Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project

The Grimsby Imp

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A much less famous counterpart to the Lincoln Imp, who according to legend caused mayhem in Lincoln Cathedral and was subsequently turned to stone. In some recent versions of that tale, the Grimsby Imp is his supposed companion, who escaped and fled to Grimsby Minster in order to wreak further havoc, at which point he was spanked by an angel and then was also turned to stone. He can be found at the top of a column supporting the bell tower.

The earliest print reference to a Grimsby Imp that we have found dates only to 2017! It is said by some to date back as far as the 1930s. There is information about him in Grimsby Minster, and if you can’t find him someone will gladly show you. It’s a gorgeous building, often full of activity, and is well worth a visit. This BBC article (2025) discusses the legend.

Here he is, in September 2024, all bunched up in the top-middle of this image.
A Lincoln Imp in Grimsby Minster, dressed like a 1950s Grimsby fish-seller. September 2024.

Words by RORY WATERMAN

One response to “The Grimsby Imp”

  1. The Lincoln Imp – Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project avatar
    The Lincoln Imp – Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project

    […] There are in fact two imp carvings at Lincoln Cathedral; the other, far less famous one is above an exterior door arch on the south side of the building, its arms around the head of a grotesque. This auxiliary imp has its own related legend: two imps travelled to Lincoln, and this one either waited or got stuck outside, so it rested on the back of a witch and both witch and imp were subsequently turned to stone. In one version of the story, another imp ends up in Grimsby, and there is a very different-looking ‘Grimsby Imp’ in Grimsby Minster. […]

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● About the project

‘Lincolnshire Folk Tales: Origins, Legacies, Connections, Futures’ is a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/Y003225/1), and is led by Dr Rory Waterman and the Research Fellow Dr Anna Milon in the School of Arts and Humanities at Nottingham Trent University. The project explores the origins, legacies, intertextual and social connections and futures of Lincolnshire folk tales (LFTs), and is intended to facilitate wider engagement with this heritage from writers, the general public, and scholars.

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