World of the Bizarre

'Fairy doors' out of control in Wayford Woods

By T.K. Randall
March 5, 2015

Image: Leaf Forest
Credit: Den Vish / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) The unusual practice, which has now become so widespread that it is causing something of a nuisance, started when an anonymous visitor built a tiny wooden door complete with a small window in to the base of a tree in the Wayford Woods, Somerset.

Other people soon started to follow suit with their own creations and before long the doors were everywhere. While popular with visitors, concerns have been raised due to the sheer number of them and because some exhibit unappealing, gaudy designs.In order to try and get the phenomenon under control a group of volunteers has now issued an appeal to ask that visitors avoid screwing doors directly in to the bottom of trees and to tone down the level of decoration because fairies "don't want a door that can be seen from 100ft away."

"Last year an entire fairy playground appeared at the bottom of the woods, complete with 2ft slides and swings," said Gillian Acremen. "Some doors are far from the paths, so when children go to see them, the bluebells get trampled. It has just gone mad on the Internet."

Even to this day however the person who started the craze remains a total mystery.

Source: ITV News

Tags: Fairy Doors, Wayford Woods