The Witch’s Grave ©HelenBushe

“The Witch is Escaping from her Grave! Quick, get a Boulder!”

Now, whilst these might not be the exact words spoken on that fateful day in 1705 when Meg Shelton, the Fylde Witch, escaped from her grave for the SECOND time, someone must have said something like it.

Meg Shelton, aka the Fylde Hag, aka the Woodplumpton Witch died in 1705 when she was crushed between  barrel and a wall. She was buried in the churchyard of St Anne’s Church in the Lancashire village of Woodplumpton.

As Meg was renowned for having the ability to change shape at will, escaping from a grave might not have been too taxing a problem for her. Perhaps she changed into a worm and wriggled out?

She was duly reburied and…..yes…….our Meg escaped again.

The solution for her THIRD burial was to dig a deep and very narrow shaft, put her in it headfirst and seal it off with a large boulder. The worthy villagers reckoned that if she started digging when she was headfirst in her grave, then she’d go deeper and deeper.

Meg’s grave is Close to the church.

(I didn’t know that witches were buried in churchyards, but hey! what do I know? I’m just beginning my research. I certainly live in the right county as Lancashire is famous for its witches.)

Meg’s Shelton’s Boulder ©HelenBushe

Visitors to the churchyard often leave flowers on her grave:

Meg’s Flowers ©HelenBushe

I’d like to take some flowers next time I visit as I feel very sorry for this poor woman who probably just said the wrong thing to the wrong person……..unless of course she really WAS a witch.

There are many stories about her:

She transformed a jug into a goose to steal milk.

She frequently crossed the sky on a broomstick.

She was buried by moonlight .

An exorcism was performed by the local priest over her grave.

She had a strange relationship with the local landowner Lord Cottam who let her live rent free for life in cottage (Cuckoo Cottage) on his estate . Blackmail? Black Arts? Surrogate motherhood as his wife was infertile? All these explanations have been suggested.

Oh, and she made a lot of cattle lame.

For more stories about Meg the this website is well worth visiting:

The Fylde and Wyre Antiquarian: The Good Witch Guide

And if you want to read actual(!) eyewitness  accounts of Her Spooky Spookiness from present day visitors to her grave, visit this BBC website.

BBC – Lancashire – Spooky – The Woodplumpton Witch

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, there is a set of stocks outside the church. It wasn’t a good idea to misbehave in Woodplumpton ..then…or now.

I do hope that miscreants weren’t fastened into the footholes to be pelted by good folk on their way to church!

The stone steps behind are called a “mounting stone” – nothing to do with the stocks, which was my original deduction.

The steps are for those coming to church on horseback to mount and dismount in an elegant way.

Woodplumpton’s Stocks ©HelenBushe

This cottage is right next door to the churchyard. I see by the date 1702 that it was built when Meg was still living.

Early 18th Century Cottage ©HelenBushe

One of my blogging friends Leah at traveltastecreate.wordpress.com wanted more information on our Fylde hag.

Why not pop over to her blog and see where she is now on her worldwide travels.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this Leah! Hope everyone has. I enjoyed writing it anyway.

For my previous post on Woodplumpton Churchyard please click here

Spring Flowers in St Anne’s Churchyard ©Helenbushe