The robber bandit of Wenlock Edge

Wenlock Edge has always felt like a special place, rising from the earth like the spines of a dragon’s back.

This limestone escarpment runs over 18 miles from Craven Arms to Ironbridge, connecting scattered villages and communities to the wider parts of Shropshire. Places like Easthope, Shipton, Presthope, Bourton and Much Wenlock, which are magical in their own right, become part of a wholly unique area.

Indeed, the significance of Wenlock edge is monumental, and difficult to sum up in just one post, however, I would like to briefly discuss some of its features, before we turn to its rich ghost lore. 

Wenlock Edge is an area of immense biological importance, with a mixture of flower rich limestone grasslands and ancient woodlands. It is characterised as an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and one can find a plethora of species of tree here, including but not limited to wych elm, Sessile oak, ash and hazel. 

The ground flora includes Dog’s Mercury, Bluebell, wood sorrel, wood barley and violet helleborine. It is particularly beautiful in spring when wandering the ancient pathways that twist along the edge makes you feel as if you’re in middle earth, or some other secret place.  

The Limestone outcrops of Wenlock Edge have been termed “Britain’s most important geological sites” due to it being the best example of reef development during the Silurian period in Britain.  The reef was formed in shallow subtropical seas around 425 million years ago when the area was south of the equator and at the same latitude as the Seychelles today.

There is a real age to this place which you can feel as you walk, rising from the ground beneath our feet. Due to its geological importance, you can also find a number of fossils in the area, such as Fossilised Crinoids and Brachiopods. Indeed, many species of brachiopod, Trilobite and Ostracod were first found in Wenlock.  

If we turn to the folklore now, one can clearly see that there is a rich tradition that runs like veins and capillaries across the edge. Indeed, the area has an interesting corpus of tales, which include witches, ghosts and everything in between.

One commentator noted that Wenlock edge is overrun with spirits due to the level of violence which soaks the area, as almost every village in the locality has experienced killing or murder. As a result, nameless spirits are often seen on the green roads, wandering without purpose. 

By looking at these stories in more detail, one can begin to understand the complexities of life along the edge, and how people in the past interacted with their environment.  Wenlock Edge was seen by locals as belonging to the Fae. It was a wild ungovernable place, littered with spirits and other otherworldly beings. One of my favourite examples of this is the story of Glattering Gat, a sadly unidentified space between two hedgerows, which a fairy path cuts through, into a coppice beyond.

This unassuming space is actually a portal between worlds, used by the fairy folk. This place was generally feared by locals, and avoided as they didn’t want to be spirited away. However, one local story states that a man thought he could use this space to his advantage, to gain his inheritance. The man lured his father there, murdered him brutally, and then left his body at Glattering Gat, covered by thick foliage and leaves.

He believed the fairies would take the corpse to their own realm, and he could spend his father’s fortune. However, he should have realised that you cannot control the fae and they exposed the corpse, leaving it to be found by local gamekeepers. I love this story because it demonstrates the unique energy of Wenlock edge, and implores us to respect the natural world, rather than attempt to control it.  

I want to turn to one story in particular now and look at it in more detail. This story not only portrays Wenlock Edge as characterised by otherness, but also demonstrates the strong paranormal tradition in the area. I want to discuss the ghost of Ippikin.  

During the medieval period, Wenlock Edge was a haven for bandits and outlaws, and to travel in the area was a dangerous activity. If you happened upon one of these criminals, you would be lucky to escape with your purse, and even luckier to escape with your life.

Such lawlessness ensured that many a hapless traveller was lost forever, their bodies scattered somewhere along the edge, perhaps this is why so many ghosts endure. However, of all the bandits on the edge, the most ruthless, cutthroat of them all, was the fearless and unusually named ‘Ippikin’.

We have little information about the man, other than a brief description. He was said to have a very prominent chin, and a fiery red beard and hair. Motivated only by gold and riches, his reign of terror extended throughout the locality. Soon enough, other bandits joined forces with him, realising that the only way they could succeed was through his protection.  

Ippikin and his men set up a base near Presthope, in a deep cave. Here they stored their riches, as well as a few provisions, in case they needed to hide away from the law. So, there they stayed, and deepened their hold on the area, even terrorising the monks in the local abbey.  It seemed that the outlaws were unstoppable, which strengthened Ippikin’s confidence, that was, until the day they were punished for their wicked actions. 

It was early one morning, when the men were still sleeping soundly in the depths of the cave, that an almighty rumble grew from the depths of the earth. It was as if God himself was wrathful, it shook the earth and woke confused and disorientated men. However, before they could leave the cave a great rock tumbled, sealing the cave shut. 

Panic stricken the men shouted and screamed, attempting to push the rock away from the entrance. This was to no avail. The rock was firmly in place, trapping the wicked men inside. After a while, the men slumped to the cave floor, resigned to their fate. Either someone would have to come and visit them, or they would perish inside the cave. They had a few days provisions, which they shared amongst themselves, but soon enough they ran out.  
 
Only Ippikin refused to accept they were trapped, angrily banging and kicking the rock, until he ran out of energy. The men all died in that cave, having starved and suffocated to death. However, this is not the end of their time on earth.

The men were so wicked, that their spirits didn’t cross to the other side, and instead lingered in the area. It is said that if you go to Ippikin’s rock, you may still hear the men’s pitiful screams and shouts, as well as seeing disembodied shapes moving in the distance.

The most active of these apparitions is Ippikin himself, which if we are to believe the folklore, one can summon at will. Indeed, if you stand on Ippikin’s rock, and chant the following, he is said to appear.  

‘Ippikin, Ippikin 
Stay away with your long chin’.  

However, one must exercise caution on summoning Ippikin, because it has the potential to be the last thing you do. Upon repeating this phrase, the vengeful Ippikin is said to appear, and violently attempt to push you off the cliff’s edge, to your own death.

What is most interesting about this haunting is that it has been consistently reported for at least 200 years and is one of the most well-known stories from the area.

It reminds us that nature should be respected and treated with caution, and that perhaps it isn’t the wisest decision to attempt to summon robber bandits from days past.