The Pump Hill Smuggler is a headless ghost said to haunt the paths around Happisburgh Lighthouse on the Norfolk coast
On the windswept Norfolk coast stands Happisburgh Lighthouse, its red-and-white stripes visible for miles across the sea.
It is the oldest working lighthouse in the county, still guiding ships since 1791.
But alongside its proud history is one of the grisliest ghost stories in England – the tale of the Pump Hill Smuggler.
Locals say his headless, legless ghost still carries a sack through the village, groaning before storms, forever re-enacting the brutal murder that cut him down.
History of Happisburgh Lighthouse
Happisburgh (pronounced Haze-bruh) has long been a place of wrecks and danger.
Built at the end of the 18th century, its lighthouse is now the only independently operated working lighthouse in Britain.
For centuries, it has stood guard over the reefs and sands near Cart Gap, where smuggling was once rife.
The village folklore is steeped in tales of hidden goods, violent quarrels, and tragedies at sea.
The Pump Hill Ghost story is said to date from the mid-1700s, before the lighthouse was built, when smugglers stalked the Norfolk coast.
The Ghost of the Pump Hill Smuggler
The story goes that a group of smugglers fell into a drunken fight after a run ashore.
One man was brutally killed – his head hacked almost clean off, his legs severed, his body stuffed into a sack and dumped down a village well.
Not long after, people began to see a terrifying figure staggering from the shore towards the village.
He had no head, no legs, and carried a heavy sack in his arms.
The apparition would glide up the moonlit lane, stop at the well on Pump Hill, and disappear into it with a groan.
When the well was later dredged, a mutilated body was said to have been found inside, matching the ghostly figure.
From then on, villagers claimed that whenever a storm was coming, groans would rise from the well – as if the murdered smuggler was warning of danger.
The ghost’s path took him past the lighthouse.
Even today, visitors to Happisburgh are told the tale of the headless, legless spectre, forever tied to the coast where he met his end.
Visiting Happisburgh Lighthouse
The lighthouse is open to visitors on selected days, with tours run by volunteers.
Climb its 112 steps for sweeping views of the Norfolk coast, and explore the village where the ghost story was first told.
The well at Pump Hill has long since vanished, sealed over, but the legend remains one of Norfolk’s most famous pieces of folklore.
Standing by the lighthouse at dusk, with the wind rising and the sea roaring in the distance, it is easy to imagine the groans of the smuggler on the air.
Happisburgh Lighthouse has guided ships for more than two centuries.
But its most enduring tale belongs to the murdered smuggler who still haunts its path.
His gruesome story is a reminder that the dangers of the coast were not always from the sea alone.
So if you hear groaning on a stormy night in Happisburgh, take care.
It may not just be the wind.
Do you believe the Pump Hill Ghost still haunts the Norfolk coast? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
