LichfieldLore
@lichfieldlore.bsky.social
Lover of curiosities, legends & languages. Searching for stories in Staffordshire & beyond. The weird one from @lichdiscovered. Website: lichfieldlore.co.uk
A fantastic talk by Brian for our Lichfield Discovered history night!
January 17, 2026 at 4:13 PM
A fantastic talk by Brian for our Lichfield Discovered history night!
Just finished my latest Lichfield Lore blogpost about John Duncalf, the man from the Black Country who stole a bible and definitely lived to regret it. Although he didn’t live for long…
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/17/t...
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/17/t...
The Bible Thief
When John Duncalf was released from the House of Correction in Kingswinford in 1675, he swore he would never set his feet in the town again as long as he lived. It was a promise that was to become …
lichfieldlore.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Just finished my latest Lichfield Lore blogpost about John Duncalf, the man from the Black Country who stole a bible and definitely lived to regret it. Although he didn’t live for long…
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/17/t...
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/17/t...
Still a few tickets left so come and join us!
Tickets for my next talk in Lichfield are now available:
History Night - Magical Protection in Buildings
Date: 15 jan • 19:00
www.eventbrite.com/e/history-ni...
History Night - Magical Protection in Buildings
Date: 15 jan • 19:00
www.eventbrite.com/e/history-ni...
January 10, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Still a few tickets left so come and join us!
Just getting my head into 2026 mode. I’m looking for local-ish people who could run a one-off (initially) workshop on a traditional skill in Lichfield from March onwards. If you can, or know someone that can, let me know!
January 4, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Just getting my head into 2026 mode. I’m looking for local-ish people who could run a one-off (initially) workshop on a traditional skill in Lichfield from March onwards. If you can, or know someone that can, let me know!
Love a mystery which sounds like it could be the start of an antiquarian ghost story.
Sometime ago a woman arrived at Middleton Hall and handed over this medieval bell. She said it belonged to the house and so she was returning it before leaving without further explanation.
Sometime ago a woman arrived at Middleton Hall and handed over this medieval bell. She said it belonged to the house and so she was returning it before leaving without further explanation.
January 4, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Love a mystery which sounds like it could be the start of an antiquarian ghost story.
Sometime ago a woman arrived at Middleton Hall and handed over this medieval bell. She said it belonged to the house and so she was returning it before leaving without further explanation.
Sometime ago a woman arrived at Middleton Hall and handed over this medieval bell. She said it belonged to the house and so she was returning it before leaving without further explanation.
Written about the time we accidentally ended up in Acton Trussell and found that a Roman villa had been accidentally discovered beneath the local church.
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/02/t...
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/02/t...
January 2, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Written about the time we accidentally ended up in Acton Trussell and found that a Roman villa had been accidentally discovered beneath the local church.
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/02/t...
lichfieldlore.co.uk/2026/01/02/t...
The Ruins at Shugborough where a Druid sits above a 250 year old folly, built by an Earl of Lichfield from the remains of the palace of the Bishops of Lichfield.
December 28, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The Ruins at Shugborough where a Druid sits above a 250 year old folly, built by an Earl of Lichfield from the remains of the palace of the Bishops of Lichfield.
Fourteen of the original forty arches of the Essex Bridge at Shugborough survive making it one of the longest in the land.
December 27, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Fourteen of the original forty arches of the Essex Bridge at Shugborough survive making it one of the longest in the land.
According to the Staffordshire Advertiser, William Slater aged 28 married Martha Sollom aged 64 here at Baswich church in April 1826, after ‘a long and tedious courtship’. How romantic 💕
December 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
According to the Staffordshire Advertiser, William Slater aged 28 married Martha Sollom aged 64 here at Baswich church in April 1826, after ‘a long and tedious courtship’. How romantic 💕
Afternoon tea at Weston Hall is my annual Christmas treat. Lovely festive food with a side serving of supernatural.
December 24, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Afternoon tea at Weston Hall is my annual Christmas treat. Lovely festive food with a side serving of supernatural.
Found the site of the Stafford Gallows. Naming the street ‘Freeman Road’ seems like a cruel irony.
December 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Found the site of the Stafford Gallows. Naming the street ‘Freeman Road’ seems like a cruel irony.
In 1807, they somehow managed to appoint a man who had, ‘to the grave gone down’, upwards of two years prior, as High Sheriff of Staffordshire.
December 21, 2025 at 11:52 AM
In 1807, they somehow managed to appoint a man who had, ‘to the grave gone down’, upwards of two years prior, as High Sheriff of Staffordshire.
Trying to virtually locate the site of the Stafford gallows pre-gaol. So far I’ve found this.
