The weird Essex road believed to have strange paranormal presence where cars roll uphill

Hangman's Hill
-Credit: (Image: EssexLive)


Essex is home to many myths and legends, and the odd ghost story or two. Hangman’s Hill in Epping Forest is one such place that draws attention because of its alleged dark history that might have some of us scratching our heads. Not only is Epping Forest a place to walk among the idyllic ancient woodlands, but it is also said to be home to some not-quite-natural visitors.

As its name might suggest, the road itself might have seen some darkness, and stories about the road don’t disagree. Like many places that are enveloped in conspiracy, there are many folk tales which tell conflicting stories about the place, why it has its name, and why there might be some strange paranormal goings on at this site.

Ghost hunters, or thrill seekers among us might head over to Hangman’s Hill for the sole purpose of testing out a strange claim that all stories have in common. Park at Hangman’s Hill at your peril, for if you were to leave off your handbrake, something unusual would happen. The hill is like no other, where instead of a car rolling downhill, when left without the handbrake on, it will actually roll in the opposite direction to what would be expected. Seemingly, cars roll uphill on this road, and tales about this haunted place give various explanations for why that would be the case.

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One such story tells us that when being a hangman was an actual, quite gruesome, job, one lost his mind with murder on the brain. His said choice of execution, unsurprisingly, was to hang his victims. Taking the doomed targets to the bottom of the hill, the hangman was said to, brutally, tie a noose around their neck and drag them via the rope up to the top of the hill. Once at the top, any poor soul who had not died in the ordeal was then executed, having their head cut off, and unceremoniously buried at the top of the hill. Legend has it that the crazed hangman is still spotted under the shadows of night looking for others to join them.

If that is too far-fetched, another tale claims that the hill is haunted by falsely accused criminals. According to this story, an appalling crime was committed by a group of three men in the 19th Century, before modern technologies could reasonably affirm a person’s guilt. The story goes that on this occasion, those responsible for the unspoken spine-tingling crime, were not caught, and in fact three innocent people were tried, found guilty, and hanged, leaving the ropes and brackets behind.

The ghost stories seem to all have something in common, with a crime at the centre. A highwayman, an opportunist stealing from those travelling along Hangman’s Hill, allegedly stopped people in their tracks as he dropped from a tree to stop any unsuspecting victims. It was then that, according to the tale, those on the road would see over the hill an empty landscape with a single tree growing. The tree is said to have been the site of a hanging, and from where the highwayman draws in his victims.

Although these might be appealing stories that keep us curious, it is said that there’s actually one simple reason that the cars are seen to roll uphill. With much interest in the area, apparently scientists have proven that the road might not be haunted, but disorientating in a different way. While on first look, the cars appear to be slowly moving up a hill, it has been confirmed that cars are rolling down the hill. Instead of ghosts, gravity is the cause of the cars moving, and an optical illusion at the site gives the impression of the opposite.