While most of today’s hermits seclude themselves as a form of passive protest against society, the underlying rationality behind such acts of isolation isn’t much different than the reasoning used by the 10 hermits who spent decades in utter solitude for religious or philosophical purposes.

1. Baal Shem Tov

Baal Shem Tov, born Israel ben Eliezer and often called Besht, is best known as the father of Hasidism. His life is shrouded in legend and fable, and as such most of the details of his life are a topic of debate. He is said to have been born to parents who were nearly 100 years old. He was orphaned at a young age when they both died of old age.

After a relatively nondescript young life in which he worked in various synagogues and schools, Besht went into the Carpathian Mountains, where he lived and meditated on mysticism and spirituality. His reputation as a healer spread far and wide, as did the fact that he conversed with and dressed like “simple people,” something which irked some parts of the Jewish community. Although he never wrote down any of his teachings, they were recorded by his followers and later formed the basis of Hasidism.

2. Julian Of Norwich

Julian of Norwich is perhaps best known for being the author of the first book written in the English language by a woman, her magnum opus Revelations of Divine Love. She’s now known primarily through that book, and while most of the details are missing, we do know that Julian was already in her cell (a room attached to a church) by the age of 30.

It was at the age of 30 that a sickness struck her, one which was so serious that she was given the Last Sacraments. However, she pulled through and the visions she received inspired her to write about the love of God. She often struggled with the evil ravaging the world at the time, and she fought to reconcile that idea with the concept of God’s love. When Julian questioned God and pressed Him for an explanation, He assured her that she need not bother—she would forever remain ignorant of the reasoning. Her year of death, as well as the cause, is a mystery. All that is known is that she was dead by 1423, as her cell was empty.

3. Saint Paul

Widely considered to be the first Christian hermit, Paul lived during the time of Christian persecution at the hands of the Roman emperor Decius. One such persecution was that of a young male Christian who was tied to a comfortable bed and forced to have sex with a woman. He then bit his tongue off, spat it in the woman’s face, and was martyred. Hearing of these and other persecutions, Paul fled into the desert, where he lived in a cave for anywhere from 60 to 90 years, depending on the source.

While in the desert, Paul was fed by a raven who brought him dates and bread. He also encountered Anthony the Great in the wilderness, who had been told in a vision to seek out the elusive hermit. They spoke throughout the night, and Paul told Anthony that he was dying. He asked Anthony to bury him with a special cloak, which was back in the city. When Anthony returned, Paul was dead and his soul was being lifted to heaven by a host of angels. Unfortunately, Anthony had forgotten his shovel, but, similar to the story of Mary of Egypt, two lions showed up and dug a hole with their claws.

4. Zhang Daoling

The legendary founder of the Way of the Celestial Masters sect (otherwise known as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice), a branch of Taoism, Zhang Daoling lived a relatively nondescript life as a hermit in the mountains of the Sichuan province of China. The nickname for his sect derived from the fact that people paid five pecks of rice every year as a sort of membership fee. Daoling began it after the famed Taoist philosopher Laozi supposedly came to him in a vision, and it became the first organized Taoist church in Chinese history.

Giving up his life of solitude to lead his new followers, Daoling preached against what he saw as a lack of respect for truth and goodness in the people of China. The new sect also rejected the traditional sacrifices, which often involved blood and animals, in favor of joss sticks, incense, and boiled vegetables.

5. Saint Mary Of Egypt

One of a handful of saints who began their lives entrenched in sin, Mary of Egypt was a prostitute in the city of Alexandria, servicing sailors who came into port. Fleeing to the city at the young age of 12, she refused money for her services, instead supporting herself mainly through begging. She later convinced a group of sailors to take her to the Holy Land.

When she got there, Mary tried to enter a church but the Holy Spirit kept her body from crossing the threshold. The sight of an icon of the Virgin Mary caused her to confess her sins and weep. Under the guidance of the voice of the Virgin Mary, she then went into the wilderness across the Jordan River, where she remained alone for 40 years. The future Pope Zosimus was said to have come upon Mary while on his own journey in the desert. She told him her entire story and he gave her communion. Later, after her death, Zosimus was preparing the burial rites when a lion appeared out of nowhere; it dug a grave for Mary with its paws before burying her itself.

6. Pope Celestine V

Dubbed the “hermit pope,” Celestine V was known as Peter of Morrone in his early life. He withdrew from society at an early age, and the strict piety with which he led his life attracted many followers. He later organized them into a group which would come to be known as the Celestines. The pivotal moment in Peter’s life came when he predicted that God would strike down the College of Cardinals, who had gone two years without choosing a successor for Pope Nicholas IV.

