Welcome to Weird Wiltshire
Weird Wiltshire is a county steeped in ancient history. Tales of legends, ghosts and folklore abound this area in the South West of England. Ancient monuments, ruinous castles, stately homes and humble cottages fill the beautiful rolling downlands.
In my quest to find strange and unusual tales, I explore stories of ghosts and the paranormal, folklore, history and anything weird, found in Wiltshire and beyond. I’ll be sharing spooky tales from around the world too!
Mixing first-hand accounts from those willing to share their stories and exploring yarns and mysteries from past times, I bring together a collection of stories and true tales for you to explore.
You can follow me on Bluesky or Facebook, and you can contact me here. It would be good to hear from you!
Latest blog posts
A Quick Tour of Some of Wiltshire’s Quirky Ghosts
I've got stacks of books containing various snippets of information about Wiltshire ghosts and folklore. One of the main reasons for this blog is to share these stories with you all but some of the information is so limited, they really are short, short stories! Sometimes it might be something as intriguingly precise as a sentence or two, rarely giving me enough information on which to build a blog. Other times I manage to eke out a paragraph...
The Gappergennies of the Barrow and the Legend of Washer’s Pit
'Gappergennies?' You say, 'Whatever are they?' That's exactly what I was thinking when I first came across this little-known folklorish tale from the somewhat rural area of Ashmore. Now, I know Ashmore is not quite in Wiltshire; it's just across the border in Dorset and it happens to be the highest village in the county. What attracted me to this story was not just the tale of the Gappergennies (also called Gappergammies, depending on the...
Stonehenge – A Tale of Treachery, Betrayal and Magic
The great minds of archaeology and history still cannot agree on why or even how Stonehenge was created. A new paper was released just this week with the latest research and ideas. There are many theories and stories. Here's one alternative story involving magic, mystery and one very special person with super powers. It was many, many moons ago that Stonehenge came to be. First there was treachery and skulduggery, then there was betrayal, next...
The Handsel Sister – Yes Them Again!
Welcome back to David Aneurin Morgan! He’s a regular contributor to Weird Wiltshire and we share a particular interest in the tale of the Four Witches, the story of the Handsel sisters, the poor unfortunates that were said to have been murdered in Grovely Woods, Wilton, on account of them being ‘witches’. If you haven’t yet seen the original Grovely blog, I suggest you have a read here, so you are up to speed with the tale before you read...
Berry Pomeroy Castle and Its Many, Many Ghosts
WARNING: GRAB A CUPPA OR A BEER - THIS IS A LONG BLOG AND ITS FULL OF GHOSTS! One thing that really surprised me when I started doing my latest research into the crumbling ruins of the sinister Devonshire castle, Berry Pomeroy, was just how many ghostly images have been captured there and how many stories exist. Some of them are probably just wispy mist or can be marked down to pareidolia. But there are others that are really quite weird. Many,...
Haunting Tales: Spine-Chilling Reader Stories
Main photo by Ben McCloskey on Unsplash Ghost stories come to me in two main ways! Either someone I’m chatting to discovers I’m the creator of Weird Wiltshire and proclaims, ‘I've seen a ghost!' Or they take time out of their day to send me their personal story. Either way, it's always a privilege. Each story is different and interesting. Today, I want to share the experiences of a couple of 'Weirdos' (as I like to call all of us here on this...
How to Become a History Teacher?
My fellow weirdos. This blog is a bit different to usual! Teaching is a career I considered many moons back and I think I probably would have chosen history. But, how do you go about it? Here's a blog for you, just in case you fancy a new career! Teaching History - the hows, whys and wherefores! History, often called the "memory of nations," is not just a subject but a key to understanding our present and future. The role of a history teacher...
Avebury: Squaring the Circle (A Very Personal View)
By Professor Jasper Heathcoat-Beech You may have noticed I teamed up with Professor Jasper Heathcoat-Beech this year to launch our History and Mystery Walks. We've been to Avebury and Stonehenge. Each walk has been a lovely, happy time with likeminded new friends. We do a lot of walking, plenty of talking, take quite a few photos and hear all about the amazing history and weird mysteries of the ancient stone circles of Wiltshire. For many of...
Exploring Savernake Forest
It’s October as I sit and write this. I just spent a muddy afternoon cycling around Savernake Forest. I dragged the family along for what they regarded as ‘torture’. Quite frankly, by the time we were 2.5 hours in, the moaning and whining was like torture to me! Savernake Forest is the last privately owned forest in the whole of England, and it sits just below Marlborough in the north of Wiltshire. It's now used for commercial sustainable wood...
The Warminster Thing Part Two
A Skywatcher Remembers Did you catch my last blog, The Warminster Thing Part One? If so, you'll know all about the crazy phenomenon from the days of The Warminster Thing. If not, head back and have a quick catch up here. It's worth reading before you hear David's account. He is one of the original sky watchers from up on Cradle Hill and gives us a unique view of those heady days, (well nights!) that made Warminster the centre of the UFO...