Quest for the Hexham Heads

Product Information

In 1971, the Robson family, who lived in Hexham, in the county of Northumberland in the far north of England, were driven away from their house due to some strange occurrences. These occurrences were reported to have begun for them only after they discovered two stone heads in their garden. The story goes that people lost at night follow torches being carried by the dwarfs but are led into marshland and sink to their deaths. The Urban Pre-Historian, writing about Paul Screeton’s 2010 book ‘Quest for the Hexham Heads’ explained that,

She had heard about Nelly Dodd’s experience, as well as the activity of the Robsons, and decided the heads must be the connecting thread to this strange phenomena. She later removed all the Celtic heads, including the Hexam heads, from her home.A Newcastle malediction, or curse. (From Denham Tracts) Possibly a reference to Hexham’s purpose-built gaol – the first in the country. Hexham But, along with it, she also believed that the carvings were “ evil” and might even be a part of a death cult of some kind, at one point in the past.

However, because his studies strayed into the occult, legend has often held that he was a wizard - a reputation cemented when he appeared in the eighth circle of hell in Dante's Divine Comedy. On the rather bizarre platform of the BBC TV early evening news magazine Nationwide, Anne Ross made some amazing claims about the Hexham Heads that were not fit for academic publication. She recounted that her home in Southampton was being haunted by a huge werewolf that seemed to have followed the Heads all the way from the NE of England; the Heads had been brought south with Ross for analysis at her own institution, Southampton University, and she had taken them home. Big mistake! To prove this, he made replicas of the two surviving heads, by moulding the form and carving the details with a knife. Surprisingly, these replicas are said to have been “subpar” to the originals, with many seeming to believe that Craigie could none have been responsible for them. Surviving photographs of the original heads are of poor quality, and no images of the replicas have been verified, so we are, unfortunately unable to examine them ourselves. The best known is the Beast of Bolam Lake, a yeti-like figure a group of fisherman claimed to have spotted in Northumberland.And as it happened, Craigie’s daughter had left the Heads buried in the garden for the years leading up to 1971. The Hexham Heads were then investigated by a chemist, who discovered that they had a high level of quartz.

Myths and legends are passed down through the generations, sometimes for hundreds of years before finally being recorded in writing. The boy's ghost haunted the castle crying out 'I'm cold' until he was given a hood and cloak by a cook who worked in the castle. Some of those who handled the heads claimed to have witnesses ghostly occurrences shortly after, and at least one person claimed to have seen a werewolf-like creature.

Each time she decides it will still have its use or worth and keeps dragging it until eventually she turns around and sees the Hedley Kow in its real form as a strange four-legged creature, trotting off laughing at how it fooled the old woman. Over the years, there have been several reported sightings of frightening creatures in the North East, some of which have obtained modern legend status.