December 21, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Trying to virtually locate the site of the Stafford gallows pre-gaol. So far I’ve found this.
Wishing you a magical Winter Solstice, with two deer who have been running across the ancient stonework at All Saints, Alrewas for centuries.
December 21, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Wishing you a magical Winter Solstice, with two deer who have been running across the ancient stonework at All Saints, Alrewas for centuries.
Reasons not to go paragliding. An occasional series.
December 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reasons not to go paragliding. An occasional series.
Trying to work out where ‘The Dead Man’s Lane’ was, a corpse road leading from Great Barr to Aldridge churchyard.
December 15, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Trying to work out where ‘The Dead Man’s Lane’ was, a corpse road leading from Great Barr to Aldridge churchyard.
Seems a one time writing master at the Lichfield Granmar school was the author of the earliest known grammar of English for females in 1715.
Unsure why women needed their own grammar guide & why the author was described as being ‘a turbulent person’ and dismissed from his post but watch this space!
Unsure why women needed their own grammar guide & why the author was described as being ‘a turbulent person’ and dismissed from his post but watch this space!
December 14, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Seems a one time writing master at the Lichfield Granmar school was the author of the earliest known grammar of English for females in 1715.
Unsure why women needed their own grammar guide & why the author was described as being ‘a turbulent person’ and dismissed from his post but watch this space!
Unsure why women needed their own grammar guide & why the author was described as being ‘a turbulent person’ and dismissed from his post but watch this space!
The ‘Are the bodies of three legendary kings of Lichfield buried beneath Borrowcop Hill?’ obsession continues…
December 8, 2025 at 10:16 PM
The ‘Are the bodies of three legendary kings of Lichfield buried beneath Borrowcop Hill?’ obsession continues…
The Lichfield Gallows were situated at the crossroads of the London and Tamworth Roads on the south side of the city. Local belief suggests that a walnut tree now grows at the exact same spot where the scaffold once stood.
December 8, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The Lichfield Gallows were situated at the crossroads of the London and Tamworth Roads on the south side of the city. Local belief suggests that a walnut tree now grows at the exact same spot where the scaffold once stood.
This illustration appears on a leaflet about the history of Lichfield Cathedral Close we’ve just found amidst some papers @lichdiscovered.bsky.social
What in the MR James is going on here?
What in the MR James is going on here?
December 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
This illustration appears on a leaflet about the history of Lichfield Cathedral Close we’ve just found amidst some papers @lichdiscovered.bsky.social
What in the MR James is going on here?
What in the MR James is going on here?
An outstanding talk for our Lichfield Discovered group from author & historian @nathenamin.bsky.social to a packed audience at The Old Grammar School last night. We especially loved hearing how Lichfield may have played its part in the rise of Henry Tudor.
November 30, 2025 at 10:55 AM
An outstanding talk for our Lichfield Discovered group from author & historian @nathenamin.bsky.social to a packed audience at The Old Grammar School last night. We especially loved hearing how Lichfield may have played its part in the rise of Henry Tudor.
Every year this comes up in my memories and I share it in the hope someone will be able to solve the mystery of the chalice carved into the church tower at Gnosall 🍷
November 23, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Every year this comes up in my memories and I share it in the hope someone will be able to solve the mystery of the chalice carved into the church tower at Gnosall 🍷
Lichfield looked very twinkly tonight even before the light switch-on
November 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Lichfield looked very twinkly tonight even before the light switch-on
Some Staffordshire folklore from the Leek area, as recorded by a vicar who was exiled there in 1940 lichfieldlore.co.uk/2025/11/23/t...
The Valley of Phantoms
I’m reading the memoirs of a man named William Purcell Witcutt. Like me he had connections to both Birmingham and Staffordshire, and was fascinated by folklore. Unlike me, he was an protestan…
lichfieldlore.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Some Staffordshire folklore from the Leek area, as recorded by a vicar who was exiled there in 1940 lichfieldlore.co.uk/2025/11/23/t...
Just reading a book with some Staffordshire ghost stories & superstitions in it.
These include a Headless Horseman or, as the people of Leek called it, ‘a man on an ‘oss without yed on, an awful gory sight’.
These include a Headless Horseman or, as the people of Leek called it, ‘a man on an ‘oss without yed on, an awful gory sight’.
November 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Just reading a book with some Staffordshire ghost stories & superstitions in it.
These include a Headless Horseman or, as the people of Leek called it, ‘a man on an ‘oss without yed on, an awful gory sight’.
These include a Headless Horseman or, as the people of Leek called it, ‘a man on an ‘oss without yed on, an awful gory sight’.