In the face of the prophecy, the cardinals voted to just go ahead and elect Peter as the new pope. He refused the nomination at first, even going so far as to try to flee. However, the cardinals would not change their minds, and he was soon brought to Naples, where he became Celestine V and was kept on a short leash by King Charles II. Having spent most of his years outside society, Peter knew that he wasn’t up to the job, so he tried to resign and escape into the mountains. Unfortunately, his successor, Pope Boniface VIII, tracked Peter down and stuck him in prison, where he remained until his death.

7. James Lucas

Known as the “Hertfordshire Hermit,” James Lucas was a well‑educated doctor with a few minor eccentricities. After his father died, those eccentricities were exacerbated and, after his mother died 19 years later, they became uncontrollable. He moved into his parents’ estate in Hertfordshire and refused to execute their wills, choosing instead to barricade himself inside the house. It quickly fell to ruin, as Lucas chose to only live in the small back kitchen, wearing nothing more than a blanket fastened with a wooden skewer.

Though unwilling to mingle with anyone outside of his home, he was more than happy to receive visitors, especially tramps and children. His most famous guest was the author Charles Dickens, who wrote about Lucas in a story called “Tom Tiddler’s Ground” in the literary magazine All The Year Round. Lucas was found by one of his watchmen while having a stroke, and he died a short while after. A large sum of money was found hoarded in his living room.

8. Gerasimus Of The Jordan

Although the exact year of his birth is unknown, Gerasimus was born in Lycia in Asia Minor. Born into a relatively wealthy family, he decided to become a monk and headed into the Jordanian desert to live a life of solitude. However, his lifestyle and his ideas attracted followers, and he eventually built a monastery near the Jordan River for them all to stay in. Strict rules of asceticism were followed by the tenants of the monastery, with Gerasimus going so far as to only allow the eating of bread, dates, and water during the week. Cooked food and wine was allowed on the weekend.

Perhaps the story for which Gerasimus is best known is that of the lion with a thorn in its paw: A lion limped up to the saint with its paw in the air, clearly in pain. Gerasimus removed a thorn from its paw, and the lion would not leave his side after that. It was given the name “Jordan” and was assigned to be a guardian to the donkey which Gerasimus sent to fetch water. When Gerasimus died, the lion was distraught and lay down on his grave, refusing to move until it died a few days later.

9. William ‘Amos’ Wilson

William Wilson’s story begins in 18th‑century Pennsylvania and involves his sister Elizabeth. She was tricked into having sex with a man named Joseph Deshong, who pretended to have marriage on his mind. In reality, he had no intention of marrying her. When she gave birth to twins, he followed her home and lured Elizabeth and the newborns into the woods, where he murdered the babies and then fled the scene. Elizabeth was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. William pleaded with the governor to release her, and eventually a pardon was granted. He raced home to save her, but he was too late—she had been hanged moments before he arrived.

Discouraged and saddened by his sister’s fate and by the injustice of society (Deshong was never found), William headed back to his birthplace and lived in a cave for the last 19 years of his life, gaining the nickname “The Pennsylvania Hermit.” He supported himself by making millstones, eschewing any other contact with civilization. After his death, his writings were published in a number of different newspapers.

10. Anthony The Great

Born in central Egypt, Anthony was raised by Christian parents and attended church regularly. Described as an obedient and attentive youth, Anthony lost his mother and father when he was only 18. Less than six months after their deaths, he overheard a sermon that changed his life. The man preaching spoke of Jesus saying to sell your belongings to the poor and follow him in order to receive treasure in heaven. Anthony quickly sold everything his parents had left him, entrusted the care of his sister to a household of virgins, and immediately began a life of asceticism.

Apart from the normal dangers of living a solitary life in the desert, Anthony was said to have squared off against the devil (as many saints are wont to do), who tempted him with “phantasms of sexual allurements.” He was able to fend off Satan, who appeared to him personally under the guise of a young black boy. Widely regarded as the “father of monks,” Anthony died at the age of 105. Many of his sayings were collected in the book Sayings of the Fathers.

11. Herman’s Hermits

An English beat group widely popular in the 1960s, Herman’s Hermits formed in 1962 in Manchester. Younger than either the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, they were seen as more appealing to the teens of the day, especially those in the United States. Their most popular songs included “I’m into Something Good,” “Silhouettes,” and “I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” a British music hall song dating back to 1910. The group disbanded in 1971 after years of declining album sales.

When you think of hermits, you probably picture monks in cloisters or ascetics meditating in remote caves. Yet the world is peppered with a handful of truly oddball loners whose reasons for secluding themselves are anything but spiritual. In this roundup of 10 strange hermits, we explore the bizarre, the heartbreaking, and the downright eccentric lives of people who chose isolation over civilization.

