The Hexham Heads

In 1971, two small stone heads were dug up in a garden in Hexham, England. What followed was a series of terrifying events: objects moving by themselves, a half-wolf creature appearing in the night, and a pattern of supernatural disturbances that followed the heads wherever they went. The Hexham Heads became one of Britain’s strangest object-related hauntings.

The Discovery

February 1971

In the Dodd family’s garden at Rede Avenue:

• Brothers Colin (11) and Leslie Robson (13) were weeding
• They discovered two small stone heads
• About the size of tennis balls
• Roughly carved with Celtic-style features
• One appeared male, one female

The Heads

Physical description:

• Approximately 2-3 inches in diameter
• Made of stone or concrete
• Crude but distinct faces
• The male had a skull-like appearance
• The female had wild hair or a mane
• They felt unusually cold to touch

Immediate Effects

Almost immediately:

• The heads were brought inside
• Strange things began happening
• Objects moved on their own
• The heads would change positions overnight
• The family felt watched

The Haunting Begins

The Dodd Household

Events escalated:

• Beds shook violently
• Glass shattered without cause
• Objects flew across rooms
• Cold spots appeared
• A sense of dread pervaded the house

The Werewolf

The most terrifying manifestation:

• The children reported a “half-man, half-wolf”
• It appeared at night
• Covered in dark hair
• Standing upright
• It vanished when lights turned on

The Neighbor’s Experience

Next door at the Bigg family:

• They knew nothing of the heads initially
• Ellen Bigg encountered something terrifying
• A creature on all fours
• Like a half-sheep, half-man
• It touched her legs before bounding away
• She was left screaming

The Heads Move

Dr. Anne Ross

The heads came to the attention of:

• Dr. Anne Ross, an archaeologist
• Specialist in Celtic culture
• She took possession of the heads
• Believed them to be ancient artifacts

Southampton

At Dr. Ross’s home in Southampton:

• The disturbances continued
• She woke feeling a presence
• She saw a dark figure in her doorway
• Half-man, half-animal
• Standing over six feet tall
• It turned and went downstairs
• She heard it leave the house

Her Husband’s Experience

Dr. Ross’s husband also:

• Felt an oppressive presence
• Experienced cold spots
• Sensed something malevolent

The Pattern

The entity:

• Appeared as a werewolf or wolf-man
• Manifested at night
• Seemed connected to the heads
• Followed them from location to location

Other Locations

The Heads Continue Their Journey

As the heads moved:

• Disturbances occurred at each new location
• Multiple independent witnesses
• The same type of creature reported
• The pattern was unmistakable

Similar Reports

Different households experienced:

• Electrical failures
• Cold spots
• Moving objects
• Nighttime apparitions
• The wolf-like creature

Investigation

The Celtic Theory

Dr. Ross initially believed:

• The heads were Celtic religious artifacts
• Possibly 2,000 years old
• Connected to Celtic head cult practices
• Their power was genuine and ancient

The Confession

In 1972, a complication:

• Desmond Craigie came forward
• He had lived at Rede Avenue previously
• He claimed to have made the heads
• Created them in 1956 for his daughter
• They were concrete, not ancient stone

The Debate

Craigie’s claim raised questions:

• Were the heads genuinely homemade?
• Could modern objects cause supernatural events?
• Did it matter if they were ancient or modern?
• The haunting had happened regardless

Testing the Heads

Analysis showed:

• The composition was ambiguous
• Could be ancient stone or modern concrete
• Experts disagreed on their age
• The mystery of their origin remained

Theories

Ancient Artifacts

The Theory

• The heads are genuine Celtic relics
• Celtic head cult invested them with power
• They served as protective or ritualistic objects
• Their power activated when disturbed

Support

• Celtic head worship was real
• Stone heads were venerated
• Northumberland has Celtic history
• Dr. Ross’s expertise supported this

Modern Creation with Paranormal Attachment

The Theory

• Craigie made the heads
• But something attached to them
• Perhaps energy from the land
• The age doesn’t matter; the power is real

Collective Hysteria

The Theory

• The initial claims spread through suggestion
• Each new owner expected phenomena
• They experienced what they expected
• The creature was hallucination or dream

Problems

• Multiple independent witnesses
• Dr. Ross didn’t expect anything unusual
• The neighbor didn’t know about the heads
• Physical phenomena documented

Thoughtform or Egregore

The Theory

• Human attention created an entity
• Belief and fear gave it power
• It became real through expectation
• A self-fulfilling haunting

The Werewolf Element

The Beast

The creature described:

• 6+ feet tall
• Covered in dark fur
• Humanoid but animal
• Red or glowing eyes
• Appeared at night
• Moved on all fours sometimes

Celtic Connection

In Celtic mythology:

• Shape-shifting was believed possible
• Wolf-warriors existed in legend
• Head worship connected to transformation
• The creature fits Celtic belief systems

Other Theories

Some suggest:

• The land held the entity, not the heads
• An ancient spirit was disturbed
• The creature predated the heads
• Multiple phenomena were confused

Fate of the Heads

Current Location

The Hexham Heads:

• Were lost for many years
• Their exact location is disputed
• Some claim they were destroyed
• Others say they’re in private hands
• They may be in a museum store

Continued Interest

The case remains:

• One of Britain’s strangest hauntings
• A unique object-linked phenomenon
• Subject of ongoing research
• Part of paranormal literature

Analysis

What We Know

• Two heads were found in Hexham in 1971
• Multiple people experienced strange phenomena
• Several independent witnesses reported a werewolf-like creature
• The phenomena followed the heads
• A man claimed to have made them

What We Don’t Know

• The true age and origin of the heads
• What caused the phenomena
• Why a wolf-creature appeared
• Whether the heads still cause disturbances

Legacy

The Hexham Heads case:

• Demonstrated object-linked hauntings
• Raised questions about age and authenticity
• Connected British folklore to modern paranormal investigation
• Remains unexplained

The Question

Two small stone heads were pulled from English soil.

Terror followed.

Objects moved. Beds shook. And something appeared in the night - something neither fully human nor fully animal.

It appeared in house after house, following the heads wherever they went.

Were they ancient Celtic artifacts, invested with power by Iron Age priests? Or were they toys, made by a factory worker in the 1950s, that somehow attracted something monstrous?

Does it matter?

Something happened. Multiple families experienced the same terrifying creature. Dr. Anne Ross, a skeptical academic, saw it in her own home.

The heads are lost now. Perhaps destroyed. Perhaps waiting in some archive or private collection.

But the question remains:

What was the creature? Why did it appear?

And if the heads are still out there somewhere…

Is it still with them?