Where to find Dobby's and other fictional memorials around the UK
Where to find Dobby's and other fictional memorials around the UK
How to have a mourn-i-break for your favourite departed character…
We’re a soppy lot. Last week, news broke Harry Potter fans are being urged to stop leaving offerings at the grave site of Dobby the house elf.
Bereft Potter fans have been visiting a Welsh beauty spot for years and leaving painted stones and socks at the memorial at Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire. It’s where the scene of poor Dobby’s demise was filmed after Bellatrix Lestrange killed him in the final novel and movie.
There was panic when it appeared the memorial was going to be taken down by National Trust Cymru because of its effect on wildlife, but a spokesperson confirmed, “The memorial to Dobby will remain at Freshwater West in the immediate term for people to enjoy.”
Dobby’s not the only fictional character people make pilgrimages around the nation to mourn. Here are a few more:
Dracula at Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
“Please do not ask staff where Dracula’s grave is as there isn’t one. Thank you.” That was the notice pinned on the door of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, next to Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire, as fans continue to flock to the site which was meant to have inspired Bram Stoker. Fangs a lot.
Robin Hood at Kirklees Priory, West Yorkshire
Robin Hood’s grave is said to be in Kirklees Park Estate in West Yorkshire, in the ruins of what was Kirklees Priory. The estate is privately owned but you can access it sometimes via guided heritage walks.
Robin Hood is said to have fired his final arrow here and a monument sits on the site. The inscription reads:
Here underneath this little stone
Lies Robert, Earl of Huntingdon
Never archer were as he so good
And people called him Robin Hood
Such outlaws as he and his men
Will England never see again
Obit: 24 December 1247AD
Torchwood’s Ianto at Cardiff
In 2009, fans of BBC TV series Torchwood were so furious that character Ianto Jones got killed off, they started a shrine to him at Mermaid Quay in Cardiff, where some of the series was filmed. It quickly grew to be a wall of dedications, which is still there today. “Thursday 9th July 2009 - a date most Torchwood fans will never forget,” says the Facebook page Ianto’s Shrine, which caretakes what has now become a landmark.
Scrooge at Shrewsbury
When filming the 1984 movie version of Charles Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, filmmakers placed a gravestone in the grounds of St Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury and it’s still there. Whether it’s haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past, we don’t know…
King Arthur at Glastonbury
Meanwhile, another place of pilgrimage is Glastonbury Abbey, where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were meant to have been buried. Their alleged grave is said to have been discovered in the 12th century, after which they were placed into a tomb, which was then lost when Henry VIII destroyed the abbey in 1539. A sign now marks the site.
The British Travel List is the sister newsletter to The Royal List. It is a weekly guide to my favourite places to visit and stay around the country. I am an experienced travel and lifestyle journalist who writes for British and Australian newspapers and magazines and am passionate about British travel. For more of my work, visit kerryparnell.com