10 Strange Hermits Overview

10 The Leopard Man Of Skye

Tom Leppard, born Thomas Leppard, turned himself into a walking work of art by covering every inch of skin with leopard‑style spots. After a three‑decade stint in the armed forces, he found civilian life unnerving and opted for a visual shock‑value strategy: a full‑body tattoo that would make him instantly recognizable. He never claimed a deep kinship with big cats, but the simple, repeatable pattern of spots was quick for the tattooist and guaranteed he would stand out in any crowd.

For two decades he made his home on the desolate Isle of Skye, Scotland, fashioning a makeshift “cave” out of the crumbling remains of a bothy perched on Loch na Beiste. The dwelling was utterly spartan—no windows, no gas, no electric wiring—just a low‑slung metal roof that forced him to stoop constantly. He survived on a camping stove for cooking and a battered board for sleeping, enduring both scorching summers and bitter winters with a stoic grin.

Leppard’s routine was minimalist to the extreme, yet he managed to earn a modest reputation among locals who admired his self‑reliance. Though he rarely mingled, the islanders respected his autonomy and occasionally snapped photos of the striking figure wandering the cliffs.

A bizarre footnote to his story emerged when a German woman, accused of vampiric Satanic rituals, alleged that Leppard had instructed her in devil worship during a holiday stay. He vehemently denied the claim, insisting she was merely a teenage visitor, and the accusation faded into obscurity.

In 2008, advancing age made his weekly kayak trips for groceries impossible, prompting his move to a care facility where he lived until his death in 2016.

9 The Hermit Of Griffith

Italian immigrant Valerio Ricetti arrived in Australia as a teenager just as World I was winding down. After a series of itinerant jobs, he settled in the regional town of Griffith, where a broken heart drove him to carve out a private sanctuary.

He began excavating caves and constructing terraces, dedicating 23 years to shaping an elaborate “Garden of Eden” that he christened mia sacra collina (“my sacred hill”). The project involved building stone walls, bridges, staircases, and even a shrine—presumably to his lost love—while he worked under the cover of night to avoid detection.

The resulting landscape, a labyrinth of terraces and pathways, now draws visitors eager to glimpse the Hermit’s Cave, the dry‑stone walls, and the intricate network of walkways that Ricetti painstakingly hewed from the earth.

World II cast a shadow over his solitude; the Australian authorities suspected him of espionage and interned him in a POW camp. After the war, he was repatriated to Italy, where he died never to see his beloved garden again.

8 The Hermit Of Redcoats

Born in 1813, James Lucas amassed enough wealth to buy a mansion near Redcoats Green, Hertfordshire. After his mother’s death in 1849, he sealed himself inside the house, barricading every door and window with thick wooden planks and refusing to exit for a quarter‑century.

Rather than shy away from attention, Lucas turned his seclusion into a spectacle. Thousands trekked to the estate to peer through barred windows, where he, wrapped in a tattered blanket and brandishing a shotgun, chatted with onlookers, handed out sweets, and even tossed money to children on Christmas. He declined any attempts to force him out, and a bid to have him committed failed because witnesses attested to his lucidity.

In 1874, a postman’s unanswered delivery prompted police to breach the barricades. They found Lucas barely conscious after suffering a stroke; he was taken to hospital but died later that day. An inspection of the house revealed every entrance sealed with massive planks.

At his death, the hermit left a fortune of £120,000—a sum that would be roughly £9.5 million today—underscoring the paradox of a man who hoarded wealth while living in self‑imposed confinement.

7 The Ring‑Road Hermit

Polish‑born Josef (or Jozef) Stawinoga chose a bustling traffic island in Wolverhampton as his home base around 1970, pitching a modest tent on the strip of grass that split the ring‑road. Little is known of his earlier life, though he appears to have married unhappily before vanishing from conventional society.

Stawinoga quickly became a local legend. Wolverhampton Polytechnic awarded him an honorary degree, and he was revered as a spiritual figure by Sikh and Hindu communities. His website, “We love you Wolverhampton ring‑road tramp,” amassed 6,500 fans, reflecting his quirky celebrity status.

The council supplied hot meals twice daily and replaced his dilapidated tent when needed. Members of the Asian community showered him with clothing, food, and even a live chicken—though the bird met an untimely fate on the busy road. Notably, he reportedly went three decades without bathing.

After his death in 2007, a commemorative plaque was installed at the site, honoring the extraordinary life of this public‑space hermit.

6 The Hermit Of Gully Lake

Willard Kitchener MacDonald fled a troop train during World II to avoid conscription, disappearing into the dense forests of Nova Scotia. He spent nearly six decades living as a hermit, despite Canada’s 1950 amnesty for deserters, fearing imprisonment if he ever resurfaced.

Each month, MacDonald trekked roughly 12 km to the nearest store, earning a modest income by trapping wildlife and selling pelts. For most of his life he dwelled in a simple shack; later, concerned locals funded a cabin for him, though he eventually returned to his original shelter, preferring its familiarity.

