The foaming wolf of the A1067

The road between Fakenham and Norwich has its fair share of ghost stories, but in 2006, one driver witnessed something far more tangible and terrifying. 

Returning home from the cinema late at night, they slowed their car as their headlights illuminated a large, black beast crouched over a carcass at the side of the A1067.

The A1067. CREDIT: Google Maps

The creature was unmistakably a wolf. 

It stood around a metre high at the shoulder, its matted black fur giving it a wild, unkempt look. As the driver hesitated, frozen with fear, the wolf slowly lifted its head: yellow eyes burned into the night, locking onto the stunned motorist before turning back to its grisly meal.

The driver sped home, shaken, and later recounted the tale to friends. 

But there was one problem: wolves were declared extinct in England in the 17th century. For centuries, wolves were a feared presence in Britain. They stalked the dense forests that once covered the country, their howls piercing the night. But relentless hunting wiped them out and officially, the last English wolf was killed in the late 1600s.

Yet sightings of large black wolves persist across the UK. Some believe small populations may have survived in the most remote areas, their existence carefully hidden from human eyes, others argue that people are mistaking large dogs or escaped exotic pets for something more sinister. And then there are those who believe the answer lies in cryptozoology, the study of animals that exist in folklore, but not in official scientific records.

Norfolk and Suffolk already have a legendary black beast: Black Shuck, the ghostly hound said to roam county lanes and coastlines. Described as a monstrous dog with flaming red eyes, Shuck is often considered an omen of death, most famously linked to the storm of 1577 when he reportedly burst into Blythburgh Church in Suffolk, killing two parishioners before vanishing.

Could the foaming wolf of the A1067 be connected to Shuck’s legend? 

Some theories suggest that Black Shuck may not be a phantom at all, but a remnant of a once-living species, perhaps a breed of giant, black-furred wolves that once terrorised East Anglia. Others believe it is something even older.

Across Europe, tales of werewolves and shapeshifters have endured for centuries. 

In French and German folklore, the loup-garou was feared as a cursed human who could transform into a wolf under the right (or wrong) circumstances. 

Some legends even describe werewolves as appearing completely wolf-like, rather than the half-human hybrids of Hollywood movies. Could this explain the A1067 sighting? Or was the driver simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, disturbing an all-too-real predator that isn’t supposed to exist?

Norfolk has no shortage of strange creature sightings. Aside from Black Shuck and the Foaming Wolf, reports of large cat-like beasts, so-called “Alien Big Cats” (ABCs) have surfaced for decades, with eyewitnesses describing panther-sized felines stalking the countryside. 

Officially, these animals don’t exist, yet enough reports have surfaced to keep the debate alive.

Could Norfolk’s wolves be another example?

Reports of large, black wolves have also surfaced in Scotland, where they are sometimes linked to the “Beast of Bodmin” or similar creatures seen in Cornwall. The pattern suggests a persistent legend - or something lurking in the wilds that we refuse to acknowledge.

Whatever the truth, one thing is certain: on a dark night in 2006, on a lonely road between Norwich and Fakenham, something with yellow eyes and black fur watched a human drive past.

Whether it was a wolf, a cryptid, or something else entirely remains a mystery…

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