The Paranormal Database

Robin of Redesdale

Location: Redesdale (Northumberland) - Statue which stood on around Watling Street area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Statue no longer present (destroyed pre-nineteenth century?)
Further Comments: The statue formerly known as Robin of Redesdale was said to be that of a hunter, a giant who lived in the neighbourhood, poisoned by his brother.

Grave

Location: Redhill (Somerset) - Hurdlestone Wood
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Folklore places a giant's grave within this woods. The area is said to take its name from a rock that sits on the edge of a nearby cliff, thrown there by the Devil during a competition.

Giant Arthur

Location: Reynoldston (South Glamorgan) - Arthur's Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 01 January (reoccurring) (walking stone legend said to occur)
Further Comments: One story associated with this Neolithic tomb has King Arthur finding a stone in his boot. The king picked the pebble out and threw it to one side, thus placing the stone where it now stands. Another legend says the stone walks down to the sea once a year for a quick drink. Finally, another story says the stone was split by a miller who was after a millstone - unable to lift it, the split stone has remained laying there since.

The Giant's Grave

Location: Rhayader (Powys) - St Clement's Church
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A mass grave in the churchyard reputedly contains a thighbone that measured over a metre in length.

Coal Discovery

Location: Rhymney (Gwent) - Valley area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The coal deposits in the valley are said to have been discovered by fairies after they killed a giant which was attacking their homes. The giant was assassinated as he slept, and the fairies set fire to his body; they realised that the ground continued to burn after their enemy's body had turned to ash.

Green Teeth

Location: Rochdale (Greater Manchester) - Bodies of water around Heywood
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Early nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The water entity which drowned children and the unwary in this area, named as Green Teeth, Jenny Long Arms, or Grindylow, was described as having 'skinny claws' and 'secret dart'.

Local Giant

Location: Sessay (North Yorkshire) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A giant terrorised this area for many years, bullying and killing the locals. The massive man was finally slain when, after a day of abhorrent behaviour, he fell asleep by a watermill - the miller ran outside and hacked him to death with an axe. Another version of the story, in which the giant was accidently knocked out by windmill sails, names the giant slayer as Sir Guy Dawnay, who just happened to be passing through the area.

Onion

Location: Silchester (Hampshire) - Stone on the common, Hampshire/Berkshire Border
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A local giant named Onion tossed a stone that landed on the common, a mile away, leaving the impressions of his fingers upon it. Others have said that the stone was thrown by the Devil.

An old painting showing Mount Snowdon in shadow during a summer's day.

Giant

Location: Snowdon (Gwynedd) - Mountain Summit
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The summit of Mount Snowdon is rumoured to be the burial place of a giant banished by King Arthur.

Giant and Bloody Rain

Location: Somerleyton (Suffolk) - Exact location not known
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Varies: 17 July & 19 November (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Somerleyton was once the hunting area of a giant, who is said to briefly appear on the evening of 17 July. The giant once stumbled across a plot to murder him, so struck first and killed the would-be assassin. The assassin's blood is said to rain down from the sky on 19 November.

Little People

Location: South Barrule (Isle of Man) - South Barrule hill
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The south facing side of the hill is said to be where the vast majority of the island's fairies and pixies live. It is also said that a giant is asleep under the hill, having been cursed by Merlin.

Ascapart

Location: Southampton (Hampshire) - Bevis Mound and general area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ascapart the giant was beaten in a fight by Bevis of Hampton, after his club (a tree) became stuck in the mud. Instead of slaying the giant, Bevis appointed Ascapart his squire. When the giant finally died, he was buried under Bevis Mound.

The Martyrdom of Agnes from the Golden Legend, 1497.

Stones

Location: St Agnes (Cornwall) - St Agnes Beacon
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: The stone formation at the top of the hill were carried up by either Saint Agnes or a giant's wife. Another account says that Agnes managed to turn the Devil into stone, where he remains to this day.

Engraving from 1804.

Cormoran

Location: St Michael's Mount (Cornwall) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The mount was once home to this legendary beast (named by some as a seven foot giant), thought to have a single eye. It crossed to the mainland at low tide, helping itself to cattle for its food.

Cricket Bat

Location: St Peter Port (Guernsey) - La Longue Rocque (aka Grande Pierre) (standing stone)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Children would be told that this 350 centimetre tall stone was a giant's cricket bat, thrust into the earth after another giant refused to fetch the ball during their game. One story says the site is also haunted by an old woman manifesting on moonlit nights.

Wedding Party

Location: Stanton Drew (Somerset) - Standing Stones
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Dressed as a fiddler, the Devil convinced all the guests from a wedding to dance on a Sunday - for the sin, the entire party were turned to stone. Another creation story for the site says a passing giant dropped the contents of his shovel that formed the circle of stones.

Giant's Gold

Location: Stokesay (Shropshire) - Stokesay Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two giants stored their gold in a large, locked chest under the castle. One giant managed to drop the key in the castle moat, where it is said to remain to this day. The chest must be approached with the key in hand, to do so otherwise invites an attack from a huge raven.

Tom holding a cart wheel and axel.

Giant

Location: Tilney All Saints (Norfolk) - Churchyard
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Eleventh century?
Further Comments: Tom Hickathrift, the Cambridge giant and hero, is said to have been buried here; his grave marked by a stone eight-foot long.

Battle

Location: Titterstone Clee Hill (Shropshire) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several giants once met on the hill and proceeded to fight. The large stones which are scattered around the area are the leftover missiles that the giants tossed at each other (in reality they are the remains of a hillfort).

An old postcard of Totnes in Devon.

Gog and Magog

Location: Totnes (Devon) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Gog and Magog were giants (or one giant, depending on the source) who once lived in this area before Brutus, leader of the Trojans, fought them. Brutus either spared their lives and used them to guard his palace or drowned them in the sea.

Giant's Home

Location: Treen (Cornwall) - Treryn Dinas Cliff Fort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Fort still present
Further Comments: The exact details vary from story to story, but most agree that three giants lived at the fort, a husband, wife, and younger giant; the latter eventually murdered the husband. Folklore also places fairies in the area, and witches would use the edge of the rock as a launching point.

Jack attacking an unsuspecting giant.

Jack's Grave

Location: Tweedsmuir (Borders) - The Giant's Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: These stones mark the final battle between Jack the giant killer and one of his mortal foes - they managed to kill each other in the fight. The body of either Jack or the giant lies under one of the stones.

Cursed Motorway

Location: Twyford (Hampshire) - Twyford Down (now area of the M3)
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1992
Further Comments: A week after a motorway construction team disturbed the graves of eighteen men, some two metres tall, two of the men suffered fatal heart attacks and a night watchman dropped dead at his post. People protesting the construction of the motorway pronounced the incidents 'the curse of the giants'.

Engraving of a mermaid, circa 1757.

Saxi and Herman

Location: Unst Island (Shetland) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Saxi and Herman, two giants who were brothers, once lived on the island. They both fell in love with a mermaid who said she would marry whoever would swim to the North Pole with her. Both brothers began the trip, but neither returned.

Giant Grave

Location: Warbstow (Cornwall) - Warbstow Bury hillfort
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: A local giant, murdered by another large fellow, is said to be buried here. A storm is reputed to blow up if the grave is disturbed.