The Highgate Vampire - More Modern Legends

A Modern Day Legend of the Highgate Vampire

Previous posts on tales of the Highgate Vampire Legend include how the legend originated, stories of strange appearances by the cemetery, down Swains Lane and other witness accounts from the late 1960s – early 1970s. Also covered are the capers and high-jinx of Sean Manchester and David Farrant as modern day Van Helsings against the legendary Count Dracula.

So what of anything seen or heard since the high profile accounts of David Farrant and Sean Manchester and the massive witch (or vampire) hunt set up via the Hampstead and Highgate Express and ITV coverage – nothing was found incidentally, but then what do you expect when you publicly state such a thing!! In truth I can find nothing beyond 1974 and even that is only an account from Sean Manchester’s own book that states he saw coffin and corpse in a cellar in the Highgate area of which he staked (the corpse that is) and burned it. Since then Sean Manchester has gone on about the legend claiming it all as truth and in 1991 claimed to have found another vampire near Robin Hoods grave which is in the Kirklees Estate grounds in Yorkshire. I wont go into too much detail here as I will cover in a later post but it is now known as the vampire nun of Kirklees and she is believed to be a prioress (a religious sister from a priory) in the vicinity. All very interesting stuff.

So what about David Farrant? Well he claims that the vampire legend is nonsense and that this tag only came about from press coverage of the reported blood drained animal he found after all the stories about the mystery figure in Swains Lane and the cemetery. He does state however that he believes ‘something mysterious’ to be present in the Highgate area.

So there is no further evidence it seems to back up this legend. Could what Sean Manchester be saying about staking and burning the corpse in the cellar be true and if so could that have been the destructive end to the Dracula like figure of Highgate. On the other hand, could it be that after all the harassment and the ‘vampire hunt’ the ‘mysterious something’ went on to pastures new. Alternatively, could it all be a load of cock n bull?

If you have heard of any stories and strange occurrences in the Highgate Village area then please let me know. Drop a comment onto the bottom of this page and share with all. I’m sure this is not the end of the Highgate Vampire Legend.