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In brief
With an unmistakable eerie tranquility and offering an enticing retreat from a bustling world, the unspeaking ancient trees and shrouded paths of Epping Forest hold their dark secrets, forever destined to remain the silent witnesses of centuries of unspeakable acts of tragedy and horror.
The hideout of highwaymen, the scene of suicide, cruel murders, and unmarked graves—is it any wonder that this conflicted setting of unparalleled natural beauty is overflowing with the ghosts of desperate souls?
Category
About
The ancient woodland of Epping Forest covers almost 6,000 acres and sits on the borders of London and Essex. Extending over 12 miles from Manor Park in East London and the market town of Epping, the forest has various carparks, access points, and visitor centres.
Providing a welcome bucolic peace for visitors and a perfect habitat for nature, the forest is a firm favourite for TV and film producers looking for an immersive and unspoilt rustic setting. A haven for birdwatchers and lovers of wildlife, with trails for walking and horse riding and with cafes and playgrounds, there really is something for everyone at Epping Forest.
The famous woodland’s rustic and tranquil feel, however, belies a notorious past and a raft of reported ghostly encounters. Has the scene of centuries of sorrow, barbarity, and emotion somehow diminished the veil between the living and the dead?
History
Said to have been granted legal status as a royal forest by King Henry II over 800 years ago, Epping Forest is thought to date back to 1,000 BC.
As infamous as it is celebrated, 1730’s highwaymen such as the ruthless Dick Turpin and Tom King used the dense vegetation of the forest as a perfect hideout and helped create its fearsome reputation as a place where those that entered did so at their own peril.
One of the forest’s many lakes includes a dark stretch of water surrounded by trees, which has earned the forbidding name of Suicide Pond. It is said that birds, deer, and squirrels alike steer clear of the area and that it carries the foreboding atmosphere of the many tragedies it has witnessed.
In 1887, a young servant named Emma Morgan drowned her baby and then herself in Suicide Pond. Even earlier, around 300 years ago, the area by the water was the scene of a tragic death when a young woman was murdered by her father after meeting her young love at the spot, despite his having forbidden the relationship. Her heartbroken boyfriend sadly drowned himself in the pond a few days later.
Epping Forest has continued to attract the vulnerable and unhappy throughout the ages, and long after the decline in highway robbery, the location has also proved a draw to many violent criminals seeking to evade police capture and dump the corpses of their victims. In 1966, armed robber Harry Roberts camped out Epping Forest for three months whilst on the run for brutally murdering three police officers. He used the survival techniques he had learnt while serving in the army.
The savage murders and discovery of remains at Epping Forest are too numerous to list here but include the victims of contract killers, many of whom remain unidentified, and those of young children, such as 11-year-old Susan Blatchford and her 12-year-old friend, Gary Hanlon. Dubbed the Babes in the Woods murders, the two children had gone missing in 1970; their decomposing remains were discovered 11 weeks later in a small Epping Forest copse, leading to a 5,000-acre search of the forest.
Two other sad cases include that of a young woman named Pat Malone, whose dismembered remains were found dumped in Epping Forest in 1980. During 1975-1980, serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, terrorised West Yorkshire, horrifically murdering 13 women and violently attacking others before his eventual arrest in Sheffield. In a tragic twist, it is thought that Ms. Malone had moved to London from Yorkshire, hoping to find a safer area.
A further tragic case involves Terry Gooderham and Maxine Arnold, who in 1989 were found shot to death in a car parked in an isolated 'lovers lane' known as Lodge Road in Epping Forest, with the engine still running. It is believed that the two were kidnapped from their home and made to drive to the scene of the deaths, where they were shot in the back of the head with a 12-bore shotgun in a gangland style killing.
In September 2015, the decomposing and partially buried remains of a man were found by a walker in the Hollows Pond area of Epping Forest. The deceased had suffered gunshot wounds and had been wrapped in plastic Ikea bags. He was later identified as 53-year-old Hidir Aksakal, who had previously stood trial and been acquitted of the gangland murder of a convicted drug dealer.
Sadly, it seems that the lush and serene beauty of enchanting Epping Forest is cruelly fated to forever bear the chilling stains of human barbarity and suffering.
Ghostly activity
- Disembodied voices and the muffled sounds of drums and marching are often heard.
- Figures on horseback materialise in front of shocked witnesses without warning before eerily disappearing.
- The sounds of sobbing are abruptly heard, but searches for the cause prove fruitless.
- The ghost of a nasty-looking man has terrified many unsuspecting visitors in the Hangman's Hill area of the forest. Many believe that he is a former executioner who took great delight in his work.
- An apparition of an old woman in a long robe has been reported standing and staring out as she lingers between the ancient oak trees.
- A man in old-fashioned clothing described as grey trousers and a cloth tunic has been witnessed by stunned visitors. Many claim to feel especially spooked by the fact that the man stares directly at them and fills them with an unsettling feeling of foreboding.
- A passionate walker who was well-used to enjoying hours alone in the countryside described a frightening experience when she was suddenly confronted by a nervous-looking young girl wearing a blue dress. As the girl approached her, she instantly knew the child was not of this world. With long brown hair and a pale, sunken face, the ghostly figure stared intently before disappearing. Other people have also reported seeing a girl in a blue dress, with some accounts stating that she was dripping with water as though she had descended from one of the lakes.
- A ghostly child is seen walking hand in hand with an angry-looking woman, both wearing old-fashioned garb.
Location
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Loughton IG10 4RW, UK
Access
Epping Forest has many level pathways that are suitable for wheelchair users. The Visitor Centre is a fully accessible building with level floors and space for wheelchairs.
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