Humberston
The Norse god Odin (Woden) has an especially strong influence over the area with many towns bearing names influenced by him. . Grimsby (once part of Lincolnshire, then South Humberside and now North East Lincolnshire) gains its name from Odin's alternative name Grim or Grimr (By being old Norse for village).
Humberston (originally named Humberstone until the post office dropped the e from the end to end confusion with the Leicestershire village of the same name) had it own stone - which is still sat outside the library to this day. Although stories of what it was or where it came from vary. Once more there is a possible Nordic connection. It was the "ubba 'oo land thear" meaning Hubba a Danish chieftain, who is said to have sailed up the creek which is now Tetney beck and landed near the blue-grey glacial boulder which he used as a tribal meeting place
although Humberston could be derived from Humberd - a scared place of Bardic worship and ton meaning simple town. (The river Humber itself would also then possible be a place of Bardic worship).
The stone in the Leicestershire village of Humberstone has more history recorded about it. The stone is called Humber, Holston, Hell or Holy stone and it was believed that the fairies lived in it. In Leicestershire there was a nunnery nearby with underground tunnels where as in Humberston the stone is near a former monastery, which is also believed to have underground tunnels.
There is also other folklore connected to the area
On St. Mark's Eve - 15th April it is claimed that ghostly monks walk from the manor house
Also on St. Mark's eve - it was said that the cocks' crowed at midnight and all the animals would go down on their knees. Ladies would go around every room in their house chanting"Come out all you ghosts and goblins." An old villager was said to go stand outside the church to watch the spirits of the parishioners enter. The owners of those that did not come were noted and it was known they would die before the next St. Marks eve In other parts of the country similar folklore said that only those spirits of those who would die would appear. St. Mark's eve is also the time when people would ask the heavens to bless the crops and divine the future.
In the manor house - there is said to be old ghost who counts money and rattles his chains
During renovations at the Manor House in the early part of the 20th century a human skeleton was found under one of the heath stones. There is a possibility that this person may have been a sacrificial human guardian of the house.
In olden times a human could be buried in an important place so that their spirit could guard that location. Usually this people had died from natural causes. Animals or human skulls were also buried within houses for similar reasons
In Peake's Lane there is said to be a ghost at a spot where a person who committed suicide is said to have been buried with a stake through the heart
In the past suicide was condemned and attempted suicide was against English law.
Those who committed suicide were often refused a Christian burial. They were buried at a crossroad with a stake through the heart. This was said to stop the devil taking the person's soul and the person becoming a ghostly vampire.
Between 1946 and 1955, of 44,956 people who attempted suicide in England and Wales, 5,794 were brought to trial. Most of these were found guilty and 308 people were given a prison sentence. The Suicide Act of 1961 removed attempted suicide from the statute book as being a criminal offence.
There are also said to have been ghosts at Midfield Farm House
In Humberston Avenue a female ghost is said to hang from a tree and there was another who would ride a white horse and gallop to what is now the cemetery but was once the mill
© Samantha Grayson