LichfieldLore

21h

New Lichfield Lore blog post. Read here lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/10/25/t...

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe Final CurtainMy daughter is taking me to see the Phantom of the Opera as an early birthday treat next week. Now I’m not expecting to find a subterranean lair and lake beneath the Lichfield Garrick (althou…

For some, the show must go on. Ghosts at the Grand and the Garrick. Read my luvvy Lichfield Lore blogpost here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/10/18/t...

The Uxbridge Arms, Chasetown. Yesterday several people told me part of it had once been a mortuary & it’s haunted by a woman called Mabel. Some have seen her, some have heard her, whilst others have picked up on a presence of something in the toilets. But who is this mysterious Mabel? #spookysunday

The accounts include the most West Midlands opening to any ghost story ever. ‘A customer asked me to go and make a cob…’

Today is the tenth anniversary of when my over-dunked biscuit broke off and, rather than splashing back down into my brew, landed on the rim of my cup. As is tradition, I shall be celebrating with more tea and biscuits.

Always had a burning desire to have a go at blacksmithing and finally did today. An absolute cracker of a morning with Blacksmith Genesis up in Longton.

I can’t say I inherited any skills from my great, great, great grandfather who ran a pub and a smithy in Gloucester but I do now own something I forged myself from metal and fire on a three hundred year old anvil 🔥

A house of brick built which may have been built over the base of a medieval tower in Lichfield’s Cathedral Close

I’ve got too many builts in there

lichfieldlore.co.ukMercian MurdersThere are fields full of Cavaliers and Roundheads, still fighting over the fate of England. Roman soldiers marching along the roads they built. Tragic Tudor queens, often minus their heads. And you…

My new Lichfield Lore post about three Saxon kings and a queen who slayed...maybe. Read here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/09/27/m...

I had a conversation with a friend last week about why we are rubbish at celebrating what we are good at. It was a timely chat as my Lichfield Lore blog has just tipped over into 100,000 all time visitors with 50,000 this year alone.

lichfieldlore.co.ukLichfield LoreExploring time and place.

It takes me massively out of my comfort zone to say this, never mind shout about it, but I’m proud of what I’ve created. Thanks to anyone who has ever read, shared or commented on anything I’ve written. And if you haven’t, here’s the link >> lichfieldlore.co.uk

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe Seance in StaffordIn the autumn of 1933, ghost hunter Elliott O’Donnell wrote to the Rector of Stafford asking if he could be connected to any houses in or near the county town where paranormal activity had be…

It’s Halloween night 1933. Let’s go ghost hunting to a house on the outskirts of Stafford where a former resident is making her presence known. lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/09/20/t...

Read that everytime one of the Bagot goats died at Blithfield, the estate employees were instructed to cut off its head and send it up to the hall before burying the body in the grounds. None of the employees knew what happened to the heads. Just deciding whether I want to find out or not…

19 Sept

In other news, we’ve just bought a second hand car from a priest.

19 Sept

There are several stones around land that once belonged to the Worthington family of Maple Hayes. Most mark the planting of a woodland but are mistaken for gravestones. This one however, found by our local farmer, does actually appear to commemorate a death. Who, or most likely, what was Cecil?

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe Unburial at BurntwoodIn April 1856, William Palmer was languishing in prison awaiting trial for the murder of his best friend John Cook at the Talbot Arms. There was also a strong suspicion he had poisoned several memb…

18 Sept

New Lichfield Lore post on the blog. Read here lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/09/13/t... ☠️

6 Sept

I’m so glad the latest artwork in Lichfield depicts two Georgian gents. We definitely don’t do enough to celebrate that demographic here.

6 Sept

The Dyott crest & chapel at St Mary’s where generations of the famous Lichfield family lie. The death of a Dyott was marked by a torchlit procession accompanied by servants from their Freeford estate. No family members were present for fear of being the next to follow to the grave. #spookysunday

6 Sept

Also that’s suppposed to be a black tiger but is clearly a hell hound they’re trying to cover up

5 Sept

Just trying to work out a schedule for a day that involves contact lenses, cake, an artistic vicar, horses and a picnic in the park

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe HauntingTo the best of my knowledge, the following is based on a true account of unexplained events at rectory in Staffordshire in the 1930s, as recorded by Harry Price in his book ‘Poltergeist over …

30 Aug

As we are on the cusp of September, here’s an account of the haunting of an unnamed rectory in Staffordshire in which that month features significantly lichfieldlore.co.uk/2023/10/29/t...

