Owlman of Mawnan – The Winged Humanoid
The Owlman…
The village of Mawnan can be found in the south-west of England, on that mysterious leg of land called Cornwall - a storied place with strong Celtic connections. Mawnan is a charming rural village close to the coastline, and a wonderful place for adventurous souls to visit. But travellers should beware, as it is said to be home to a weird creature who delights in terrorising the unsuspecting - a creature known as the Owlman.
The first noted sighting of this creepy cryptid dates back to 1926, when a local newspaper, The Cornish Echo, printed a story concerning two boys who had been playing when they were pursued by what they described as a very large and demonic looking bird. The boys were able to escape the avian horror by taking cover behind an iron grating.
It is claimed that in 1937 two surrealist painters, Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst, learned about the boys’ supposed encounter. Intrigued by the tale, they travelled to Cornwall, where they are thought to have performed secret rituals in order to summon the creature. Given its vicious nature, this may not have been wise. Whether or not they succeeded in this bold venture is uncertain, but much of their later artwork featured our fiendish feathered friend.
The story of the Owlman gained wider notice in the national press in 1976, when Tony 'Doc' Shiels, an English writer, magician, and artist, claimed to have investigated reports from two young girls who said they had witnessed a large winged being hovering near the church tower of St Mawnan and St Stephen Church. The encounter with this flying bird-man so shocked the girls that their father immediately cut their holiday short. The girls later provided ‘Doc’ Shiels with a drawing of what they had seen, a copy of which appears in the gallery of this blog.
Shiels claimed that the Owlman was sighted again later that same year by two fourteen-year-old girls. According to the story, the two terrified campers were confronted by “a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man”, with glowing eyes and black, pincer-like claws.
Since that time there have been sporadic sightings of the Owlman throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. As recently as around the year 2000, witnesses reported hearing “a loud, owl-like sound” at night near the churchyard.
The most recent encounter with this Bubo bubo man-beast reportedly occurred in 2021, when two men from Falmouth claimed not only to have spotted the creature but also to have been attacked by it.
Over the years, there have been suggestions that the Owlman is merely a misidentified owl; after all, church towers are known to be popular nesting places for them. It has also been suggested that the story was a hoax created by Doc Shiels himself, as he was - by all accounts - a man who enjoyed weaving a tall tale.
However, dear reader, before you become too comfortable with these explanations, perhaps you should consider the following: there is an alleged photograph of Mawnan’s Owlman, taken shortly before it supposedly attacked the two gentlemen in 2021. I have enclosed a copy of this photograph in the gallery. I do hope you do not find it too disturbing.
If you enjoy my work, please consider picking up a copy of Threads of Shadow or Fireside Horror - folkloric horror collections told through short stories, available on Amazon stores worldwide. Links to the UK and US editions are below. Or Search P A Sheldon.
Until next week -
Stay spooky.
Link to 'Fireside Horror' - Amazon UK
Link to 'Fireside Horror' - Amazon US
Sources
Wikipedia
thehorrorcollection.com/who-or-what-is-the-owlman-of-mawnan-church
cornishbirdblog.com/the-owlman-of-mawnan-smith/
