Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project

A project exploring the origins, legacies, connections and futures of folk tales in Lincolnshire, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2/2024-7/2025) and hosted at Nottingham Trent University.



Our books:
Rory Waterman, Devils in the Details: On Location with Folk Tales in England’s Forgotten County (Five Leaves, 2026), exploring folk tales across Lincolnshire, and the places associated with them.
Anna Milon and Rory Waterman (eds), Lincolnshire Folk Tales Reimagined (Five Leaves, 2025), featuring fourteen of Lincolnshire’s finest writers reimagining local folk tales.

news
  • Rory Waterman I’m not a ‘guest writer’, I’ll confess: I was the project lead on the Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project during its funded period, and now keep the website going on my own. But please excuse the indulgence. My new book, Devils in the Details: On Location with Folk Tales in…

Latest Articles
  • The Stamford Bull-run

    The Stamford Bull-run

    The Stamford bull-run was a town tradition from late medieval times until 1839, when this cruel practice was eventually banned. According to legend, the tradition…

  • Looking for Lincolnshire Authors

    Looking for Lincolnshire Authors

    Looking for prose and poetry authors with a Lincolnshire connection to contribute to an anthology. Each successful contribution will receive an honorarium upon acceptance.

  • The Grimsby Imp

    A less famous counterpart to the Lincoln Imp, who according to legend caused mayhem in Lincoln Cathedral and was subsequently turned to stone. The Grimsby…

  • Clubfoot

    Clubfoot

    Clubfoot is the nickname given to an alleged ghost at former RAF Binbrook. He is said to be an Australian serviceman who fatally injured himself…

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.