27 Aug

And we aren’t done yet! ⚡️

25 Aug

I’ve visited Farewell for many years but today was the first time I noticed this cross carved into the 14th chancel. Until 1527 a priory of nuns lived here alongside a spring, around three miles to the north of Lichfield.

24 Aug

I was thinking about doing a walk today and found this on Googlemaps which I’m taking as a sign I should definitely go 💚

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe Phantom Fan of Bescot StadiumWith the new season kicking off this weekend it seems somewhat synchronous to have found a story of a spectre wandering around the stands of Walsall FC. Back in 1996, staff at the Bescot Stadium re…

24 Aug

A post about the boo-tiful game to kick off the new season lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/08/23/t...

When you wait for years to see a ghost in Lichfield and then three come along at once

The sun must have been hitting the south door of Lichfield Cathedral just right as I saw another Marian mark today

My friend is on holiday in Dorset and just sent me a photo of a place called ‘Hangman’s Cottage’. She knows me so well.

#spookysunday

LichfieldLore@lichfieldlore.bsky.social

Now there’s a hint of autumn in the air, are you brave enough to explore the remains of Bellamour Hall with me? lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/08/22/t...

LichfieldLore reposted

22 Aug

Now there’s a hint of autumn in the air, are you brave enough to explore the remains of Bellamour Hall with me? lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/08/22/t...

22 Aug

Now there’s a hint of autumn in the air, are you brave enough to explore the remains of Bellamour Hall with me? lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/08/22/t...

11 Aug

Forgot to say, I walked past an electrician’s van in Lyme Regis and the business name was ‘Jurassic Spark’.

4 Aug

On New Years Day 1915, HMS Formidable was struck by a torpedo. The dead were laid out in the cellar of the Pilot Boat Inn & the landlord’s dog came & sat by one of the bodies, licking its face.

4 Aug

Eventually, Seaman WS Cowan regained consciousness & the cross-bred collie was given a silver collar & shield. The heroic hound’s name was Lassie so was this Dorset dog was the inspiration behind its famous Hollywood namesake?

2 Aug

I do not count the hours unless they are bright

28 July

Wrote a blog post about Muckley Corner and how it might have got that strange name. It’s a place that’s been driving me crazy for a loooong time. Link here lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/07/28/m...

28 July

Well I was going to go and sit by the brook but this bunch of local youths beat me to it

25 July

A track in a field that takes you back in time to the Roman Empire. This is a part of Watling Street, just outside the settlement of Letocetum, and and somewhere along this short stretch was the junction with Ryknield Street.

25 July

Until the 1970s, a milestone stood at the junction but I’ve heard it was snaffled for use in a nearby stile. To be fair, it wouldn’t be the first bit of Roman stone to be recycled around here.

21 July

Last week a friend and I spotted this sort of statue in an otherwise empty shop. Today, it’s broken free and heading out the door. Luckily, it’s not looking at me.

21 July

Finally explored the Greenway created along the old Lichfield to Walsall railway route. Started at Sandfields, hopped off at Hammerwich so didn’t quite make it to the end of the line.

18 July

The War Stone in Birmingham is believed to have been a boundary or hoar stone, giving its corrupted name to the street it now sits on. Originally the road was called ‘Deadman’s Lane’ which seems spookily prescient given a cemetery was consecrated here in 1848.

lichfieldlore.co.ukCursed Soles Part IIOn our second visit to Papillon Hall, we’re going to step away from the tales of the infamous cursed footwear. Instead, let’s meet the man painted as the villain of the piece and his po…

17 May

Following up on last week’s post about Papillon Hall and its infamous cursed footwear with a post about its haunted paintings. There was so much weirdness going on at this lost Leicestershire house there will probably have to be a part III too. Or a film. lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/05/17/c...

12 May

The Reservoir Part II of my ghost story inspired by Staffordshire folklore Read here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/05/12/t...

lichfieldlore.co.ukThe Reservoir Part IOld cottages are nothing but hassle my ex had insisted, preferring a bland but energy efficient box on a new estate to anything that an estate agent could market as ‘chocolate box pretty’. I left h…

12 May

And if you’ve not read Part I, it’s here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/05/10/t...

10 May

Part I of a new ghost story I wrote. Part fact, part folklore, part my fanciful imagination. Read here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/05/10/t...

9 May

Just started another attempt at spooky semi-fiction set in Staffordshire. It’s about Kitty Fisher, and the submerged bridge at Blithfield Reservoir which bears her name. Doing some research and turns out a skull was found on the banks of the water in 1991. Sometimes stories just write themselves…

LichfieldLore reposted

5 May

My latest LL post on a lost country house in the Midlands and its infamous curse. Read here >> lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/05/05/c...