Witchy Wednesday, The Witch Stone of Great Leighs
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| The Witch Stone just outside the carpark of the local pub. |
THE WITCH OF SCRAPFAGGOT GREEN!
October 1944 the village of Great Leighs in Essex was plagued by ghostly goings on. A military base nearby (reported American) had removed a large stone boulder in the area of Scrapfaggot Green to widen the road. Unknown to them this stone was known locally as the Witches Stone! This stone was reportedly the burial place of a local witch who in some reports was burnt the stake for murdering her husband! Local stories suggest that removing and disturbing her remains disturbed her spirit which caused all sorts of spooky goings on and upset the villagers.
Eventually the villagers insisted the stone be replaced! To this day part of the stone is still there and is left alone
According to articles in the Sunday Pictorial of 8 and 15 October 1944, the village of Great Leighs (Essex) was being plagued by nocturnal accidents to livestock, tools scattered, bells ringing, etc. They said it was because bulldozers widening a lane to a military base had pushed aside a boulder at a crossroads called Scrapfaggot Green—a boulder covering the remains of a witch, together with the fire that burnt her. When the boulder was replaced, trouble stopped.
The ‘weird events’ have been taken seriously by several writers on the occult (e.g. Valiente, 1973: 352–4), but locals now admit they were tricks played on the London journalist. How much genuine folklore underlay them is now unclear; the name ‘Scrapfaggot’ invites puns, there are historical records of a witchcraft case at nearby Boreham, and there seems to have been a ‘Witch's Stone’ around in the 1930s (though not at the crossroads). Since the 1980s, a stone outside a pub in Great Leighs is claimed to be the original, supposedly brought there in 1945.
Taken from A Dictionary of British Folklore by Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud.
Please visit these links for slightly different accounts but lots of fascinating information on this folklore story. As with all folklore stories they do vary but at the heart of all stories some truths are often present.
https://folklorethursday.com/fakelore/willow-winsham/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/witch-stone-great-leighs
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| Old news paper cutting. |
Please remember to visit these websites and make your own judgement before showing children. Personally I was quite a grown up child and loved folklore and could handle a degree of horror! But some of these subjects may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive viewers.
