Buglawton – ghost town and ghost river?

The small town of Congleton in the county of Cheshire is the place where I have lived for many years. There has over the years been speculation over the meaning of the towns name. It is thought Congleton and Buglawton, a suburb of Congleton are believed to be part Celtic and part Saxon, this would put their origins back to around 650AD. The ton part of the word Congleton means “town” or “settlement”and the first part of the word Congl is Celtic and refers to the bend in the river Dane as it flows around Lower Heath.

The word Buglawton is thought to be Anglo Saxon as the word Lawton means hillside settlement, however the word Bug has more sinister overtones and does suggest that in the past some sort of paranormal event or activity took place in this area as bug is derived from the Celtic word bwg meaning ghost or goblin. Also on the outskirts of Buglawton can be found a road called Sprink lane which is believed to be a reference to a mischievous spirit.

From the nearby town of Biddulph can be found a small stream which nowadays is refered to as the Biddulph brook and which flows through a twisting and almost impassable valley before eventually joining the river Dane or Daven as it was known in Anglo Saxon times, and where it flows through Congleton. Back in Anglo Saxon times this brook would have been known as Daveningsheath which means the”Danes tributary bend” and even today the name can be still be recognised in a somewhat altered form. In pre Saxon times this brook would have been known as Dyse Bwg which means Ghost River, yet another reference to some sort of paranormal event or sighting having taken place in this area.

At the one end of this river, where it begins its course in Biddulph can be found Bog’s Lane (ghost lane) from here as I have said it flows through a small valley, before making its way through Dane-in Shaw (Daveningsheath) before reaching Buglawton (Ghost Hill Farm). It is also claimed that Witnesses have seen the spirit of a deceased person dressed in grey or white clothes walking along the banks of this ghost river at night where it flows near to Biddulph church.

Ghost river in Dane-in-Shaw