A Curious Invitation present London Month of the Dead
The Paris Morgue
TALK OF THE DEVIL
The Dark Lord in the Churchyard with Jeremy Harte
on Saturday the 22nd October 2022 at 3:30 pm

According to legend, the English landscape – so calm and welcoming on the surface – is really the Devil’s work. Ancient lore describes how the arch fiend hurled great rocks into place, heaped up hills and carved out valleys on this bucolic canvas. Fortunately this satanic artist didn’t have complete control of his masterpiece and the appearance of churches proved to be his undoing. In his talk, author Jeremy Harte will take us on a journey from Godstone on the Isle of Wight via Minchinhampton in the Cotswolds to Rudston in the East Riding, to explore how the Devil’s attempt to destroy sacred spaces ensured their longevity in the myths built around them.

Join us in Brompton Cemetery Chapel, a model of what would undoubtedly be Lucifer’s prime target, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, to hear tantalising tales of tempests sent to shatter churches, disappearing steeples and satanic visitations of death on their congregations. The Devil is half monster, half buffoon and his role in folklore reveals a fascinating history of this sceptred isle and its transformation of pagan sites into Christian temples.

Tickets £12 including a delightful gin cocktail and a 20% donation to Brompton Cemetery. Please click here to purchase.

Jeremy Harte
Jeremy Harte is a researcher into folklore and archaeology, with a particular interest in landscape legends and tales of encounters with the inhabitants of other worlds. His books include Explore Fairy Traditions, Cuckoo Pounds and Singing Barrows, and The Green Man: his latest study, Cloven Country: Legends of the Devil in England, will be out this Halloween. He is curator of Bourne Hall Museum in Surrey, where he puts things in cases and then, later on, takes them out again.


Brompton Cemetery