In 1971, in the quiet English town of Hexham, two brothers playing in their garden uncovered something strange beneath a thin layer of earth. They were no larger than apples, two carved stone heads, one smooth and pale like limestone, the other darker and more roughly textured. Both had crude, almost childlike faces. No one knew where they came from, how long they had been buried, or why they had been hidden on that suburban property. But in the weeks after the discovery, the household began to feel as though something had woken up with them.
The Robson family, who owned the home at the time, reported disturbances almost immediately. Small objects moved from shelves. Doors opened on their own. Nights were punctuated by the sound of something bumping against the walls or skittering across floorboards when no one was awake. The children said the heads were warm when they first unearthed them, as though they had been lying beside a fire rather than under soil. Their mother claimed she could feel an odd heaviness in the room where the heads were kept, an atmosphere that seemed to thicken after sunset.
The disturbances intensified when the heads were moved to the home of Professor Anne Ross, a respected Celtic scholar who believed they might be ancient Celtic ritual objects. Almost immediately, Ross reported poltergeist activity: papers thrown from her desk, footsteps in empty rooms, items disappearing or reappearing in places she had not left them. Ross, known for her academic discipline and skepticism toward sensational claims, surprised many colleagues when she publicly stated she believed the heads were linked to something supernatural.
Then came the strangest account of all, the wolf-man sighting. One night, Ross awoke to the sound of heavy footsteps padding through her hallway. She described seeing a large, dark, wolf-like creature standing in her bedroom doorway, its body upright like a man’s but its head unmistakably animal. The figure, she said, stared for several seconds before turning and moving down the hall. Her daughter reported seeing a similar creature in the same period, adding credibility to what many would have dismissed as a nightmare. After the wolf-man incident, Ross had the heads returned immediately.
The heads then passed into the hands of another researcher, Don Robins, who took a more archaeological approach. Robins proposed that the heads might have been “test objects” for geomantic or ritual uses, absorbing and reflecting energy in ways that aligned with ancient practices. He also noted that paranormal activity often followed the heads rather than staying bound to a single location. However, the mystery deepened when a local man came forward claiming he had carved the heads himself as toys in the 1950s. This admission resolved nothing, because even after the alleged sculptor’s confession, the disturbances continued.
Independent tests suggested the heads were unlikely to be modern toys. Their materials did not match what the man claimed to have used, and the wear patterns pointed to objects far older than the mid-20th century. Some archaeologists suggested a Roman origin. Others believed they were much older, possibly Celtic, potentially connected to local traditions of carved guardian figures. Without a clear date or maker, theories multiplied: ritual talismans, boundary markers, grave goods, or artifacts meant to invoke protective spirits.
No single explanation accounts for everything, the poltergeist activity, the creature sightings, the shifting behavior depending on who possessed the heads. What is certain is that the Hexham Heads left behind an extraordinary legacy for two simple objects found by children digging in the dirt. Today, their exact whereabouts are unknown. They vanished sometime after Robins’ research, leaving behind nothing but case reports, interviews, and the unsettling sense that whatever power they held has simply moved somewhere out of sight.
Editor’s Note: The Hexham Heads case is a documented series of events recorded in news reports, interviews, and academic commentary. While the sightings and poltergeist accounts come from firsthand testimony, some narrative elements are presented in reconstructed form to preserve clarity and chronology.
Sources & Further Reading:
– Newcastle Journal archives, 1971–1974 coverage of the Hexham Heads
– Anne Ross interviews and BBC regional reports
– Don Robins, “The Quest for the Hexham Heads” (research papers)
– Folklore Society publications on Celtic ritual objects and guardian carvings
– Northern Antiquarian notes on Hexham archaeological anomalies
(One of many stories shared by Headcount Coffee — where mystery, history, and late-night reading meet.)
