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
Bringing out the dead in Sutton Veny
Wiltshire's Last Mortsafe I’m sitting here in a café in Crockerton on a very autumnal late afternoon with a well-deserved cup of tea and a chunk of Dorset apple cake, which is my substitute for both breakfast and lunch today. I’m waiting for my teenage son to finish on the local mountain bike trail, hoping he won’t have yet another ‘accident’ involving smashing his face and teeth up. If you have or have had children of your own, as they get...
The Story of Beckford’s Dwarf
It's time to delve into a bit of the history of Fonthill estate and a couple of its most notorious owners in this blog, the first part of my Fonthill history series. Returning guest writer, David Aneurin Morgan, will be telling us the story of the evil Mervyn Touchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven, and of the infamous William Beckford and his curious sidekick/ servant, the dwarf, Perro. You'll find Fonthill, a beautiful country estate, in the corner...
Fonthill – House of Horrors
This is the second blog in the history series connected to the rather unsavoury past of the Fonthill estate in south-west Wiltshire, from guest writer David Aneurin Morgan. It's a reminder that despite the beauty of a place such as Fonthill, there is always a chunk of dark history to be found. Fonthill - House of Horrors Before you read any further I should explain that as well as being into all things ghostly I have a taste for real-life...
Weird Things at Stonehenge: Odd Lights, Strange Sounds and Local Lore
Much has been written and documented about arguably the most famous stone circle in the World; one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and a Neolithic World Heritage site to boot. But not much it seems has been written about the ghostly activity and possibly out-of-this world activity found up there. I decided to do some digging. Not literally, you understand. I don’t think it would be the done thing to start digging holes at Stonehenge!...
Skull Duggery and Murder in Kilmington
Like many of the Wiltshire locations I cover, the small village of Kilmington in southwest Wiltshire, has history dating back to the prehistoric period. We are spoilt for choice with Neolithic and Iron Age sites in Wiltshire so there has be ‘a little something extra’ for a location to make it onto Weird Wiltshire. Kilmington has not disappointed! Let’s cover the briefest lowdown of its history before we get to the juicy stuff. Long Knoll from...
The Mysterious Lights at Golden Ball Hill
You can't go far in Wiltshire without coming across a story about some sort of strange phenomenon. There are plenty of tales of lights in the sky and sometimes stories of lights moving along the ground. These quite often occur in and around crop circle hotspots. Talking of which, I'm going to dip into crop circles a bit today, as well as the strange ball-like lights that have also been spotted a few times floating around the Vale of Pewsey in...
Bermuda Triangle: Mystery, Myth and the Science That Sank It
The Bermuda Triangle is an enduring mystery that has fascinated me for many moons. Back in the 70s and 80s, it was very much the on-trend maritime mystery and there were many news and magazine articles along with books devoted to this eerie triangular space. I've always been attracted to the stories of our deep blue oceans, from the tales from ancient civilisations of the Kraken, Poseidon, and Neptune to the wicked deeds of terrible pirates...
Strange Cryptid Encounters in Wiltshire: Witness accounts
After a heads-up from Ray Williamson on Bluesky about two sources documenting 'Bigfoot' sightings on both Salisbury Plain and in Grovely Woods, I decided I really should do some digging. Deborah Hatswell, creator of BBR Investigations, shares personal accounts from her case files on various weird creatures, including the 'British Bigfoot.' She collected three stories which occurred here in Wiltshire. This was the starting point for this blog...
Haunted Encounters: Shay’s Paranormal Experiences
Shay initially got in touch with me to ask if I knew of any local UFO groups and crop circle enthusiasts. She was interested in the subjects, and being new to the area, she wanted to find out more about anything going on locally. Wiltshire is the place to be if you like crop circles and/or UFOs! We chatted via email, and Shay informed me that she had had lots of strange experiences over time. Shay kindly agreed to put pen to paper, or fingers...
The Hindon Madhouse
Landscape water colour of Hindon Madhouse circa 1830, showing it consisted of the main house plus a jumble of other buildings.
in a large walled enclosure.