Think modern fads are strange? Try the Georgian craze for having a hermit living in your back garden. Let’s explore this forgotten trend which saw a spate of advertisements for people to spend seven years living on country estates without washing or cutting their hair, while dispensing contemplative words of wisdom to visitors.


📢 Get in Touch & Support the Show Have a story idea or just want to say hello? Drop us an email at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

💡 Support us on Patreon
Enjoying Curious Britain? Help us keep the show going by joining us on Patreon. Your support allows us to keep exploring Britain’s most intriguing stories. https://www.patreon.com/CuriousBritainPodcast

💰 Make a one-off contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://paypal.me/curiousbritain

 🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to us and helps keep the show alive. We truly appreciate it!


Music:
"March of the Spoons" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sources:
Campbell, Gordon, “The Hermit in the Garden: From Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome”
London Courier and Evening Gazette, 10 April 1829
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ornamental-hermits-were-18th-century-englands-must-have-garden-accessory-180982469/https://www.historicmysteries.com/ornamental-hermit

Did you know there’s a replica of the famous Colosseum of Rome in Scotland? Let’s find out where it came from, who built it, and why, in this episode of Curious Britain.



📢 Get in Touch & Support the Show Have a story idea or just want to say hello? Drop us an email at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!
💡 Support Us on Patreon
Enjoying Curious Britain? Help us keep the show going by becoming a patron at Patreon. Your support allows us to keep exploring Britain’s most intriguing stories.
💰 Make a One-Off Contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: [Donate Now]
🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to us and helps keep Curious Britain alive. We truly appreciate it!


Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCaig%27s_Tower

https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/mccaigs-tower-p255141
 
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/oban/mccaigstower/index.html

We explore the cryptic inscription on a stone slab which hints at the terror wrought by a boggart in the village of Longridge, Lancashire. Many people in the area have reported tales over the centuries of apparitions, misfortune, and mischievous invisible forces, which are often blamed on the local boggarts. One man was even chased by a headless figure down a dark lane on his way home at night…

📢 Get in touch & support the show Have a story idea or just want to say hello? Drop us an email at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

💡 Support us on Patreon
Enjoying Curious Britain? Help us keep the show going by joining us on Patreon. Your support allows us to keep exploring Britain’s most intriguing stories. https://www.patreon.com/CuriousBritainPodcast

💰 Make a one-off contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://paypal.me/curiousbritain

🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to us and helps keep the show alive. We truly appreciate it!

Sources:
Westwood & Simpson, “The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends”, 2005, Penguin Books 
https://ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com/places-further-afield/the-boggart-stone/ https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Boggart https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/22628672.lancashires-fairy-folklore/#:~:text=The%20headless%20boggart%20of%20Longridge,It%20was%20hers https://www.spookyisles.com/boggart-headless-lady/ https://from-bedroom-to-study.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-latter-day-legends-of-devilish-dogs.html

Disguises, sword fights, kidnapping, and a band of 17th century rogues – they’re all here in this eventful episode of Curious Britain, as we explore this historic attempt to purloin every thief’s dream target…The Crown Jewels.

📢 Get in touch & support the show
Have a story idea or just want to say hello? Drop us an email at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

💡 Support us on Patreon
Enjoying Curious Britain? Help us keep the show going by joining us on Patreon. Your support allows us to keep exploring Britain’s most intriguing stories. https://www.patreon.com/CuriousBritainPodcast

💰 Make a one-off contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://paypal.me/curiousbritain

🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to us and helps keep the show alive. We truly appreciate it!



Sources:
Charles River Editors, “The Mysterious British Isles: A Collection of Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena across Britain and Ireland”, Kindle Edition. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blood https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Theft-of-the-Crown-Jewels/
https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/Trails/the-crown-jewels
https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/education/thomas-blood.pdf

Did a 15th century witch who lived in a remote North Yorkshire cave really predict the rise and fall of monarchs, world wars, planes, and even the internet? Some people think so, and even today tourists flock to visit Mother Shipton’s cave in Knaresborough, tucked away in an otherworldly forest next to a magic well which can turn items into stone. But who was Mother Shipton really, and is there any truth in her mysterious prophecies?


📢 Get in Touch & Support the Show
Have a story idea or just want to say hello? Drop us an email at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

💡 Support Us on Patreon
Enjoying Curious Britain? Help us keep the show going by joining us on Patreon. Your support allows us to keep exploring Britain’s most intriguing stories.
https://www.patreon.com/CuriousBritainPodcast

💰 Make a One-Off Contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://paypal.me/curiousbritain

 🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to us and helps keep the show alive. We truly appreciate it!


