The Callow Inn | A Herefordshire Ghost Story

Our story for "Death Week" is a retelling by Martin of a ghost story, The Callow Inn.

In rural Herefordshire, for over a hundred years people have reported two strange night-time phenomena connected to The Callow Inn, which was demolished at the end of the 19th century.

First there are the ghostly shapes of two people carrying bodies out into Haywood Forest.

Then there's the spectral windows, shining light out into the darkness...

Martin's take on the story is set in the modern day and explores ideas of broken families, loss, supernatural obsession, and Midwinter symbolism.

Details in the story were inspired by Kathleen Lawrence-Smith's book Tales of Old Herefordshire.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…