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The Folklore of Warwickshire

@warksfolklore.bsky.social

600 followers 370 following 420 posts

Exploring the folklore and folk life of Warwickshire. I can also be found at @hilaryrsparkes.bsky.social

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · Dec 17

For years I’ve felt that the folklore of Warwickshire has been rather overlooked compared to that of regions. This account aims to go some way to rectifying this.
#folklore

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 13h

📷 by me

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 13h

In 1880 a dairymaid stuck pins into a cow’s heart then roasted it in an oven to summon the witch who had bewitched her herd. A small creature appeared and started scratching frantically at the oven door. The dairymaid killed the creature thus lifting the spell.
#WyrdWednesday

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 1d

My post for the Mainly Museums blog on my trip last year to the Museum of Country Bygones at Marton. A fascinating small museum full of objects to do with rural life in the 19th and early/mid 20th centuries.
#Museums

mainlymuseums.com/post/1292/ma...

Marton Museum of Country Bygones

mainlymuseums.com

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 3d

Source: J. Harvey Bloom, Folk Lore, Old Customs and Superstitions in Shakespeare’s Land (1929).

📷 by me

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 3d

John Day from Wimpstone had the reputation of being a great wart-charmer but details of his wart cure are vague. According to folklore collector JH Bloom, Day did “something” to the wart with a knife, then cut a nick in a stick while “mumbling some words which were indistinct”.
#FolkloreSunday

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 4d

And you all thought they'd confiscated my felt tip pens after last year's efforts... 😀

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 4d

#Inktober2025 day 11: sting

Unleasing the Halloween wasp

Sketch of a wasp with bat wings and green instead of yellow stripes

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Reposted by The Folklore of Warwickshire

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 5d

The mysterious slab in Written Stone Lane, #Preston, #Lancashire. A #boggart lived beneath it and attacked a man who foolishly scoffed at its existence. After trying to use it as a gatepost, a farmer was also punished by the spook and rapidly put it back: 'TO LYE FOREVER'
#PhantomsFriday #folklore

My photo of the Written Stone (does it always lie in shadow?). The inscription reads: 'RAUFFE RADCLIFFE LAID THIS STONE TO LYE FOREVER AD 1655'. It's been suggested the stone started life as a prehistoric standing stone. There are a number of tales of ancient stones being moved, only for the mover being forced to return it by invisible forces or recurring bad luck.

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Reposted by The Folklore of Warwickshire

Folk Horror Revival 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @folkhorrorrevival.bsky.social · 5d

#PhantomsFriday A classic ghost photo taken by Reverend R.W Hardy on the Tulip Staircase in Queen’s House, Greenwich, 1966.

I've usually seen it reproduced in B&W so I didn't realise until comparatively recently it was actually taken in colour.

Photograph of a winding staircase illuminated in a golden glow by lamps on the wall. On the right a wispy shrouded ghostly figure can be seen climbing up the stairs gripping the bannister.

Black and white photograph of a winding staircase illuminated by lamps on the wall. On the right a wispy shrouded ghostly figure can be seen climbing up the stairs gripping the bannister.

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 5d

Strangely though when writing on Burford the author makes no mention of the notorious Tanfields; for instance, a spectral Lady T was known to drive her coach across the town's rooftops. (My late folklore-loving Mum was from Burford so I’m a bit obsessed with Burford folklore 🙂)

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 5d

Another of my ghost books is ‘Ghost and Witches of the Cotswolds’ by JA Brooks. Contains some Warwickshire material as the Cotswolds extend into the county. Plus, the cover kind of reminds me of the creepy preacherman from ‘Poltergeist II’. 🧵
#PhantomsFriday

Cover of the book depicting a scarecrow with the face and neck of a skeleton wearing a black broad--brimmed hat and natty cravat. It also has blood round it's mouth

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Reposted by The Folklore of Warwickshire

Annie Brassey @anniebrassey.bsky.social · 7d

"...sent him off on his "journey round the universe."
"Leo Greenhill's Journey" from
"The Mysterious Cobbler, Being the Story of Arthur Spray of Bexhill who has natural magnetic powers; told by himself." 1935.
#WyrdWednesday #Bexhill #Sussex #ArthurSpray #MysteriousCobbler #Hypnotism #Journey #1930s

Pages from "The Mysterious Cobbler, Being the Story of Arthur Spray of Bexhill who has natural magnetic powers; told by himself." 1935. "Leo Greenhill's Journey.

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 7d

😀

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 7d

Image: via Wikimedia Commons

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 7d

A cave in a hill near Haselor was believed to contain an iron chest full of treasure secured by 3 locks and guarded by a cockerel. One intrepid treasure-seeker found his way to the chest only to be ripped apart by the guardian before he could open the 3rd lock.
#WyrdWednesday

Drawing in monochrome of a grumpy-looking cockerel

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 9d

Dammit! I thought following you on here meant hand-delivered wax-sealed missives written in blood-red ink with a quill pen.🙂

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 9d

📷 by me

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 9d

October weather lore seen at Marton Museum of Country Bygones 👇

#WeatherLore #HareCheck

Weather lore on museum wall: "if the hare wears a thick coat in October, lay in a good stock of fuel"

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 10d

Must have been unsettling for your friend - time slip maybe? Would be cool to know why a well-dressed Victorian gent was with the 2 children.

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 10d

Source: George Morley, Shakespeare’s Greenwood: The Customs and the County (1900)

📷 by David Zhang via Wikimedia Commons

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 10d

Some Warwickshire moon lore:
When the first moon of each lunar month appears, men should bow to it 9 times and women curtsey 9 times. This ritual was believed to bring good luck.
#FolkloreSunday

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Reposted by The Folklore of Warwickshire

missscarlett2024.bsky.social @missscarlett2024.bsky.social · 12d

Leeds' City Varieties Hall #ghosts: a red-haired woman who brings good luck, a White Lady, a man in a bowler hat, disembodied legs climbing the stairs,a man in a WWI trench coat,slamming doors,cold spots,invisible touches & the feeling that someone is breathing over your shoulder. #PhantomsFriday

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Reposted by The Folklore of Warwickshire

Mary B @beesincampanula.bsky.social · 12d

Hags and water spirits abound in English folklore; in Suffolk we have a tale of a pond in Rendlesham said to be haunted by a ghostly woman in white who has been seen gliding on its surface or rising from its depths…
#PhantomsFriday

View of a pond reflecting trees in green leaf…

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The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 12d

I rather like her style 🙂

The Folklore of Warwickshire @warksfolklore.bsky.social · 12d

📷 by me. St Gregory's church. Despite circumnavigating the church before taking this pic, no spectral witches were spotted 🧙‍♀️