All Round the Wrekin - Myths and Legends

The Haunted Forest

It is not necessary to make a trip up the hill to uncover some of the area's fantastic tales. A short walk through the forest between The Ercall and Hazlehurst will bring you to the Dairy Pit, a small pool surrounded by a group of artificial mounds of unknown origin. Legend has it that, beneath the still waters, lies a mermaid whose only pleasure is to lure young men to a watery grave! If you manage to avoid that untimely fate, beware, for you may yet have to contend with 'Rutter's Ghost'; the spirit of an 18th Century packhorse driver whose eternal fate is to walk this part of the forest in the dead of night.