The Mail on Sunday

Swastikas and sinister torchlit rituals . . . how neo-Nazis desecrate National Trust sites

- By Abul Taher

BRITISH neo-Nazis are using National Trust sites to conduct sinister rituals, it emerged this weekend.

A far-Right group that promises followers reward in the afterlife if they die in the ‘struggle for freedom’ has vowed to ‘take back’ ancient locations.

The National Trust said it was aware such groups had used Avebury, a World Heritage site in Wiltshire with prehistori­c stone circles, to carry out rituals. It has reported this to police and said it would step up security at Wayland’s Smithy in Oxfordshir­e, a Neolithic burial chamber it manages on behalf of English Heritage, after swastikas were carved into trees.

It is believed a group calling itself Woden’s Folk has carried out masked torchlit rituals at both Avebury and Wayland’s Smithy and has boasted of launching an ‘English resistance’ at the two sites. One of the rituals was also attended by members of the violent neo-Nazi group Combat 18, and the now banned organisati­on, National Action.

Woden’s Folk calls itself Odinist, the same ancient Norse religion worshipped by Anders Breivik, who slaughtere­d 77 people in Norway in 2011, and Brenton Tarrant, who shot dead 51 in the Christchur­ch massacre in New Zealand earlier this year.

A video of Woden’s Folk performing a ritual at Wayland’s Smithy was recently removed from YouTube.

The group’s founder, who calls himself Wulf Ingessunu, has written blogs filled with hatefilled racist ideology and called for ‘Aryan laws’ to be introduced to Britain.

The National Trust said Wayland’s Smithy and the Avebury stones were open countrysid­e sites and it was hard to monitor access and activity 24 hours a day. It called on staff and local people to be vigilant.

 ??  ?? FLAMES OF HATE: A far-Right torchlit ritual at Wayland’s Smithy in Oxfordshir­e
FLAMES OF HATE: A far-Right torchlit ritual at Wayland’s Smithy in Oxfordshir­e

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