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The Berwick Vampire: A Blood-Soaked Legend from Berwick-upon-Tweed

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In the midst of border disputes between the English and the Scottish as well as the looming threat of the plague, a new monster started lurking in the dark street. The Berwick Vampire is one of the oldest vampire stories from the UK. 

Berwick was besieged on more occasions than any other town in the world with the exception of Jerusalem, changing hands between England and Scotland 13 times and as a cultural identity not in unison about who they are between the two. It also has more than one vampire story, one of them from a time before the vampire term was even a thing.

In the shadow of ancient battlements and along the fog-laden streets of Berwick-upon-Tweed, lingers the sinister tale of the Berwick Vampire. Though far less famous than its Eastern European counterparts, this chilling account has earned its place in folklore as one of Britain’s earliest recorded vampiric encounters.

A Town Haunted by Blood and Death

The story takes us back to the medieval period, when Berwick was a frequent casualty of border wars between England and Scotland in the 12th century. Life was brutal and death was a constant companion. Among the many tales of plague, battle, and witchcraft that circulated during these turbulent centuries, the legend of a bloodthirsty revenant rose to prominence.

As the story goes, a local man of ill-repute — sometimes described as a wealthy landowner or merchant, died suddenly, his life claimed by an unspecified illness or misdeed. Sometimes it’s said that everyone believed he was an upstanding citizen, and that his misdeed and corruption was only found out after he had died. 

This is why they denied him to be buried on consecrated land after he died of the plague. Death did not lay him to rest. Within days of his burial, villagers began whispering of a pale figure stalking the streets after nightfall. Livestock were found drained of blood, and children complained of night terrors and unexplained bruises upon waking.

The Vampire’s Reign of Terror

It wasn’t long before these sightings took a darker turn. Townsfolk claimed to encounter the man’s corpse-like figure lurking in graveyards and near the town walls. Those who crossed his path reported feeling an intense, unnatural cold and being overcome by a sense of impending doom. It is also said that two children went missing, and they all believed it had to be him. 

Revenant: The term vampire or the undead was not used in medieval time, but several of the stories about the Revenant, Sanguisa or the bloodsuckers of folklore bear resemblance to what the modern world would classify as a vampire legend. In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living and was in medieval times used interchangeably with ghosts. They come from various cultures like the Celtic and Norse, some reminding more about a classic ghost story, some more of a vampire legend. Although today a mixed version of the western and eastern European mythologies of the undead.

As he was running down the street, a pack of howling dogs followed him, keeping all the villagers awake. He shouted out: “Until my body is burnt, you folk of Berwick shall have no peace!”

The Vampire Hunt

The villagers gathered and decided to fight the vampire after several days had forced them inside after dark. Ten young farmers were selected to dig up his body, hack it up to pieces and burn it. 

They did so, but it wasn’t the end of their misery. After burning him to ash, the plague returned and took half the population of Berwick. When they buried the dead, the villagers insisted that they could hear the sound of the vampire followed by his pack of hounds.

Howling Hounds: Often in William Newburghs tales of the undead, there is a pack of dogs following as the dog motif has been connected with death for ages in European mythology. The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil, and is sometimes an omen of death.

The Legacy of the Berwick Vampire

The Berwick legend also highlights how vampire hysteria in the medieval and early modern periods often paralleled outbreaks of disease and unexplained deaths, as communities struggled to explain misfortune with supernatural causes as well as border disputes. Something that many of the vampire legends we have from William Newburgh, like the story of the Berwick Vampire, shares.

William of Newburgh: Many of the tales about the British vampires comes from the 12th century historian, William of Newburgh. William’s major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis (“History of English Affairs”), a history of England from 1066 to 1198, written in Latin. It is written in an engaging fashion and still readable to this day, containing many fascinating stories and glimpses into 12th-century life. He is a major source for stories of medieval revenants, animated corpses that returned from their graves, with close parallels to vampire beliefs.

Today, Berwick-upon-Tweed is a picturesque town known for its Elizabethan walls and coastal charm. Yet for those who listen closely, especially when mist rolls in from the North Sea, old stories persist. Locals still recount the ancient tale of the Berwick Vampire — a reminder of a time when the veil between life and death felt perilously thin, and the dead were not always content to stay buried.

