Gloucestershire Goblins

It has been said that the county of Gloucestershire once had a lot of creatures called Goblins living within its borders as there are plenty of name places that have the word 'Puck' included. The word "Puck" come from Old English and one meaning was 'goblin' (Depending on what area in the UK, pucks called also mean demon. nature sprite or mischievous spirit too)

Goblins were known to dwell in dark places, were rather mischievous and could be funny or downright nasty and dark in their nature. They are said to be smaller than humans, have ugly facial features and make very strange noises with their talking voices. People would fear a goblin's antics, not knowing whether they'd meet a mischievous one or a very nasty one!

For example, Puck Pit Lane in Winchcombe, was said to have goblins living in the pit, which was very close to a quarry. Lots of goblin named places are usually near to quarries as it was believed that goblins lived underground.

Here are a few puck name places in Gloucestershire-

Pucklechurch – a ‘goblin-haunted’ church

Puckrup, Tewkesbury, which means a ‘goblin-haunted farmstead’

Puckpool Farm- , Arlingham – a ‘goblin-haunted water’

Puckham Farm, Brockhampton – a ‘goblin-haunted meadow’.

J.R.R Tolkien and the Gloucestershire Goblins Folklore

It is said that J.R.R Tolkien got inspiration for his Lord of the Ring books from when he was worked and would also advise the archaeological dig of the remains of an old Roman temple that was in an area called Dwarves Hill in Lydney Park in Gloucestershire. The Roman temple had been built on an Iron Age settlement. The hill was covered with tunnels and open cast iron mines,

When the Romans left this hill, it seems that the local people put it out of their memories as when the area was rediscovered, the locals stayed away from the area as they felt that goblins and hobgoblins were living in that hill! No one dare set foot on that land for many centuries, due to the reputation it had within the local community. So did Tolkien's experiences of working in Lydney Park inspire him to write Lord of the Rings? I would imagine it would've definitely played some part in Tolkien's imaginings when writing the books.