Curiosities In Churches & Churchyards: Their Bizarre Legends & Weird Folklore
The weird and wonderful
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1h 13m
This talk will be a tour of some of the truly bizarre objects found in Britain's churches and churchyards, ranging from pyramid tombs to devils' stones, from the skulls of saints said to have cupped the waters of holy wells to golden orbs set on steeples by occultist aristocrats. Our journey will take in imps frozen in stone by angels, sacred eels, witches' cauldrons, odd epitaphs and evidence of attempts to evade body snatchers. The lecture will also explore the local stories, folkloric motifs and often more sober realities behind these strange items.
David Castleton is the author of 'Church Curiosities: Strange Objects and Bizarre Legends' (published by Shire). He's also a novelist and the winner of the 2019 Go Gothic Short Fiction Prize. On his popular blog 'The Serpent's Pen', he explores the gothic, folklore, fakelore, the obscure and quirky, and the darker reaches of literature and the arts.
You are able to purchase David's book through our online store.
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