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References:

Vampires of Scotland and England Borders | MJ Wayland

Vampires of Berwick and Melrose

Berwick upon Tweed Vampire

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The Buckinghamshire Vampire: England’s Forgotten Blood-Drinker

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Coming day after day to torment his wife, the Buckinghamshire Vampire terrorized an entire town for days. And he wasn’t stopped until the Bishop intervened. 

Hidden among the villages and misty woodlands of Buckinghamshire in south east England, a county better known for its pastoral landscapes and historic estates, lies a strange and unsettling tale of a vampire said to have once terrorized the area. 

Unlike the famous aristocratic bloodsuckers of Gothic fiction, this legend, whispered among locals for generations, speaks of a malevolent revenant risen from its grave to prey upon the living.

A Folkloric Fragment from Rural England

This story is also one of the vampiric tales we have from the historian William of Newburgh who wrote down many of the monsters and ghost stories from medieval England and Scotland. Allegedly he got the story from Stephen de Swafeld, the archdeacon of the diocese of Buckinghamshire from 1194-1202. 

William of Newburgh: Many of the tales about the British vampires comes from the 12th century historian, William of Newburgh. William’s major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis (“History of English Affairs”), a history of England from 1066 to 1198, written in Latin. It is written in an engaging fashion and still readable to this day, containing many fascinating stories and glimpses into 12th-century life. He is a major source for stories of medieval revenants, animated corpses that returned from their graves, with close parallels to vampire beliefs.

A well respected man of Buckinghamshire died unexpectedly in 1192 and was buried by his family and his grieving widow on the eve of Ascension Day. He must have been a rich man, as he was buried in a tomb. Buckinghamshire had acquired a lot of wealth during the Anglo-Saxons, soon to be taken by William the Conqueror.  

The next night the widow was awakened at night when something laid next to her in her bed. When she opened her eyes, she saw it was her dead husband laying next to her, staring at her with dead eyes. It was said he got on top of her, pressing her down into the bed.

It is unsure and not specified what this actually means. Did he paralyze her like a night terror thing, did he force himself on her?

When the sun rose, the man went back into his tomb. But he would return the next night. Some say he did the same for a second time. But for the third, the widow was prepared. She had invited her friends and family to watch over her, in case her dead husband came back. 

He crept through her window, but when he was heading for her bed, the walking dead was attacked by her protectors who chased him off with loud noises and into the fields where the animals were grassing. Some say that he went to attack his brothers instead who were living in the same town.

Revenant: The term vampire or the undead was not used in medieval time, but several of the stories about the Revenant, Sanguisa or the bloodsuckers of folklore bear resemblance to what the modern world would classify as a vampire legend. In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living and was in medieval times used interchangeably with ghosts. They come from various cultures like the Celtic and Norse, some reminding more about a classic ghost story, some more of a vampire legend. Although today a mixed version of the western and eastern European mythologies of the undead.

For a long time, the vampire kept appearing in the town, attacking sleeping people as well as resting animals. Soon, every household was up all night, guarding to defend themselves from the vampire stalking them. 

It got so bad he started appearing in broad daylight, seen by big groups of people in the streets and in the fields. Often he was seen with a pack of hounds following him, something the undead in William’s writing did, as well as other British ghost and vampire stories. 

Howling Hounds: Often in William Newburghs tales of the undead, there is a pack of dogs following as the dog motif has been connected with death for ages in European mythology. The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil, and is sometimes an omen of death.

Blessings from the Bishop

The story of the undead reached the Bishop and they decided to do an investigation. This has also been said to be the Archdeacon Stephen. He had written to St. Hugh, the bishop of Lincoln, asking for advice. It was said that they had to open his tomb and burn him to ashes, but the archdeacon didn’t want to and asked if there was another way. 

They decided to open his tomb and exhumed his body. When the tomb was opened the body was found to have not decomposed. The bishop had written an absolution that they placed on the man’s chest before the tomb was sealed up again. 

It is said that this helped and the blessing  from the bishop made so the revenant remained in his grave and he never bothered anyone ever again. . 

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References:

Buckinghamshire Vampire – OCCULT WORLD

William of Newburgh: Medieval Vampire Hunter? | Our Ancient History

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The Vampire of Alnwick Castle: Northumberland’s Restless Dead

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In the castle often dubbed the Windsor of the North, the Alnwick castle also houses some dark legends. One of them being that there once was a vampire demon lurking in the dark corners of the castle. 

Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England has been called  the Windsor of the North and has been the home for the Percy family since 1309, including the current 12th Duke of Northumberland. It has played a crucial role in the history of England, as a stronghold in the border wars with Scotland as well as the power battle in the Wars of Roses.