Sources:
https://www.mothershipton.co.uk
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/10456/
The Strange and Wonderful History of Mother Shipton Plainly Setting Forth Her Prodigious Birth, Life, Death, and Burial, with an Exact Collection of All Her Famous Prophecys, More Compleat than Ever Yet before Published, and Large Explanations, Shewing How They Have All along Been Fulfilled to This Very Year. London: Printed for W.H. and sold by J. Conyers, 1686.

St Michael’s Church Clock in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, is the largest of its kind in the country. But what else is unique about this historic timepiece? Find out in this episode of Curious Britain.

Get in touch with us at: [email protected]

If you've been enjoying our content, we'd love your support to continue delivering more! A one-off contribution, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping us keep things running. You can donate through PayPal here:
Donate Now
**Thank you for your support** – it truly means the world to us!

Sources:
https://coningsby.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/parish-information/famous-one-handed-clock/1#:~:text=The%20one%20handed%20clock%20in,Very%20few%20survived

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/history/peculiar-lincolnshire-clock-largest-kind-8836927

https://englishbuildings.blogspot.com/2016/08/coningsby-lincolnshire.html https://roys-roy.blogspot.com/2013/10/curious-church-clocks.html

https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=2619

UFO sightings today are often blamed on modern aircraft. But how can we explain the reports of moving lights and mysterious airships across Ireland as early as 1909, in the infancy of aviation?

Get in touch with us at: [email protected]

If you've been enjoying our content, we'd love your support to continue delivering more! A one-off contribution, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping us keep things running. You can donate through PayPal here:
Donate Now
**Thank you for your support** – it truly means the world to us!

Sources:
The Irish Times, 21 May 1909 
The Staffordshire Sentinel, 21 May 1909
The Western Times, 22 May 1909
The People, 23 May 1909
The Weekly Freeman, 14 May 1910
The Belfast Newsletter, 11 May 1910
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_G._Spencer

When a group of workers on a routine drainage project accidentally discovered something buried in a cave in the Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, they could never have predicted that it would become one of the most significant archaeological discoveries ever made in Britain – a 10,000 Mesolithic skeleton known as Cheddar Man.

Get in touch with us at: [email protected]

If you've been enjoying our content, we'd love your support to continue delivering more! A one-off contribution, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping us keep things running. You can donate through PayPal here:
Donate Now

**Thank you for your support** – it truly means the world to us!


Sources:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/cheddar-man-mesolithic-britain-blue-eyed-boy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddar_Man
https://www.majesticdesigns.co.uk/news/10-facts-never-knew-cheddar/ https://www.cheddargorge.co.uk/education/workshop/cheddar-man https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/mesolithic-skeleton-known-as-cheddar-man-shares-the-same-dna-with-english-teacher-of-history
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/cheddar-gorge https://www.visitsomerset.co.uk/things-to-do/attractions/cave/cheddar-gorge-caves https://www.westcountryparks.co.uk/10-interesting-facts-about-cheddar-gorge-and-caves
Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 3 February 1904 

Music:
"Ancient Rite" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Who (or what) placed these curious monuments on top of a Cotswold hill between 3,500 and 1,500 BC, and what was their purpose? Let’s explore the archaeology and folklore that surrounds the Rollright Stones, which are less well-known that Stonehenge, but every bit as intriguing.

Reach out to us at: [email protected]

If you've been enjoying our content, we'd love your support to continue delivering more! A one-off contribution, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping us keep things running. You can donate through PayPal here:
Donate Now

**Thank you for your support** – it truly means the world to us!


Sources:
https://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/stones/whispering-knights https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/rollright-stones/
Oxfordshire Weekly News, 30 January 1924

Britain isn’t known for its extreme weather events, but did you know the country was battered by snowstorms in 1891? The storm caused chaos, burying trains, blowing ships onto the rocks, and bringing down telegraph wires in an oft-forgotten incident that became known as The Great Blizzard.    
Get in touch with us at: [email protected]

If you enjoy the show and would like to support us, please consider making a one-off contribution through PayPal. Every bit helps! You can donate here: https://paypal.me/curiousbritain?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB

Thank you for your support


Sources:
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Great-Blizzard-1891/
Norfolk News 14 March 1891 
Exeter Flying Post 14 March 1891