10 Cursed Corpse Roads In England — Where The Dead Were Carried At Night

An ordinary footpath. A flat stone where walkers stop for lunch. A lonely track disappearing into a reservoir. Across England, familiar paths hide a forgotten purpose: they were roads for carrying the dead. Explore 10 corpse roads, coffin routes and ancient burial paths, from the crowded ridge at Hollins Cross to the remote moors of Dartmoor and Cumbria. Discover why funeral processions crossed running water, why coffins rested on stones, and why people feared changing the route to the churchyard. Along the way, we uncover the twelve-mile journey through Swaledale, the haunting words of the Lyke Wake Dirge, the legend of a lost coffin on Burnmoor, and the drowned village of Mardale—where the dead were taken to Shap after their graves were opened to make way for Haweswater reservoir. Combining burial history, local traditions and clearly identified folklore, this journey reveals the human stories behind England’s ancient ways of the dead. Is there a coffin lane, corpse road or strangely named church path near you? Tell us its name and where it leads in the comments. Subscribe for more dark history, forgotten places and haunting heritage across Britain.