If you have never experienced the natural beauty of Cannock Chase, then I highly recommend it. Nestled in Staffordshire, Cannock Chase is 26 square miles of beautiful woodland dating back to a time when, as a vast forest, it stretched between Stafford and Sutton Coldfield. It contains Castle Ring, an ancient Iron Age hill fort occupied by the ancient Celtic tribe, the Cornovii. It was inhabited by wild animals, which many years ago attracted many hunters, including William the Conqueror in 1086, who declared it his Royal hunting forest. In 1290, a part of the forest came under the control of the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, an area known as ‘The Chase’. The bishop used the site to establish a deer park and build a hunting lodge known as ‘Beaudesert’ or ‘beautiful wild place’; the ruins still stand. There is a long history of ironworking and mining, with remains dating back to medieval times. Looking closely, you can still see where the World War I practice trenches were. It is now a hub of activity, with people strolling, cycling, dog walking and even Gruffalo hunting, and home to a whole array of wildlife. Yet, there are areas where a person cannot tread, thickets of trees so dense that even in the daylight, you can’t see more than a few feet before darkness consumes everything. Surely, there is nothing but more trees and a few deer in there? Surely?
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Cannock Chase was essential during the World Wars, hiding camps and military facilities within its boundaries. There is a legend that experiments were being carried out in the Army Military Facility in the 1940s, human experiments happening. The story tells of a woman kidnapped and drugged before being impregnated with a half-human, half-pig embryo (perhaps an early venture into transplanting pig organs into humans). The pregnancy was successful, and she gave birth to a strange-looking child, similar to a human child but with an oversized head and a snout where his nose should have been. ‘Pig-Man’ stayed within the facility until he managed to escape and has roamed Cannock Chase ever since, squealing in his solitude. An issue with this is that the Army Military Facility was closed after World War I; however, in 1939, RAF Hednesford Training Facility opened. Were experiments conducted here? Was Pig-Man a rumour created to keep prying eyes away from areas of Cannock Chase that people don’t want to be discovered, a way to scare others off? Wild boar roamed the site for many years; could Pig-Man be a descendent of these creatures, a freak of evolution? Or is he simply a child’s nursery rhyme?
‘When night falls, enter the woods at your peril,
For inside lurks something worse than the Devil.
Avoid at all costs the gathering place,
Where at midnight the Pig-Man roams on Cannock Chase.’
In 1976, The Dangerous Wild Animals Act became law in the UK, meaning you could no longer keep animals, such as wild cats, as pets. Unfortunately, during the 1960s and 1970s, keeping exotic pets had become a bit of a fashion statement. So, what could they do with them after the law was changed? Many were released into the wild, never to be seen again. Except, well, they were. There have been numerous sightings of exotic animals up Cannock Chase. Author and investigator Nick Redfern researched the claims of a 14-foot serpent slithering around the area, especially near the German cemetery and Slitting Mill pool. The Birmingham Post reported a giant snake being seen in Birches Valley, publishing ‘the beast had a powerful head and colouring that stood out sharply against the greens and blues of the bracken’. I like the theory that it is Staffordshire’s answer to ‘Nessie,’ a creature that lives in the depths and rarely appears. However, it is more than likely an exaggerated description of an escaped python or one of the many species of snakes that call the Chase home.
The' Black Panther' is one of the most famous animals seen numerous times. Hundreds of sightings of a large, black animal lurking in the undergrowth and even reports of deer with wounds similar to those caused by a wild cat. On 30th March 2008, Matthew Harrison was walking through Cannock Chase when he found the fresh carcass of a deer, ‘it was a very fresh kill – no smell and very few flies. What flesh was left was still red and fresh. If the animal had died naturally, it would take a while for small predators (such as foxes) to dispose of the carcass, or for it to decompose’.
You can see many photos of the ‘Black Panther’ online, usually grainy affairs that look like they have been taken on a potato and leave even the biggest of believers doubting the creature's existence. However, it is also interesting to note that, in 1989, the body of an Asian jungle cat was found in Ludlow, just 25 miles away from Cannock Chase.
