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The Melton Ross Gallows
The remains of a (fairly modern) gallows, which looked like an unpainted and overly square football goal, was visible just North-west of Barnetby le Wold, in layby on junction of Coskills and A18, until 2020, when they mysteriously disappeared…
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Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who resisted Norman conquest in and around the Fens from his base on the Isle of Ely, and who is believed to have been born in or close to Bourne. The epithet ‘The Wake’…
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The Tetford Witch
Tales exist concerning a witch who lived close to Tetford church, in a cottage with a small hole in it, through which she was allegedly seen to pass in the form of a hare – once commonly-believed to be a regular form of disguise for witches.
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King Cnut & the Trent Aegir
The Trent Aegir is a tidal bore on the River Trent, perhaps named for the Ægir, a personification of the ocean in Norse mythology. It tends to run out of steam just south of Gainsborough. The town was briefly the capital of Viking England…
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The Green Lady
According to the legend, Bolle was duty-bound to protect Oviedo, who had been taken prisoner during Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1596 raid on Cadiz, and they fell in love. She apparently pleaded with Bolle to take her back to England and marry her, and eventually he confessed that he was married already, so must refuse…
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The Great Bell of Burgh
Inhabitants of Burgh le Marsh used to light a beacon to lure ships, hoping they would assume it marked the shore, would founder, and could then be pillaged. However, in 1629, as the Mary Rose rounded the shore, there was a significant storm, so the people decided instead…
Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project 