Diabolic Sir Rowland Alston! Witchy Wednesday article.
 |
| Sir Rowland Alston in his younger years. |
Odell is the setting for a tale of the supposedly diabolic Sir Rowland Alston. The Odell family had their ancestral home on the site of Odell Castle - where they had lived for over 300 years - and the majority of the family members were pillars of community and well respected. Sir Rowland was the exception. Apparently a depraved and wicked man - his crimes included brawling, gambling, drunkenness and cavorting will ladies of ill repute - who had sold his soul to the devil, so the story goes. Rowland’s notoriety was such that even after death his presence still cast a black shroud over the village. His ghost was seen to walk through walls and tree trunks in broad daylight; he further terrified the villagers by riding his ghostly steed inside his ancestral home, an act that would leave demonic hoof marks on the floor. Such examples of supernatural terror eventually led the people of Odell to raise a mob and exorcise the foul spectre. His spirit was relegated to the murky depths of a pond on Odell Wold where he remained for a time, only to emerge from the pond a hundred years later ready to begin anew his tyranny. The devil hadn’t forgotten the pact Alston had made when he was alive and thus was waiting for Sir Rowland when he escaped. According to folklore the devil chased Alston to Odell’s All Saints Church and, fearing his prey had escaped, shook the church in a fit of rage and left five giant finger marks on the porch. It is believed that since that day Alston’s ghost has restricted its appearances to every 100 years, the next visitation scheduled for 2044
Information from Bedford virtual library
https://virtual-library.culturalservices
 |
| The resting place of Sir Rowland Alston inside All Saints Church in Odell. |
 |
| The scratch marks left by the Devil just under the grotesque! |
 |
| The Porch containing the Devils scratch marks. |
| All Saints Church in Odell. |
Witchy Wednesday!
For folk stories, interesting links, digital books and tutorials please join me here on my blog and on my Instagram page every Wednesday.
Kat 😉
✨🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘✨
Even though Folk stories are fascinating to children please note that some folk tales and historical articles I post links too can be quite scary or contain adult themes. I would therefore recommend visiting all links and checking them yourselves before showing to younger children.
✨🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘✨
