The Shrieking Pits of Aylmerton
In a wood in Norfolk, a pale figure is said to wander between ancient hollows, looking into each one and crying out.
What was reported
Near the village of Aylmerton, on the high ground behind the Norfolk coast, the woods are dotted with round hollows in the ground. Local people have long called them the Shrieking Pits.
Legend says a woman in white is seen moving from one pit to the next, peering into them and shrieking, as if searching for something she lost there long ago. Some versions say she's looking for a child; in all of them she never finds it.
Explanations offered
The hollows are thought to be old workings where people dug for iron ore in the Middle Ages, or perhaps the remains of much older dwellings. The legend gives a story to a strange landscape. The cries of foxes and owls in the woods at night are a familiar source of eerie shrieks.
- When
- Told since the 1800s
- Where
- Aylmerton, Norfolk, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Norfolk folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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