Visiting churches might not sound like everyone’s idea of a great time. Yet the buildings are stuffed with strange carvings, peculiar graffiti, interesting artwork, and even sassy memorials. These church curiosities tell us a lot about what mattered to people in centuries past. They also preserve folklore, legends, and the beliefs of the congregation. From…

W.J. Gilbert is a writer, storyteller, and creator of the YouTube channel Eerie Edinburgh. Based in Edinburgh, he’s the author of the best-selling Hidden Haunts: Scotland, Hidden Haunts: England, and Ghostly Tales of the NC500 — a haunted journey through Scotland’s most legendary road trip route. His next book, Hidden Haunts: Ireland, is currently in…

Churches can be sites of divination, haunted locations, and important community hubs. Yet in Wallsend, Holy Cross Church is notorious for a tale of witches and heroic derring-do. The ruin might not look like it now, but appearances can be deceptive. It’s not just a chapel. Throw in a midnight ritual, grotesque women, a desecrated…

Here in the 21st century, death and burial often occur as part of a sanitised process. Death happens away from home, often in hospitals, and funerals are usually tidy, respectful affairs. We can forget that this wasn’t always the case, and that our quaint, inner city gardens were sometimes putrescent burial grounds, crammed with rotting…

You would absolutely know a lychgate if you saw one. They make popular backdrops for wedding photos, and provide a quaint air of rustic charm to country churchyards. They’re the wooden or stone gateway, complete with tiled roof, that marks the entry into the churchyard. Not all churches have them, and they’re far more common…