What the BEEP is it with Cannock Chase?

Mystery as disturbing collection of dolls found nailed to trees in forest

A mum-of-two was left bewildered after finding a creepy collection of baby dolls nailed to trees while walking through a Staffordshire forest.

The hospital worker, 64, made the eerie discovery after wading through undergrowth into a clearing in Cannock Chase on January 28.



She said: ‘I’ve had to shield for all of the lockdown, but when I was on my walks I looked a bit further and as I dug through the undergrowth I saw these dolls.

‘They were in some sort of order. Their dresses were all raggedy and they were all tied and nailed to the trees.

‘And as I came out of the woods I saw a sign that said that this was the operating theatre for the old Pensions Hospital. It was just a little bit weird considering what I do for my job.

‘I have got a friend who is a spiritual medium and she wants to go and take a look up there to see if she can feel anything.’

While many may find the dolls disturbing, the walker insists the incident didn’t phase her and even returned for a second visit.



She said: ‘It wasn’t that scary and I stood in amongst the dolls. I was saying my prayers.

‘I talked to the dolls and wished the children who used to live in the mining village eternal rest.’

The Ministry of Pensions Hospital was built in 1916 to serve both Brocton and Rugeley army training camps.

It closed in 1924 and the buildings were used by West Cannock Colliery Company to house miners and their families.

The ‘village’ had its own school and working men’s club and survived until the early 1950s when inhabitants were moved to a new council housing estate on the outskirts of Hednesford. The school remained open until 1959.