The historical mystery in my latest book, Strange
Fascination, had been fluttering on the edges of my imagination, attracting my
glances periodically, since I was first alerted to it by a friend. He’s a
photographer and seven years ago was commissioned to document a cute little
Essex pub. When he had arrived he noticed a lump of rock situated rather strangely
at the entrance to the carpark. It was in such an odd position that when he
finished his work he commented on it to the owner. To his surprise the landlord
informed him that, yes it was a pain but unfortunately it couldn’t be moved.
When asked why, my friend was told rather casually, it was the ‘Witches Stone’
and had been there for centuries to stop the witch underneath rising from her
grave. That’s right – this was just seven years ago. As you can imagine, my
curiosity was well and truly piqued and, when I had cleared my desk of other
tales, I began to research. As my
studies got underway I uncovered a true story of murder, mayhem and magic. Gradually I peeled back layers of legend and
lore to 1621 where I learned of the sad tale of Anne Hewghes. She, like the
majority of accused witches in Essex, was a poor woman and a widow who lived in
the village of Great Leighs. In 1621 she was accused of ‘bewitching to death’ a
pied cow, the ‘goods and chattels’ of Richard Edwardes and murdering John
Archer through sorcery. Her neighbours threw in a couple of other grumbles for
good measure, so that over time Anne’s story became a legend that told of a
powerful and evil old witch who brazenly slayed a fine upright citizen and who
was consequently burnt at the stake on the crossroads of Scrapfaggot Green. Not
only that, the villagers decided once her body had been obliterated her ashes should
be buried under the site of her execution and a great boulder moved over the
top to ensure she could not take revenge. Hence the reason why the carpark rock
could never be moved.
It was a fascinating story, which took a further twist
when I discovered that it had been the source of much concern to none other
than the US military as late as 1944. Commandeering the pub for their use
during the Second World War, the army found that they could not get their military
vehicles into the carpark: they were big and the entrance was small. In their
way, you see, was a large stone boulder with a ridiculous local legend attached
to it. Having no truck with the concerns raised by the locals they commissioned
a bulldozer to remove it. The desecration however soon began to wreak havoc:
church bells rang of their own accord; livestock keeled over and died; geese disappeared,
and a dark and lonely phantom was seen walking the village at night.
And, it wouldn’t stop.
The haunting became so notorious that it was featured in
several national newspapers, alongside news about the war. The publicity,
however, did nothing to halt the slew of strange phenomena engulfing the
village. In their desperation the military called in well-known ghost hunter,
Harry Price, of Borley Rectory fame. His conclusions were utterly compelling,
and I could not resist exploring them in Strange Fascination. So in my latest
book, I’ve located the boulder in the carpark of a pub in Adder’s Fork, home to
the Witch Museum. Instead of the military driving into town the story, set
today, sees greedy developers arrive in the village. They intend to build a
brace of new executive homes, but guess what? There’s a large boulder in their
way. Obviously, they decide to move it – I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
The history that lies under every inch of our country,
its real people and real crimes, also keep me focussed on structure, especially
beginnings and ends. But more than that this aspect enables me to reclaim the
stories of some of those lonely unheard voices, the owners of which have long
since slipped through the fingers of history. One thing that’s for certain is
that Essex, with the highest number of indictments for witchcraft than any
other English county, will be keeping the Witch Museum stocked with stories for
many years to come.
STRANGE FASCINATION by Syd Moore is out now from Point Blank,
an imprint of Oneworld, paperback £8.99.
It's summer in
Adders Fork. The sun is out, the sky is blue and things are going swimmingly
for Rosie Strange, thank you very much. The Essex Witch Museum has been
relaunched with a new Ursula Cadence wing and picnic grounds. Then developers roll into the sleepy village
to widen the road. When the centuries-old Blackly Be boulder, said to mark the
grave of a notorious witch but now in the car park of the Seven Stars, is
moved, all hell breaks out. Within hours a slew of peculiar phenomena descends
and, when a severed head is discovered atop the boulder, the locals can take no
more and storm the Museum to demand someone take action. Can Rosie and Sam unravel the mystery? And
what of the ancient treasure that could drastically change someone's fortunes
and offer a motive for murder?
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