The Legend of the Leyland Cat Creature
St Andrew’s church in the quiet little town of Leyland, Lancashire has a mysterious legend – was the site of the church decided by a supernatural black cat?
Tucked away in a corner of Lancashire, North West of England is the quiet little town of Leyland.
The exact date of settlement in Leyland is unrecorded; however we can see that the town is listed in the Domesday Book.
The Domesday Book was a great survey of England, carried out for King William I in 1086.
Nestled in the heart of Leyland is the beautiful and mysterious St Andrews church.
St. Andrews Church: Leyland, Lancasire / image by author
St Andrews church is thought to have been built in the 12th century, but a strange story of the construction of the church has been handed down from generation to generation – a mysterious legend – the legend of the Leyland cat creature………..
image by author
…In the small village of Whittle-le Woods (approximately 4 miles from Leyland) the villagers met and agreed that they would, between them, build a small church to benefit their community.
The local miller donated a plot of land, the Priest was appointed to oversee and organise the workforce in this construction project.
The first day of construction arrived and the builders placed their materials on the site and began to lay the stone.
When the builders arrived the following day to continue their work, they were stunned to discover that the stone had disappeared….
After much searching – the stone, without explanation, was discovered in the nearby village of Leyland….
Angry, the people of Whittle-le-Woods toiled to retrieve the stones; they returned them to their site and continued with the construction work.
Fearful that the materials may again be taken in the night, they appointed two men to stay on site, an overnight vigil. Unfortunately, tiredness got the better of the two men and they both fell asleep for a short time – they awoke to find that all the stone had again vanished.
Again, the stone was recovered from the same site in Leyland.
Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and prevent the same thing form happening again, the Priest arranged a further night vigil and stayed on site himself until midnight. As soon as the priest left – one workman turned around and was terrified to see a huge black cat with enormous eyes and a barbed tail – the cat picked up one of the stones and, fast as lightening, ran off with it – returning almost immediately for another stone.
The two workmen watched the cat from the shadows until eventually, one of them gathered enough courage to try to stop the cat – he ran up to it and using all his strength, hit it over the head with a piece of wood – before he could raise the wood to deliver another blow, the cat turned and attacked him….his workmate, terrified, fled to get the priest, however, upon their swift return, the man was dead and the cat and all the stones were gone.
From that point on, it was deemed that the church would be build upon the site in Leyland where the cat had placed the stones….this is the site of Leyland St Andrew’s church.
Others attributed the movement of the stones to Leyland as the work of an Angel…..
“Here I have placed thee,
And here thou shalt stand,
And thou shalt be called
The Church of Leyland”
image by author
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User Comments
nenen
On May 19, 2009 at 7:37 am
nice story.
C Jordan
On May 19, 2009 at 8:57 am
You tell the legend well S, exactly as I know it.
It is the church where my wife and I were married and our children christened.
lindalulu
On May 19, 2009 at 10:06 am
Really nice article, interesting too! Never heard of this cat before.
Will Gray
On May 19, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Fantastic atricle! I have heard mention of this, but you provided much more than I knew!
hfj
On May 19, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Great story and pictures. I had heard of this tale many years ago, and it was basically told exactly like you told it. Well done.
Lucas Dié
On May 19, 2009 at 1:54 pm
thanks of reminding me of that lovely story, I had completely forgotten all about it
great pictures as well!
clay hurtubise
On May 19, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Nice story an d pics. Only time I visited England was for a plane lay-over. Need to get back and see the country side!
Thanks,
Clay
Mark Gordon Brown
On May 19, 2009 at 8:18 pm
My cats play with rocks too. Why don’t legends ever have calico cats, or tabbies, why are they always black or white? Just an other nail in the coffin for black cats. Although really, as you say, in the end the black cat had selected the spot for the Church so in that air he/she was good.
B Nelson
On May 19, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Great use of your own photos, good story too, a bit creepy, and fully entertaining.
John
On May 19, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Amazing story, well told, and probably true.
I have seen ghostly kitties, and they influence events, but I never saw one directly, physically move anything.
DA Cournean
On May 19, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Very intriquing tale…
ken bultman
On May 20, 2009 at 8:50 am
Great photos, good research and a wonderful story, true or not.
jamie mullen
On May 20, 2009 at 11:34 am
Another great article.
Katien
On May 20, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Good article, and intriguing story.
J J Neuman
On May 20, 2009 at 9:06 pm
That was one cat not to be screwed with! Great story and photos.
dee gold
On May 21, 2009 at 1:50 am
nice article with great photos
R J Evans
On May 21, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Cool article!
M J katz
On May 23, 2009 at 1:18 pm
What a great tale!
I agree with JJ Neuman…that is one kitty I would not want to run up against! ^-^
How I would love to be able to walk through that church and it’s accompanying graveyard…such history!! Such beauty!
andy taylor
On November 8, 2009 at 7:14 pm
yarr dat the the church with the devls eye on the side off it it the eye is their becaause the windin and rail have a roedid it out the stone at the back of the church ppl say the when the eye has gosse the world will end its looks pritty go if u ask me haha
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