In 1908 the town of Loughton in Essex was a rather quiet and sedate sort of place. But, rumours would soon start to be bounded around about a series of events that would really set tongues wagging.
It would appear that during the spring and summer of 1908 people who would have occasion to pass through the Warren Hill part of the forest started to report a series of attacks that despite efforts to discover the assailant none were ever found.
The first person to fall victim to the unknown attacker was a gentleman who had cause to be walking with two others towards Loughton at around 11 pm one dark night. Whilst walking along our gentleman was all of a sudden hit in the face by what felt like a rock without so much as a warning. By all accounts, he was dealt a severe bruise. The three friends then conducted a thorough search for the mystery assailant but they failed in their endeavors.
Then a few evenings later another gentleman was passing by the same place around half-past 10 when he was alarmed by something striking him between the shoulder blades. Being as he was on his own he made the decision not to stop and investigate, instead, he hurried away from the scene and informed the police about the happening.
The very next evening a police constable was dispatched to investigate the assaults and positioning himself behind a bush laid in wait to see if he could apprehend the offender. It seems that who or whatever was in the business of throwing the rocks cared little for the law as the policeman suddenly suffered a blow to the face by something unseen, which left him with an unfortunate scar. The Policeman then stepped aside to try and avoid further injury, but his avoidance technique didn’t have the desired effect and his helmet was all but knocked off of his head by forces unknown. Chilling when he inspected his helmet he observed long claw-like scratches down one side. He rushed amongst the bushes to try and arrest whatever had just attacked him, but alas the mystery aggressor could not be found.
Another person to fall victim to the mystery attacker was an 18 year old woman called Lillian Dowse who lived between the forest and Loughton. She was walking late one Tuesday evening when all of a sudden she felt her hair being grabbed before she was too was struck in the face leaving some bad scratches. As one might imagine the frightend woman screamed for help and her panicked vocals alerted a passing gentleman who came to her assistance. After trying to calm her down he made a search of the area, but like the others his actions were in vain, and what or whoever had injured the young woman couldn’t be found.
Fast forward a few nights and a party of around a dozen men went into the forest to see if they could get to the bottom of what was had been attacking people. For around half an hour the group’s pains were fruitless, when out of the blue one of the party received a blow to the face for his troubles. With his companions he made a search of the area but again nothing could be found.
Yet another incidence occurred when a James Frampton was returning home on a Saturday night and he to was attacked. He told the local paper “It was about twenty minutes to 11, I had been into Loughton and was returning to Chingford. I had heard about the strange happenings in the forest and was keeping a pretty keen lookout. All of a sudden something struck my hat at the back and knocked it off. I swung round but could see nothing. A minute later something lightly grazed my Left shoulder. I called out, but I neither heard nor saw anything”.
After the attack on Frampton the attacks seemed to suddenly stop, and unfortunately, I can find no reports on further instances. It seems we may never know what the cause might be but to this researcher it does hint strongly at the paranormal.
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