While we’re talking about bloody massive animals, I will mention the Hellhound. Hellhounds are servants of the Underworld, the most famous being 3-headed Cerberus, and in British folklore are omens of death. There have been reports of hellhounds over Cannock Chase, especially in the Brereton area. It’s described as a pure black, huge, muscular dog with pointed ears and glowing eyes, and seeing it often brings bad luck. They are often associated with violence, tragedy and death; is it a coincidence that the ‘Hellhound’ is usually witnessed between Lea Hall and Brereton collieries, where awful accidents occurred in the past?
Other, more mystical creatures have also been witnessed patrolling the woods. Lee Brickley, who has authored numerous books about Cannock Chase, claimed he found a footprint within the trees, measuring a massive 41cm from heel to toe. He believes this to be the footprint of the often hunted Big Foot and has even described witnessing the mythical monster himself; ‘it definitely moved more like an animal than a man, and it was easily 7 feet tall. I tried to run after it, but it was too quick and disappeared into a dense section of trees.’ Nick Redfern spoke to Jackie Haughton about a sighting on the 18th of February 1995 on the Cannock-Rugeley Road. He wrote,’ She was suddenly forced to swerve the car and narrowly avoided collision with a large, shambling creature that stepped into the road at a distance of about 20 feet. The encounter lasted barely a few seconds, but she had caught sight of the animal and said it was man-like and tall, very hairy, with two self-illuminating, glowing red eyes.’ In September 1998, a group of 4 people in a car saw what they believed to be Big Foot: ‘It was a tall man-like figure, sort of crouching forward. As we passed, it turned and looked straight at us. I would describe it as around 6ft 8ins, very strong looking with a darkish blacky brown coat. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.’ Recorded documents go as far back as 1883. In the book Shropshire Folklore, Charlotte Burne wrote: ‘On the 21st of January 1819, a labouring man was employed to take a cart of luggage from Ranton in Staffordshire to Woodcock, beyond Newport in Shropshire…Just before he reached the canal bridge, a strange black creature with great white eyes sprang out of the plantation by the roadside and alighted on his horse’s back. He tried to push it off with his whip, but to his horror, the whip went through the thing, and he dropped it on the ground in fright’.
Could it possibly be another exotic pet that had been let loose? People kept (and sadly still do) apes as pets – very cute when they’re young and small, but suddenly, they are fully grown and not quite as cute. You can easily see how an ape could be mistaken for Big Foot from a distance. Adam Bird, co-founder of British Bigfoot Research, said ‘these creatures are seen all over the UK, and the phenomenon spreads from Scotland right down to Southern England. These people are clearly seeing something, and that something cannot be passed off as simply hoaxes or known animals.'
Interestingly, historian Richard Pursehouse has dismissed claims of Big Foot on Cannock Chase but believes that large cats live there. Nick Redfern believes the Cannock Chase Big Foot is a ‘ghostly paranormal-type thing, and not a large, physical ape’. When questioned about this, he gave what I think is a rather pleasant theory: ‘The purpose of these beasts? To act as guardians to protect any harm being done to the areas ancient man deemed to be of spiritual significance’.
Alongside Big Foot, it would appear that there have been sightings of wolves, specifically werewolves, up the Chase. In 1975, a paranormal group visited the Chase and described seeing a snarling beast rear onto its hind legs and run off into the bushes. In April 2007, several people claimed to have seen a wolf walking upright around the German War Cemetery. There is the possibility that the ‘werewolf’ is nothing more than a dog running loose, or even the famed Black Panther. One theory (which I love) suggests that it isn’t an animal at all but a ‘subterranean stone-age throwback’. A paranormal researcher who wishes to remain anonymous suggested that these creatures have survived for centuries in the many caves and mines underneath the Chase, coming to the ground via old earthworks to hunt deer. It's an extraordinary idea but definitely my favourite!