Long before Alnwick Castle gained modern renown as a filming location for Harry Potter’s Hogwarts or Downton Abbey, it was home to far darker, bloodier folklore. In the 12th century, this formidable Northumbrian stronghold was at the center of one of Britain’s most unnerving medieval vampire tales — chronicled by the historian William of Newburgh.

The Tale as Told by William of Newburgh

William, writing around 1196, recounted the terrifying legend in his Historia Rerum Anglicarum, documenting the story of a long-deceased servant to the Lord de Vesci of Alnwick in the 11th century who refused to stay buried. It was said he came from Yorkshire to escape the law. Or was it the master of the castle himself who stayed underneath his castle after his death? According to local accounts, after his death this malevolent soul rose nightly from his grave to prowl the surrounding village.

William of Newburgh: Many of the tales about the British vampires comes from the 12th century historian, William of Newburgh. William’s major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis (“History of English Affairs”), a history of England from 1066 to 1198, written in Latin. It is written in an engaging fashion and still readable to this day, containing many fascinating stories and glimpses into 12th-century life. He is a major source for stories of medieval revenants, animated corpses that returned from their graves, with close parallels to vampire beliefs.

He was said to be a horrid man, although his misdeeds aren’t always specified. He was also a very jealous man and suspected his wife had taken a lover and wanted to caught her in the act. He told her he was going out on a journey for many days, but in secret snuck back after dark. He went to spy on her and climbed to the roof of his house to look in her window. Some say that he was hiding on a beam overhanging her room. 

Whether his wife cheated or not is debated. Some say that a man really did enter her room, causing him to lose his balance and fall down. He fell through the roof or off the beam and crashed to the floor and injured himself badly. As he lay dying on her floor, he refused to repent his sins, and died with the cursing words of his wife looming over him. 

The creature, often referred to simply as the Alnwick Vampire, brought with it a pestilent air of death. Villagers spoke of a sickening stench and oppressive atmosphere whenever the restless corpse stalked the streets. It is also said that a pack of hounds howling was following him. In the original source, it’s not often mentioned they feared for their blood to be sucked out of them, but being “beaten black and blue by this vagrant monster.”

Howling Hounds: Often in William Newburghs tales of the undead, there is a pack of dogs following as the dog motif has been connected with death for ages in European mythology. The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil, and is sometimes an omen of death.

The villagers were so afraid they started to lock themselves inside of their homes at night. It is also said that the castle was close to being abandoned and that people started to move away. Soon after the nightly disturbances began, a dreadful plague outbreak swept through the village, and the suffering townsfolk laid blame squarely at the feet of the wandering revenant.

A Grim Solution: Dismemberment and Burning

Local priests and terrified townsfolk, desperate to end the curse, gathered on Palm Sunday at two brothers who had lost their father to the plague and wanted to stop it before it consumed them as well. and decided upon a grim but time-honored medieval remedy: they would exhume the vampire’s corpse and destroy it.

A band of brave men dug up the grave. He was not found six feet under as he had been buried the first time, but right under the surface with just a bit of soil barely covering him. 

His body was naturally preserved and bloated. It was said it had swollen to almost twice its size and his flesh was more pink than deadly white. Although the stench of flesh was overwhelming. 

To put an end to the horrors, they dragged the body from the earth, hacked it to pieces as gallons of fresh hot blood poured out of him, pure evidence of him being a bloodsucking monster. The body pieces were taken outside of the town and burned the remains to ash.

William of Newburgh recorded the event in chilling detail, remarking on how the decay and pestilence lifted almost immediately after the body’s destruction.

Vampire or Revenant? A Medieval Fear

This account from Alnwick is one of the earliest written vampire legends in England. Even to this day, William de Newburgh is claimed to have been a serious historian who relied on good and trustworthy sources. 

In the story though, he does call the castle Anantis, and it has since then been affiliated with the Alnwick Castle. This sort of became canon lore after Montague Summers published The Vampire in Europe in 1929 where he called the legend the Alnwick Vampire. 

There have been some that have speculated that the castle from the story was actually Annan Castle of the Bruce family in South West Scotland. However, the structure of the story does remind quite a lot of an Irish vampire story about an evil lord jealous of his wife and dies when spying on her and her suspected lover.

