Britain's most haunted places revealed

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - From screaming skulls and headless horsemen to murdered brides and phantom farmers, English folklore is full of spine-tingling ghost stories.

Terrified witnesses speak of seeing ghostly armies marching through the fog, spirits searching for hidden treasure and bells ringing from ruined churches.

Authors Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson have sifted through centuries of myths, legends and local tales to compile a county-by-county guide to England's ghosts.

"Readers may be surprised to see that a tale they had thought belonged to one place is found elsewhere," the authors say in the foreword to the "Penguin Book of Ghosts."

"Folktales and legends are in constant slow movement, like an iceberg," they note.

The village of Prestbury in Gloucestershire has a good claim to the title of England's most haunted place, the book says.

Its entry includes:

* A headless Civil War soldier galloping down a lane on horseback. Legend has it that he was a Royalist executed after being caught by Roundheads camped in the village.