The dead are rising...

I love pre-historic and medieval sites and am always looking for more to visit when I’m on holiday. I’d read about the medieval abandoned village of Wharram Percy, not much remains, only a ruined church left and some humps in a large field. Still it was on the way back from Whitby, so we decided to make the detour.

Several articles had been published saying that archaeologists have recently found cut and burn marks on some of the bones buried away from the church and graveyard. They’ve been speculating that someone attempted to stop the dead from walking between the 11th and 14th century

I’m aware of the folklore of Eastern Europe, that they believed that vampires rose from the dead to infect others with plague in medieval times. With our knowledge of medical science, it’s not difficult to imagine someone coming around from a coma. Waking up at your own funeral with horrified friends and family wanting to put you permanently to your rest is not a comforting thought!

Having made the detour and walked the mile down to the field we discovered that there was a bull inside. Needless to say, having been chased by cows before I am far more wary of them than vampires or zombies. We ended up not going in.

If you’re in the area, here’s a link to some more information - http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wharram-percy-deserted-medieval-village/