Read More: The Legend of Ireland’s Vampire King Abhartach and the Haunted Giant’s Grave

It is also said that William heard the story from an old monk who lived when the story happened, meaning it must have been sometime in the late 11th, early 12th century like most of his vampire stories. It wasn’t called vampire though, but some sort of bloodsucker or sanguine, the latin word for it. 

Revenant: The term vampire or the undead was not used in medieval time, but several of the stories about the Revenant, Sanguisa or the bloodsuckers of folklore bear resemblance to what the modern world would classify as a vampire legend. In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living and was in medieval times used interchangeably with ghosts. They come from various cultures like the Celtic and Norse, some reminding more about a classic ghost story, some more of a vampire legend. Although today a mixed version of the western and eastern European mythologies of the undead.

In the medieval mind, such revenants were often considered a cross between a ghost and a vampire who were physical corpses that left their tombs to infect the living, causing plagues, death, and despair. The cause of their resurrection was often attributed to sin, improper burial rites, or a cursed nature in life.

Other Ghosts at Alnwick Castle

In addition to a legend of a bloodsucking undead, it is also said that the ghost of a Grey Lady is haunting the castle grounds. It is said that a young teenage girl was working as a maid in the castle in the Victorian time. One day she was working in one of the kitchens. She fell down a chute to the tunnels below the castle. The dumb waiter used to raise and lower food between the castle floors and broke and fell on top of her. It crushed her to death. 

It is said that she is walking in the tunnels and dark corridors deep below the castle. 

Today, Alnwick Castle embraces its eerie history, and there is even a gin inspired by the legend. Ghost tours and local folklore evenings recount not only the vampire of the 12th century but also tales of spectral knights, weeping women, and shadowy figures that stalk the castle halls and grounds after dark.

And though centuries have passed since the old master’s body was consigned to the flames, some claim that on misty nights, a strange stench lingers in the old graveyard, and figures are glimpsed where no one should be.

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References:

The Alnwick vampire

Vampire and Ghost of Alnwick Castle

The Secrets of Alnwick Castle’s Haunting Past

1196 (ca.): Vampire of Anantis | Anomalies: the Strange & Unexplained

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The Hunderprest: The Vampire Monk of Melrose Abbey

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A devious and unholy monk called The Hunderprest, was said to haunt the countryside on the Scottish border as well as Melrose Abbey. Was this specter really a bloodsucking vampire?

In the Scottish Borders, the ruins of Melrose Abbey have stood since the 12th century as a brooding, atmospheric relic of medieval piety and power. Melrose is a seemingly picture perfect place, drawing people in as the best salmon and trout fishing in the country. 

The Melrose Abbey is on the north east side of the town center and some of the more iconic buildings from the area. Behind its beautiful Gothic arches and solemn grave markers lies a dark legend: the tale of the Hunderprest, or the dog priest, a vampiric monk whose foul deeds and undead existence chilled even the most devout.

The Mysterious and Magical Melrose Abbey

The Abbey was founded by a colony of Cisterian monks in 1136 by the River Tweed. Once, it was said a miracle happened here, when the corn in their cellar multiplied in the time of a great famine, and the monks could feed them all. This and more miracles were said to have been performed by Abbot Waltheof, the stepson to King David I of Scotland. 

Through its time of operation it was one of the wealthiest monasteries in Scotland, but through all the years of war on the Scottish border it was badly damaged by the English in 1385 and rebuilt in the late 14th century. 

Melrose Abbey: A view of the interior of the ruined Melrose Abbey, Scotland. Heath’s Picturesque Annual 1835 by Roger Griffith

Today it’s a museum, although a big part of it is now lichen-covered ruins. In the Chapter House there is a burial casket of a heart, thought to belong to King Robert I, also called, The Bruce. In 1812, an old stone coffin was found close to the altar, thought to be the final resting place of Michael Scot, the mysterious Scottish wizard from the 13th century, said to have changed the River Tweed with his staff and turned the single peak of the Eildon Hills to the three we see today.

But not all miracles were as magical as these wonderful things. Some say that the magic happening around the cloister was also the work of evil, perhaps even a bloodsucking vampire. 

The Hunderprest of Melrose Abbey

According to medieval chronicles, the Hunderprest was a monk of Melrose Abbey during the 12th or 13th century. The Cistercian monks who lived and worshipped there had built the Abbey, the first Cistercian Abbey in the country, at the behest of King David I. They were famous for their Melrose wool they sold to the rest of Europe. 