In November 2003, illness struck, and despite his wishes, someone fetched a doctor. By the time help arrived, MacDonald had vanished from his shack, refusing medical attention. A thorough search failed to locate him, and his remains were finally discovered in June 2004.

His funeral drew about 100 attendees, and his ashes were scattered along the edge of Lake Gully, the very spot that had been his home for the majority of his life.

5 The Hermit Of Seychelles

In 1962, former newspaper editor Brendon Grimshaw impulsively purchased Moyenne Island in the Seychelles, embarking on a half‑century project to turn the barren speck into a thriving national park valued at $50 million.

Grimshaw planted roughly 16,000 trees and laid out five kilometres of pathways, fostering a sanctuary that now shelters a dazzling array of avian species, 500 turtle doves, and 120 giant tortoises—creatures once on the brink of extinction in the archipelago.

He lived modestly in a single‑story house, welcoming tourists who respected the wildlife while refusing anyone the privilege of staying overnight. Grimshaw turned down lucrative offers to sell the island, insisting he would not allow it to become a luxury resort for the ultra‑wealthy.

In 2008, the island earned official national‑park status. Grimshaw passed away in 2012, leaving behind a living legacy of conservation and ecological wonder.

4 The North Pond Hermit

At age 20, in 1986, alarm‑system engineer Christopher Knight abruptly quit his job, vanished without cashing his final paycheck, and set off on a nomadic trek that eventually led him to the remote woods surrounding Moosehead Lake, Maine.

With only basic camping gear, Knight attempted to forage for sustenance, but early failures forced him to pilfer vegetables from nearby gardens under the cover of night. He eventually settled on a secluded spot where he would remain for two decades, surviving on stolen provisions and the occasional foraged berry.

To sustain his hermitage, Knight became a nocturnal burglar, meticulously watching holiday cabins for the optimal moment to slip in, unlock, pilfer food and supplies, and then re‑lock the doors on his exit. Police later described his burglaries as “unusually neat,” suggesting a surprisingly skilled thief at work.After 27 years on the run, Knight was caught in the act of stealing food in 2013. His arrest sparked a media frenzy, even leading to a marriage proposal from a fan. He received a seven‑month prison sentence and, upon release, moved in with his brother.

3 The Hermit Of Cold River

In 1929, at the age of 46, Noah John Rondeau retreated to a remote corner of New York’s Adirondack Mountains, christening the spot Cold River City. There, he kept a detailed journal written in a personal cipher, chronicling daily life, weather, and mundane tasks like “get few loads of wood.”

The coded diary remained a mystery until 1992, when cryptographers finally cracked it. The revealed entries offered little in the way of secret revelations, mostly mundane observations, suggesting Rondeau’s encryption hobby was merely a quirky pastime.

Rondeau lived as a hermit for roughly twenty years, hunting and fishing, before the state closed the Cold River area to the public in 1950, forcing him to relocate to the Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Wilmington regions. He died in 1967, leaving behind a legacy of solitary wilderness living.

2 The Fort Fisher Hermit

In 1955, 62‑year‑old Robert Harrill arrived at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and claimed an abandoned World II bunker amid marshlands as his home. For the next 17 years, he subsisted on fishing and beach scavenging, never holding down a conventional job.

Harrill’s early life was turbulent: married in 1913, father of five (one child dying shortly after birth), and later abandoned by his wife during the 1930s, who took the children with her. The details of his life between that breakup and his arrival at Fort Fisher remain murky.

His eccentric lifestyle turned him into a tourist attraction, much to his annoyance. He is quoted as asking, “How am I going to be a hermit, when all these people keep coming to see me?”

In June 1972, Harrill’s body was discovered inside his bunker. While the exact cause of death is uncertain, some suspect foul play may have been involved.

1 The Hermit Of Costa Da Morte

Manfred Gnadinger, simply known as “Man,” fell in love with a beautiful Spanish woman, only to have his heart shattered. In response, he erected a modest cabin on a secluded beach along Portugal’s rugged Costa da Morte, embracing a life devoid of water, electricity, and modern comforts.

He cultivated his own food, jogged daily in a loincloth, and fashioned sculptures from driftwood and stones washed ashore. He also opened his tiny “museum home” to curious visitors for a modest fee, showcasing his eclectic creations.

Forty years later, an oil tanker ran aground in 2002, spewing tons of crude into the sea, contaminating the shoreline, destroying his artwork, and wrecking his cabin. Overwhelmed, Man posted a stark “keep out” sign and locked himself inside.

Neighbors eventually forced the door open, discovering him dead. While the official cause of death remains ambiguous, locals believe he succumbed to a broken heart after witnessing the devastation of his lifelong masterpiece.