The ghost roads

Corpse roads used to convey the dead in medieval times are often reported as haunted and may follow routes which had spiritual significance in prehistoric times

By Richard Holland

One of the most interesting books I’ve picked up recently is ‘The Spirit Roads: An Exploration of Otherworldly Routes’ by Paul Devereux. The book was first published in 2003 but was reissued last year. In it, Devereux, who is an authority on ley lines and the wider realm of ‘Earth magic’, discusses the existence of so-called corpse roads, traditional routes employed to carry the dead to burial grounds. Apparently, they criss-cross the British Isles and are of considerable antiquity, mostly dating from the Middle Ages but many possibly having been used since prehistory.

Devereux points out that these corpse roads are often believed to be haunted, even though their original use has been long forgotten. They existed because burial grounds were strictly controlled by the church and could be many miles apart in the rural communities of the past. He gives one example where, until the 13th century, parishioners were expected to take their dead on a gruelling 12-mile journey across Dartmoor in order to lay them in consecrated soil. Since many churches were built on pre-Christian sacred sites, it would be no surprise to learn that the routes had been used for thousands of years.

Paul Devereux suggests that these corpse roads may have had sacred significance in pre-Christian times, too. He points out their similarity to the ancient stone avenues, such as the one partly surviving at Avebury, and their supposed function as ‘spirit ways’; he also posits links with Shamanic routes of other cultures, such as the Nazca lines of Peru and the ‘Songlines’ of the native Australians. Fairylore also gets a chapter all to itself in this fascinating book.

Some of the UK’s corpse roads have vanished under modern development but a goodly number survive and can be tracked over miles. Sections may have quite different characters today: a route might conceivably change from a Tarmacked road through a housing estate, turn into a hollow green lane, then become no more than a line of trees across an open field, before becoming a recognisable path again a few hundred yards from a church. ’Spirit Roads’ features a gazetteer of routes around Britain that can still be followed. I’m pleased to say there’s one a few miles from where I live (which i will shorly explore) – and there may be one near you, too.

I can see a new hobby starting – tracking the ancient spirit ways of one’s own neighbourhood! Any footpath or lane said to be haunted by a Black Dog, or any other ghost, may be a clue as to its former function as a corpse road. Of course, accounts of Phantom Funerals would be a dead giveaway (pardon the pun), and places where the fairies were said to troop would also be significant. If you can trace any route leading from a church in something of a straight line, you might be onto something. It’s time to get the maps out.

[Source: 'Spirit Roads' by Paul Devereux, published by Anova in 2007 ISBN: 978-1-84340-406-4]

© Richard Holland 2008