Though little is known about his mortal life, legend says he was a man of great vice and depravity, a predator hidden behind a habit, whose sins were so grave that even in death, the earth rejected him.

Melrose Abbey in 1800, when part of the abbey was still in use as the parish church

Exactly what his sins were is not explicitly said always, but he was often claimed to have been a womaniser and drunkard, bringing shame upon his order. The region was a place of unlawfulness though, being controlled by independent clans called The Border Reivers that often clashed together in violence. It was both a time and place of ruthless lawlessness. 

Some say that in life, he used to be a chaplain to a lady who lived nearby. He was given the name Hundeprest as his favorite thing to do was hunting on horseback as a pack of howling hounds followed him. 

Howling Hounds: Often in William Newburghs tales of the undead, there is a pack of dogs following as the dog motif has been connected with death for ages in European mythology. The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil, and is sometimes an omen of death.

Some accounts claim he practiced the black arts in secret, while others allege unspeakable acts committed under the guise of spiritual authority. The locals whispered of his unnatural appetites and sinister nature — rumors that seemed confirmed after his passing.

The Undead Haunting of the Abbey

Because of his sins in life, there was no way he was getting into heaven, and his soul could not find any peace. Livestock were found drained of blood, villagers claimed to see a shadowy figure lurking near graves, and monks reported being stalked by a ghastly presence within the cloisters at night.

He tried to enter the Abbey in the night in the form of a winged bat, only driven away after vigorous prayer and rituals from the monks. Because he was unable to cross the threshold to the holy ground, he needed another place to torment.

He found the cottage to a woman who he had known when he was alive. Said to be the woman he had been the chaplain for in life. She was also rumored to have been his lover. Her neighbors reported that a vampire roamed around her house, moaning and screeching at her, scaring her. Every night he returned to torment and terrorize, lusting after her blood. Because of this, they decided to summon an elder monk from the abbey for an exorcism. 

The Exorcism of a Vampire

Determined to put an end to the terror, the abbot of Melrose called upon the services of a particularly devout and courageous monk, often believed to be William of Newburgh, a respected chronicler of supernatural events. He ended up writing about a lot of monsters and ghosts in the middle ages. 

William of Newburgh: Many of the tales about the British vampires comes from the 12th century historian, William of Newburgh. William’s major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis (“History of English Affairs”), a history of England from 1066 to 1198, written in Latin. It is written in an engaging fashion and still readable to this day, containing many fascinating stories and glimpses into 12th-century life. He is a major source for stories of medieval revenants, animated corpses that returned from their graves, with close parallels to vampire beliefs.

According to the old accounts, a group of monks were put to task and went to the grave of the priest to investigate. As the day waned, the priest appeared like he was levitating out of his grave. They managed to shove the vampire back with a staff. Sometimes this is changed to a mighty axe the monks swung at him. The earth swallowed the Hunderprest like nothing had happened, the ground undisturbed again. This is when the elder monk knew they were dealing with a vampire and knew what to do. 

They waited for daylight and dug up his grave again. They exhumed the Hunderprest’s corpse and what they found only deepened their horror: though dead for some time, the monk’s body was fresh, his face ruddy, with blood at his lips curled up to a grin, classic signs of the undead in medieval folklore.

It was also said it was through praying and fasting that they managed to defeat him. How they killed the vampire, although not named as such in the early sources, varies. Did they stake him through the heart? Probably not, but they do mention setting him on fire and burning him to ashes as most of the stories of the undead mentions. The legend of the stake came later. 

Revenant: The term vampire or the undead was not used in medieval time, but several of the stories about the Revenant, Sanguisa or the bloodsuckers of folklore bear resemblance to what the modern world would classify as a vampire legend. In folklore, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living and was in medieval times used interchangeably with ghosts. They come from various cultures like the Celtic and Norse, some reminding more about a classic ghost story, some more of a vampire legend. Although today a mixed version of the western and eastern European mythologies of the undead.

After they burned him to ash, they took him to Lammermuir Hills where the wind carried him to the north along the borders. 

To this day, visitors to the hauntingly beautiful ruins of Melrose Abbey claim to feel a chilling presence lingering among the weathered stones. Some report seeing a shadow moving through the broken cloisters at night, or hearing faint whispers in the darkened archways.

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References:

Legend of the “Hunderprest” Vampire of Melrose Abbey

Airhouses – News – The Incredible Legends of Melrose Abbey

The Hunderprest: The Vampire Monk of Melrose.