The Chained Oak at Alton Towers Theme Park

Photo: Gary Rogers / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA 2.0

In the shadowy depths of the ancient woods of Staffordshire, a tale of the supernatural lurks, shrouded in chains—the legend of the Chained Oak. Venture to the village of Alton - most famous for Alton Towers theme park - where an oak tree, bound in iron chains, stands as a silent witness to a centuries-old curse. This eerie arboreal sentinel, known locally as "The Old Oak," conceals a dark tale that transcends time.

The legend goes back to a chilling autumn night, when the Earl of Shrewsbury made a fateful journey to Alton Towers. Back then, Alton Towers was a castle, and there were no funfair games or fairground rides to enjoy!

As he made his journey, an old woman appeared before his horse-drawn coach. Her presence halted the carriage in its tracks, and as the Earl looked at this mysterious woman, she asked him for a small amount of money.

The Earl callously dismissed her plea, a decision he would soon regret, as the old woman immediately cursed the Earl and his bloodline! She warned the Earl that for each branch that fell from the Old Oak, a member of his family would die.

But the Earl ignored her words and left her on the road by herself.

As the night deepened, a storm raged, unleashing the fury of the spirits that roamed these ancient woods. The winds, rain and lightening ripped a branch from the tree and it fell to the floor - and on that very same night, one of the Earl of Shrewsbury's beloved family members died.

Terrified by the tragic loss, the Earl found himself consumed by dread, and so ordered his loyal servants to entwine every branch of the Old Oak with heavy chains in a desperate bid to keep all the remaining branches secure. And to this very day, people can see the Chained Oak for themselves, in Dimmingsdale woods, just between the theme park and the village of Alton.

In one version of the story, the Earl himself was the one who died, as a branch from the tree fell on his head!

Is the story true? The pathway to the Chained Oak has steps, and the area around the oak has been cleared, showing that someone put a lot of time and effort into chaining up all of the branches of the tree - and why else would they do so? However, the curse might have passed its use-by-date, as branches have since fallen off, and the Talbot family, who should now be the subject of the curse, have confirmed that these falling branches do not coincide with any strange deaths.

The Hex at Alton Towers and the Chained Oak

Alton Towers has interpreted this local legend into the Hex attraction, although it's slightly tweaked the original urban legend. The Hex ride is a House of Horror-style attraction, and the storyline within it has the Earl taking a branch of the tree back home with him to perform experiments in order to break the curse. The story informs you that this branch was recently discovered during renovations - has this unleashed a ghostly presence into the Alton Towers theme park?

Hex has been a much-enjoyed attraction at Alton Towers, and is located within the historic buildings that used to adorn the property before the theme park was established.

Ghosts of Alton Towers

The Chained Oak isn't the only spooky story at Alton Towers - the theme park is so notoriously spooky that even TV's Most Haunted made a visit! Some of the other spooks, spectres and ghosts that appear at the Alton Towers House include:

• At the Hex ride itself, where people have reported kids in Victorian-era clothing, and claim to have been hit by stones and other objects thrown by an unseen assailant - perhaps a poltergeist?
• The ghost of a large man has been seen in the Music Room and the Banqueting Room - he is reportedly angry.
• A woman is said to haunt the corridors; she wears a long dress, smells of perfume, and has a very realistic appearance - so much so that staff at the theme park are said to have made conversation with her, thinking she was a guest.

Alton Towers is certainly a theme park with a rich heritage - and plenty of scares to be had! Check out our funfair myths and urban legends for more spooky stories.