Beastly beheadings

It’s not just the ghosts of decapitated people that roam the countryside. There have been sightings of numerous headless animal spirits, too. A headless black dog is said to haunt Ivelet Bridge in Swaledale, Yorkshire. It leaps over the side of the bridge, into the churning waters below. It’s a death omen, so if you see the phantom hell hound, you’ll meet your maker within the year. A herd of decapitated spectral sheep is said to appear in Blandford Forum, Dorset, on land where a sheep markets were once held. And in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Layer Marney, Essex, people have spotted the ghost of a headless chicken flapping among the headstones like, well, a headless chicken!