This section contains photographs about folklore and landscape legends. Myths and tall tales – many of them involving ominous and otherworldly beings – have a strong affiliation with spaces and places (both natural and manmade), from the distinctive creatures and stories associated with particular counties, to the supernatural fables that invariably attach themselves to conspicuous geographical features such as caves, churches, forests, hills, meres, and stones.
The Seven Stones of Hordron. The largest stone – aka the fairy stone – is associated with strange lights. Hordron Edge, Derbyshire.
Rowtor Rocks, a gritstone mound grotto-ified in the seventeenth century by unconventional clergyman Thomas Eyre. Birchover, Derbyshire.
Willy Howe, an earthen burial mound where twelfth-century historian William of Newburgh reported fairies singing and banqueting. Thwing, East Riding of Yorkshire.
The Wizard's Well, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Blake Mere Pool, said to be bottomless, and to be haunted by the ghost of a vengeful mermaid who drags passers-by into the acidic waters. Leek, Staffordshire.
Blake Mere Pool, Leek, Staffordshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Devil's Den, Fyfield Down, Avebury, Wiltshire.
Boggard Lane Trough, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire.
Carl Wark, a rocky promontory and possible Iron Age hill fort believed to be an outpost of the devil. Hathersage Moor, Derbyshire.
A churchyard frequented by fairies. St Michael, Oulton Broad, Suffolk.
The mermaid's pool, a remote moorland tarn said to be inhabited by a beautiful water nymph. Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.
Nine Stones Close, a stone circle with strong historical and folkloric associations with fairies. Harthill Moor, Derbyshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
Arbor Low, ancient burial site and stone circle and notorious hive of boggart activity, said to be haunted by the souls of the dead. Derbyshire.
Lud's Church, home to a clan of fairies, and site of clandestine religious gatherings. Gradbach, Staffordshire.
Cold Pixies Barrow in the New Forest, which has long been associated with mischievous fairies. Beaulieu, Hampshire.
Cratcliffe Hermitage, Birchover, Derbyshire.
Nine Ladies, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire.
Lake Semerwater, site of a lost village drowned after being cursed by a vengeful beggar who was refused alms. North Yorkshire.
Stanage Edge in the Peak District, looking towards Robin Hood's Cave. Derbyshire.
Troller's Gill, haunt of gnomes, boggarts, sprites, goblins, imps, pixies, and demon dog barghest. Appletreewick, North Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Canyards Hills, a strange collection of mounds and ridges rumoured to be home to an outcast community of malicious dwarves. Wigtwizzle, South Yorkshire.
Face Stone, Urra Moor, North Yorkshire.
Printer's Devil, York, North Yorkshire.
Wharncliffe Crags above Sheffield, an ancient gritstone escarpment believed to be inhabited by dragons and fairies. South Yorkshire.
Wharncliffe Crags, South Yorkshire.
Wharncliffe Crags, South Yorkshire.
Stone circle, Avebury, Wiltshire.
The church where, in 1577, worshippers were terrorised by East Anglian demon dog Black Shuck. Holy Trinity, Blythburgh, Suffolk.
The petrifying or dropping well at Mother Shipton's Cave, England's oldest tourist attraction. Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
Dale Abbey Hermitage, Derbyshire.
The wizard of the stone pit. Faugh's Quarry, Newchurch-in-Pendle, Lancashire.
Stone circle, Lochbuie, Isle of Mull.
The Betty Kenny tree, the ancient yew believed to have inspired the nursery rhyme 'Rock-a-bye Baby' and sited in a haunted wood. Shining Cliff Woods, Ambergate, Derbyshire.
The volcanic headland of Burg on the Isle of Mull, home to 'capricious, cantankerous, and sometimes downright spiteful' fairies.
The Head Stone, Stump John, or the Cock-Crowing Stone, which is known to rotate at sunrise. Hallam Moors, South Yorkshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Storrs Wood, Cudworth, South Yorkshire.
Cromer cliffs, whose pathways are stalked by spectral demon hound Black Shuck. Cromer, Norfolk.
Little John's grave. St Michael, Hathersage, Derbyshire.
Brograve Mill on the Norfolk Broads, long associated with the devil, and one of whose operators was said to be a necromancer. Sea Palling, Norfolk.
Face in the forest. Back Newton Wood, West Yorkshire.
Mam Tor, aka Shivering Mountain, an epicentre of boggart activity. From Grindslow Knoll, Derbyshire.
Stone circle, Froggatt Edge, Derbyshire.
Winnat's Pass, haunted by the ghosts of a young couple brutally murdered there by lead miners in 1758. Castleton, Deybyshire.
Mother Cap, site of Druidic fires and rituals. Millstone Edge, Derbyshire.
Peak Cavern, rumoured to be home to the Devil (and more commonly known as the Devil's Arse). Castleton, Derbyshire.
Fairy stronghold at Furzey Gardens in the New Forest, a historic site of fae enterprise. Minstead, Hampshire.
Furzey Gardens, Minstead, Hampshire.
Furzey Gardens, Minstead, Hampshire.
A cemetery once inhabited by fairies that, while generally benevolent, were quick to anger. Pennygown, Isle of Mull.
Hob Hurst's House, a Bronze Age burial mound now named for – and home to – a malevolent local goblin. Beeley Moor, Derbyshire.
Silbury Hill, the largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe, and said to have been created by the devil dropping a bag of soil. Avebury, Wiltshire.
Brimham Rocks, a strange collection of natural rock formations long associated with druids, boggarts, and fairies. Summerbridge, North Yorkshire.
An isolated church with longstanding associations with the devil. St Mary, Akenham, Suffolk.
The Druid's Temple, an eccentric homage to Stonehenge built at the behest of local aristocrat William Danby in 1820. Ilton, North Yorkshire.
Sìthean Mòr (or 'the large fairy hill') on the Isle of Iona; the otherwise innocuous knoll has long been associated with death and misfortune.
Medieval carving of T'Owd Mon (The Old Man), the protective spirit of generations of Peak District miners. St Mary, Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
St Robert's Cave, a limestome hermitage once inhabited by York-born miracle healer Robert Flower. Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
Anchor Church Caves, Ingleby, Derbyshire.
Dracula country. Whitby, North Yorkshire.
Robin Hood's Stride rock formation, also known as Mock Beggar's Hall. Harthill Moor, Derbyshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
Darfield Quarry, South Yorkshire.
The Winking Man, Ramshaw Rocks, Staffordshire.
Lumsdale wishing stone. Matlock, Derbyshire.
The Exorcist's House. St Margaret, King's Lynn, Norfolk.
Doll Tor, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire.
The medieval city that fell into the sea, whose church bells still toll. Dunwich, Suffolk.
Berry Brow Quarry, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Lady Eglinton's Well, West Bretton, West Yorkshire.
Thor's Cave in the Manifold Valley, an imposing cavern sometimes claimed to be the entrance to a fairy kingdom. Wetton, Derbyshire.
Inside Thor's Cave. Wetton, Derbyshire.
Devil's Arrows, Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire.
Berry Brow Quarry, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.