Every town and village has their own ghost stories, but the ones surrounding Cannock Chase seem to be riddled with them. One I researched is an apparition known as ‘The Lady of the Chase,’ as described by a woman named Linda. ‘It was about 11.30 pm, and I had decided to take a shortcut across the Chase. As I neared Spring Slade Lodge, I had to brake hard as a person suddenly stood in the road. In my headlights, the form was of a tall female, pale grey in colour. She appeared to be naked, with no visible breasts or genitalia. Immediately, I was drawn to her eyes, large, hypnotic eyes that totally transfixed me. I was in dread and unable to move a muscle. I was aware I was being ‘mentally examined.’ After a few minutes, the lady walked back into the trees, and Linda could move freely. This is one of the stranger ghost stories; ghosts usually disappear, and it’s unusual for them to render a person unable to move. Was it a ghost that Linda experienced? Or was it something more out of this world?
According to the History Channel website, Cannock Chase is the 4th biggest UFO hotspot in the UK, with sightings going back decades. There are far too many to discuss individually here, but the government website lists all the UFO sightings in the UK that can be found HERE (LINK). A couple stood out to me, especially the mysterious crash in 1964. US Navy Third Class Petty Officer S M Brannigan told of secretly removing three bodies from the accident scene and that Air Force Intelligence and NATO were involved. An eyewitness to the incident, Harold South, claimed he had taken photos of the area after he was stopped by a roadblock manned by the army, RAF and police. The photos included images of a ‘delta-shaped object’. The camera was confiscated by authorities and was returned but with all the film removed. As recently as 2015, UFOs were seen over Cannock Chase. Many people described the low and loud flying craft at around 9 p.m. on 24th March. There were many descriptions, including ‘it was way too slow for fighter jets. It flew directly over our house, made a sharp left turn and carried on' and ‘I heard it and thought, ‘that’s low’…thought it might have been a plane coming down…it looked like one big thing with three lights, scared the shit outta me’. When researching this, a personal highlight for me was the anecdote of an alien being seen in 1960 pushing a car uphill. As it would.
One of the most famous mysteries of Cannock Chase is that of The Black-Eyed Girl, with reports going back to the 1980s. The legend goes that you will be walking through Cannock Chase and hear a small child crying as if in distress. When the person follows the sound of the voice, they are greeted by a child of around six years old, usually wearing a white or grey dress. This is fine until the child uncovers their face to reveal empty pools of darkness where their eyes should be. As the person, understandably, panics (or, more likely, shits themselves), the child runs back into the cover of the trees. There are anecdotes of The Black-Eyed Girl from all over the world, but it seems to only be in Cannock Chase that she appears in the daylight. Some believe the Black-Eyed Girl is an alien, others a vampire. Some believe them to be the spirits of victims of a diphtheria outbreak, where one of the side effects of the illness is hollow eye sockets.
I’ve left this story till last as it was one of the most recent. In February 2021, locals were more than a little creeped out when they discovered a plethora of toy dolls nailed to trees within the Chase (with an Ouija board left nearby for added effect). The dolls had been placed near the site that used to be the Ministry of Pensions Hospital until 1924. They arrived without reason and stayed unexplained until local police finally removed them. Was it someone messing about, trying to scare people? For centuries, dolls have been used to represent a person; could it have been some ritual? Personally, I believe it is most likely a homage to The Island of Dolls, located south of the centre of Mexico City. The origins tell of a young girl who died on the island, trapped by the lilies in the river. In the 1950s, the owner of the island, Don Julian Santana Barrera, claimed to have heard the spirit of the little girl crying out for her doll. Terrified, he found a doll and tied it to a tree. Every doll he came across, no matter what the condition, he would attach to a tree in the hope of appeasing the ghost. Barrera’s corpse was found in 2001. In the same place, the young girl had drowned.
A place like Cannock Chase will always hold more secrets than any of us will ever discover. So, if you go down to the woods today, keep your wits about you and maybe not walk around in the dark by yourself; you never know who or what is watching. As always, please let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading; take care of yourselves, and I will see you next time.
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