The Hexham Heads: What Came Out of the Garden?
Hexham, Northumberland, and Southampton, Hampshire, England · 1971 onwards
Key Facts
- Discovery: Two small carved heads found by brothers Colin and Leslie Robson.
- Location: A family garden in Hexham, Northumberland, England.
- Period: 1971 and the years that followed.
- Surviving record: Illustrations, correspondence, examinations, interviews and television coverage.
In the drawing, there are five faces. Look more closely and there are only two: the same small objects turned towards the artist, then away, their features recorded from the front and sides.
One has grooves running through its hair. The other has a short neck and a broad, rather solemn face. They are modest things, small enough to hold in a hand.
Colin and Leslie Robson found them in a garden in Hexham, Northumberland, in 1971. They took them indoors. Before long, the objects were attracting attention beyond the family.
There were reports that the heads changed position. A neighbour described an animal-like visitor. Later, an archaeologist who took the objects to her home in Hampshire said that she, too, had seen something she could not explain.
The heads passed through several hands. Letters were written, samples examined, questions put on television. Their faces remained recognisable as the accounts around them grew.
What is less easy to recover is the relationship between those objects and the experiences attributed to them: what happened first, what each person knew, and how two things found in a garden became objects that some people no longer wished to keep. [1–4]
The question at the centre of the case: what connected the two heads with the disturbances reported around them?
Watch the BBC archive report free ↓ · Includes discussion of the case and proposed explanations.
The Investigation Continues
The heads passed from a family garden into the care of archaeologists. Letters, examinations and a surviving television report trace their journey. Alongside that paper trail are the recollections of people who believed something unusual had entered their homes.
Read the Full Investigation →The complete investigation, Archive Vault and case poster are available to members. The BBC archive video is freely accessible below.
Public Viewing · No Membership Required The programme discusses the case and its proposed explanations. Readers following the investigation may prefer to watch afterwards. The BBC’s Nationwide covered the Hexham Heads on 20 February 1976. This restored version was made available online in 2024. If the player is unavailable, open the video on YouTube. The video remains hosted by YouTube. Access to it is not an Archive membership benefit, and no downloadable copy is supplied.Watch the BBC Archive Report