England

Behind the walls of its castles, England is going to ruin. Under a grey sky, old gods and new religions battle for dominance. Between the pages of the earliest gothic novels, it’s all being recorded.

And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, it just won’t stop raining.

Wander the wilderness of the Yorkshire Moors in search of long lost loves. Peek behind the closed doors of country estates and uncover family secrets too shameful to name. Track the footsteps of the Witchfinder General and the numerous people he accused of dark magic. And follow the Gothic Dispatch through England as I seek the pardon of King, country and, most considerably, my own conscience.

Here, you’ll find a collection of dispatches from gothic England, exploring its architecture, culture, literature and nature.

The King’s Men at Rollright – a stone circle dating back to around 2500 BC.

The Legend of the Rollright Stones, Where a Witch Tricked a King

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While you or I may – and should – depart this strange site as soon as possible, the King’s Men at Rollright must themselves wait until midnight. Or so goes one of the many stories.

Greetings from the Rollright Stones, three ancient arrangements in a field in Oxfordshire, England. Hear the stories, both plausible and improbable, behind their mysterious appearance. Pay tribute to the wooden witch that still watches over them. And if you’re spending the night in the nearby village, make sure you’re safe in bed before the clock strikes midnight.

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The Keble College chapel, an enormous red and white brick Gothic Revival building on the edge of a green quad.

Gothic Revival Masterpiece Keble College and the Quest To Destroy It

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I have no shortage of critics, be they of my writing, my comportment or my appearance. But even their numbers cannot rival those of the Destroy Keble Society.

Greetings from Keble College, one of the many colleges that make up Oxford University and, most certainly, the least popular. Discover the unsavoury source of the fortune that funded its building. Hear the horrible things that England’s brightest minds have said about its Gothic Revival style. And if you’re a member of rival St John’s College, please leave your chisel at the gate.

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The Parkland Walk spriggan leans out from under a railway arch. All around, wild vines creep and hang – against the dark stone, colourful graffiti.

The Parkland Walk spriggan, guardian of the wilderness

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Under the castle ruins, among the standing stones and in the barrows under England, the old world is sleeping. One magical creature, however, had the misfortune to draw the night shift.

Greetings from Parkland Walk, once a battlefront of industrialisation, now reclaimed by the wilderness and its spriggan guardian. Join me as I walk the three-mile path through London. Pay tribute to the powers at work here – whether of our world or another. And follow the Gothic Dispatch if only to keep me from being led maliciously astray.

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The white exterior of Strawberry Hill House as seen from the gardens. Gothic battlements, towers and spires cluster as though for warmth; windows and finials fight for space.

Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s gothic plaything

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Few things suggest hereditary power in England like gothic castles – although receding hairlines come close. Fortunately, Horace Walpole chose to poke fun at the former.

Greetings from Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s “little gothic castle” and inspiration for the first gothic novel. Join me to discover the ironic origins of gothic literature’s essential inversion – that of the dominator and the subordinate. And peek behind the walls of England’s greatest castles to find power as flimsy as cardboard.

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