The Headless Horseman of Towersey
10 June 2021 (Updated 7 January 2026)
The somewhat macabre emblem of the Towersey Morris troop is a headless horseman, inspired by a ghostly legend dating back to the English Civil War.
Fleeing from battle
According to the legend, a member of the Royalist cavalry had fled from a nearby skirmish and was attempting to keep a low profile as he made his way across the countryside.
The cavalier took refuge in a barn near Church Farm in Towersey, but his horse neighed, drawing the attention of the locals. The locals apparently favoured the Parliamentary cause and the cavalier was killed, either by beheading or by being shot.
An unmarked grave
The cavalier was buried in an unmarked grave beneath a large slab in the churchyard at St Catherine's Church.
The ghost of the headless cavalier can reportedly be seen riding his ghostly horse between the barn where he was killed and his burial place in the churchyard. According to the Towersey Morris website, he can also be seen riding down Manor Road at midnight on midsummer's eve.
Headless or legless?
Not all headless encounters turn out to be quite so terrifying as the horseman of Towersey. In Oxfordshire Ghosts, Joe Robinson recounts the tale of a Witney man who was staggering back from the pub one winter's night only to be confronted by the sight of a headless horseman in an old army greatcoat bearing down on him.
The man's horror turned to releaf when a head emerged from the neck of the greatcoat and his friend Tom (for that is who is was) explained that he'd pulled the neck of the greatcoat up over his head as he'd forgotten his balaclava and his ears were cold!
Sources
- 'Folklore of Oxfordshire' by Christine Bloxham (Tempus Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 9780752436647)
- Towersey Morris - our emblem (towerseymorrismen.org.uk)
