The Screaming Skulls of England
One of the strangest and most frightening relics of folklore are the screaming skulls of England. Although different stories dot multiple towns and prominent homes throughout England, most can agree what causes the screaming: being moved.
It is common in folklore, books, and movies: to set a spirit at rest, you’re supposed to unite the body and bury it somewhere. However, screaming skulls laugh in the face of the general tradition. You see, screaming skulls scream, it is believed, because they’ve been moved (either from a building or a place of prominence).
When the skull is moved, not only does it scream it is also said to cause poltergeist-like activity when it has been moved. So, if screaming wasn’t enough to tempt you to return the skull to wherever you found it...you’ll also have to dodge flying plates and deal with disembodied voices.
Why the focus on skulls instead of another body part or the whole body? Well, a lot of ancient folklore and tradition suggest that there was a particular reverence for the head in this part of the world. Although no substantial proof can verify this without a doubt. My theory? Well, the brain is our seat of emotions and thoughts. Screaming, while a physical act, is also an emotional act and you need a brain to scream (and for a reason to scream) so, to me it makes sense.
The stories of how so many skulls found themselves in the homes of England are varied and rich. Although almost all screaming skulls stories are found within England, not Scotland or Wales.
One of the most infamous screaming skulls is the screaming skull of Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset. A servant of the home, who was black and from the West Indies, desperately wanted his body to be buried in his homeland. The owner of the home at the time, Azariah Pinney, promised this...but had no intention of following through. When the man died, his body was interred in the local churchyard. But, soon after this burial terrible screams rattled visitors to the church and churchyard. They all emanated from the grave. The power of this great upset reached beyond the man’s final resting place into Bettiscombe Manor. Poltergeist activity was reported and Azariah’s family was terrorized. As a mark of respect, the body was dug up and brought into a special resting place within the home. Although not the West Indies, it seems that this quieted the skull.
As the decades passed, the body became lost to time (or reorganizing) until only the skull remained.
One man, fed up with the idea of having to share his manor with a skull, threw it in the pond one day. He figured even if there was screaming, it would be deep underwater and its cries would harm no one but the fish. However, he was severely mistaken. Rising from the watery death, the man was plagued by groans and screams in his bedchamber and perhaps from within his very own head. Desperate for relief, the skull was retrieved from the pond and reinstated to its place of glory within the home. Several future owners attempted to rid the home of this grisly decoration, but each time were met with poltergeist activity and, of course, screaming.
Interestingly enough, the story behind the skull was found to be false. When it was finally reviewed by an archaeologist, it was discovered that the skull did not belong to a man from the West Indies. Instead, it was that of a girl and dated, shockingly, all the way to the Iron Age.
No matter where the skull or story is from, all of the major stories have one thing in common: you cannot remove the skull. If you try to dispose of the skull, break it, bury it, burn it, or something else...it will always hauntingly (although sometimes seemingly gleefully, or as gleeful as a skull can be) return to the home within the week, totally intact and ready to scream until it is placed back where it thinks it belongs.
Thanks to Alex S. for this blogstonishing suggestion!
The blog image is 'Plate 79: Bettiscombe, Manor House', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West (London, 1952), p. 79. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/plate-79