From the cliffs rising above the verdant landscape in Shropshire, England, Wenlock Edge holds a couple of ghost story carved into the limestone of bandits, soldiers and buried treasure.
A limestone escarpment covered with deciduous forests in Shropshire, England, hiding the secrets of centuries past – the infamous Wenlock Edge. It is a 28-kilometer-long escarpment covered with meadows and forests, along which there are old quarries and lime kilns from the past. It is taken into account certainly one of the wonders of the English Midlands attributable to its necessary geology, which stays from a time when the Midlands had a hotter climate near the Seychelles.
Wenlock Edge has also been the positioning of many legends and ghost stories. Immortalized within the poetic verses of A. E. Housman and steeped in legend, this enchanting forest holds tales of bandits, lost treasures and ghostly echoes that encourage intrepid visitors to warily traverse its shady glades.
Ippikin's Stolen Fortune
One of the legends told about this place is of a spirit that is alleged to protect the buried treasures of a notorious bandit named Ippikin, and certainly one of the cliff outcroppings is named Ippikin's Rock.
He was apparently a thirteenth century knight who spent his days raping and pillaging, and his base was in a cave on Wenlock Edge. Ippikins, a figure enshrined in local lore, is alleged to have stolen a wealth of gold and precious stones hidden underground, waiting for those brave enough to seek out them.
Ippikin's Spooky Warning
A blood-curdling encounter with the ghost of Ippikins awaits those that dare to tempt fate. Some legends also claim that he had the flexibility to renew his youth every 70 years. But one fateful day, lightning struck the cave and each he, his band of bandits, and his treasure fell to the bottom, trapping their spirits for eternity. Other versions say that it was a stone that fell and blocked the doorway to the cave.
Local superstition warns that if a traveler steps on Wenlock Edge, he’ll repeat the spell “Ippikin, Ippikin, steer clear of your long chin,” they risk the ghostly intervention of a bandit. Consequence? A forceful push down the embankment by the invisible hand of Ippikin himself, ensuring guests are careful on this forest kingdom.
Major Thomas Smallman's fatal jump
Wenlock Edge is just not only shrouded within the legend of Ippikin, but additionally witnesses the ghostly presence of Major Thomas Smallman. Smallman, a Royalist officer in the course of the English Civil War between 1642 and 1651, found himself in terrible trouble when Parliamentary troops closed in on him while he was carrying an important message to Shrewsbury.
Instead of giving up, he made a brave alternative – he rode his horse off a cliff. The horse died, but Smallman miraculously survived, caught within the branches of an apple tree, and traveled on foot to Shrewsbury to deliver parcels.
Although in accordance with legend he survived the autumn, it is alleged that when he actually died, he returned to Wenlock Edge and his dead horse. The site of this daring leap is ceaselessly often called Major's Leap and echoes the spirit of the brave officer and his steed.
Wenlock Edge Cliffs
Wenlock Edge is dappled sunlight and shifting shadows, and the encircling forest holds its secrets, allowing the legends of Ippikin and Major Thomas Smallman to echo down the centuries.
Perhaps even hiding hidden treasures, in addition to stones and fossils from the truly ancient past.
Bibliography:
BBC – Shropshire – places – Legends: Ippikin, the robber knight of Wenlock Edge
Image Source: Pixabay.com
