The Hawthorn Archive
Stories, customs and beliefs preserved as individual records, with place and context kept attached wherever the evidence allows.
English Heritage has documented reports of unusual experiences by staff at Chester Castle. These reports are valuable as evidence of contemporary heritage-site ghostlore and of the way historic buildings continue to acquire supernatural reputations.…
Open archive record →The Society for Psychical Research was founded in Britain in 1882 to investigate claims concerning apparitions, telepathy and related phenomena. Its formation belongs to a period when spiritualism, scepticism and attempts at systematic inquiry…
Open archive record →Ghost-story telling became closely associated with Christmas gatherings in nineteenth-century Britain. Seasonal periodicals, family reading and authors including Charles Dickens helped sustain the practice, while M. R. James became associated with telling supernatural tales…
Open archive record →Folklorist Edward Lovett collected charms and amulets from working people in late Victorian and Edwardian London. His collections demonstrate that lucky and protective objects were not confined to an imagined isolated rural past. Urbanisation…
Open archive record →A string threaded with feathers, found in a Somerset attic in the nineteenth century, became famous after being interpreted as a so-called “witch’s ladder”. Even early scholarly discussion acknowledged uncertainty about what the object…
Open archive record →Horseshoes have long appeared in British collections and buildings as objects associated with luck or protection, especially around entrances. Their interpretation varies by place and period, and later decorative use can look similar to…
Open archive record →Objects commonly described as witch bottles have been recovered from historic buildings, often from hearths, thresholds or other structurally significant locations. Examples may contain pins, nails and other materials and are generally interpreted within…
Open archive record →Shoes deliberately concealed within walls, roofs, chimneys and other parts of historic buildings form part of the material record of British protective custom. Their exact meanings are not always recoverable, but placement in structural…
Open archive record →The sea cave beneath Tintagel Castle is widely known as Merlin’s Cave. The name feels ancient, but its strong Arthurian association belongs to later literary and tourist development rather than secure early medieval tradition.…
Open archive record →Richard, Earl of Cornwall, acquired Tintagel in 1233 and built the medieval castle whose ruins dominate the headland today. The exposed site offered limited conventional military or administrative advantages for a man of Richard’s…
Open archive record →A piece of slate discovered at Tintagel in 1998 bears scratched names including Artognou. Its resemblance to the name Arthur generated considerable public attention. English Heritage cautions that the inscription is not significant evidence…
Open archive record →Archaeology at Tintagel has revealed substantial occupation between roughly the fifth and seventh centuries, including imported pottery and fine glass connected with long-distance trade. The quantity and character of the material indicate a wealthy,…
Open archive record →