known as the ‘Screaming Woods’, has a reputation for being haunted. Stories abound regarding massacres and disappearing hikers, thrill seekers flock are said to flock here at night hoping to hear the eerie noises.

Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire

Wychwood Forest is supposedly home to a ghostly cart carrying a pair of weeping children. The 500-hectare woodland were once inhabited by the Anglo-Saxon Hwicce tribe.

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was said to have had a stroke when in 1588 he saw the shade of his wife Amy Robsart approaching in the woods. She had died under suspicious circumstances after being found dead on 8th September 1560 at the bottom of a flight of stairs aged just 28. Dudley died a week after glimpsing his wife’s spectre.

Epping Forest, Essex

Epping Forest’ pollarded trees haven’t been cut since the Epping Forest Act of 1878, resulting in their particularly distinctive, distended appearance.

The highwayman Dick Turpin hid inside Epping Forest in the 18th century, drawn by its size and closeness to London. Turpin was executed in 1739 for his murder of a man in Epping Forest.

Paranormal investigators claim that the spirits of Celtic warriors also stalk the woods. Epping Forest’s disturbing reputation continues the present day with the discovery of multiple murder victims there, some undoubtedly at the hands of East End gangsters.

Genesis - The Battle Of Epping Forest

Cannock Chase, Staffordshire

From Birmingham Live:

The sprawling forest of Cannock Chase was rumoured to be a hotbed for paranormal activity. Over the years, there have been many reports of peculiar goings-on within the woodland. One terrified dog walker claimed to have fleetingly come face-to-face with the so-called Black Eyed Child, described as a 'giggling little girl' with 'completely black eyes'. Meanwhile, a couple said they'd stumbled upon a creature with 'yellow eyes, huge teeth and an ear-piercing howl' during an evening stroll. There has also been 'sightings' of the Pig Man - said to be a 'grotesque creature with a pig-like face' - along with big cats and UFOs. While many are sceptical about what lies within the forest, others remain curious.