Category: Weird History

Religious Heresy and Public Executions: The History of the Amersham Martyrs Memorial, Buckinghamshire

Tucked within the Chiltern Hills, the town of Amersham is filled with historic buildings, charming pubs, and beautiful footpaths leading deep into the countryside. While towns as old as Amersham are filled with captivating historical tales, some events from long ago inevitably shed light on the more sinister side of humanity, and Amersham’s history is no exception. Nearly 500 years...

Devil Worship and a Ghostly Bride: The Confusing (and Eerie) History of the Hellfire Caves, West Wycombe

Located in the National Trust’s West Wycombe village in Buckinghamshire, the Hellfire Caves are a peculiar landmark alongside an otherwise idyllic high street. Extending a quarter of a mile into West Wycombe Hill, The Hellfire Caves were dug between 1748 and 1752 for two mundane reasons: the relief of local unemployment and to provide chalk for the construction of a...