Beyond the Veil Magazine

The Hexham Heads: New Research

Issue #51: March 1983

It has been eleven years since two small carved heads were discovered in a garden in Hexham, Northumberland. The phenomena they apparently triggered, the investigations they prompted, and their eventual disappearance have made them one of the most puzzling artefacts in British paranormal history.

New research has attempted to determine the origin and age of the Hexham Heads. The results raise more questions than they answer.

The Discovery

In February 1972, two boys discovered the heads while weeding their family’s garden at 3 Rede Avenue, Hexham. The heads were small, approximately the size of tennis balls, carved from stone and featuring crude but distinctive faces.

Shortly after the discovery, the household began experiencing supernatural phenomena. Objects moved. Doors opened and closed. And a female figure, half-human and half-wolf, was glimpsed on the staircase.

The phenomena followed the heads. Every location they visited experienced similar disturbances. Researchers who took the heads home for study reported wolf-like apparitions and unexplained sounds.

The Academic Analysis

Dr. Anne Ross, an archaeologist specialising in Celtic artefacts, examined the heads in 1972. She believed they were genuine Celtic relics, perhaps 1,800 years old, connected to the Celtic head cult that once dominated Northern Britain.

The Celts revered severed heads as seats of the soul. Stone heads were placed at boundaries, shrines, and sacred sites throughout Celtic territory. If the Hexham Heads were genuine Celtic artefacts, their power might derive from these ancient beliefs.

But a competing claim emerged. A local man, Desmond Craigie, stated that he had made the heads in the 1950s while working at a local foundry. He had cast them as toys for his children and discarded them when the family moved.

The Controversy

Craigie’s claim divided researchers. If the heads were modern creations, how could they trigger supernatural phenomena? But if they were genuine Celtic artefacts, why did Craigie claim otherwise?

Several possibilities were considered:

Craigie Was Lying: Perhaps he sought attention or wished to debunk the supernatural interpretation.

Craigie Was Mistaken: Perhaps he had made heads that were coincidentally similar to the discovered artefacts.

Multiple Heads: Perhaps the garden contained both Craigie’s discarded toys and genuine Celtic relics.

Irrelevant Origin: Perhaps the heads’ power derived from something other than their age or origin.

New Analysis

Recent examination of the heads, conducted before their disappearance, has revealed additional details:

Material Analysis: The stone appears to be sandstone, consistent with both local geological formations and materials available to a mid-twentieth-century foundry.

Wear Patterns: Surface wear suggests exposure to weather over a significant period, though this could indicate centuries or merely decades.

Stylistic Analysis: The carving style shows features consistent with Celtic work but also features that do not match known patterns.

The analysis is inconclusive. The heads could be ancient or modern. Science cannot determine which.

The Disappearance

The Hexham Heads passed through several hands during the 1970s. They were examined by archaeologists, studied by paranormal researchers, and displayed briefly at museums.

Sometime in the late 1970s, they vanished. Their current location is unknown. No institution admits to holding them. No private collector has come forward.

The heads that caused so much controversy have simply ceased to exist, at least in any traceable form.

The Phenomena

Whatever their origin, the phenomena associated with the heads were witnessed by credible observers:

• The original family experienced poltergeist activity that ceased when the heads were removed
• Dr. Ross observed a wolf-like figure in her home while the heads were in her possession
• Other researchers reported similar experiences

If Craigie created the heads in the 1950s, their supernatural properties cannot derive from Celtic antiquity. Some other explanation must be found.

Perhaps objects can acquire supernatural power through concentrated belief. Perhaps the act of carving a head, even in modern times, invokes ancient forces. Or perhaps the phenomena were coincidental, unrelated to the heads themselves.

Conclusion

The Hexham Heads remain a mystery. Their origin cannot be determined. Their current location is unknown. The phenomena they triggered are documented but unexplained.

If the heads still exist somewhere, they may yet resurface. If they have been destroyed, the opportunity for further analysis is lost forever.

But the questions they raised endure. What gives objects power? Can modern creations channel ancient forces? And what, ultimately, does it mean that two small carved heads could trigger such profound disturbances?

The mystery of Hexham deepens.

Readers with information about the current location of the Hexham Heads are urgently invited to contact our research department.