Cursed Places & Ill-Fated Stones

Some places carry a warning. A stone that must not be moved, a treasure that cannot be lifted, a family doom or a blight laid on a hall — the curse explains misfortune and enforces a boundary the living are not meant to cross. Many attach to tombs, boundary stones and disturbed ground.

WitchesAlice KytelerKilkenny, County Kilkenny, IrelandDame Alice Kyteler was Ireland's first convicted witch — accused in 1324 of poisoning four husbands with potions brewed from their nightgowns and consorting with a demon called Robin Artisson. WitchesAllison BalfourStenness, Orkney, ScotlandTortured for two days with her husband and children, Allison Balfour 'confessed' to plotting against the Earl of Orkney by witchcraft — then retracted it before being strangled and burned in 1594. Aquatic LegendsBen VarreyIsle of ManThe Manx mermaid — 'Woman of the Sea' — a creature of ambivalent character who could grant wishes, warn of storms, or lure fishermen to their deaths. Several Manx families claim descent from a Ben Varrey who married a mortal and lived ashore until she found her way back to the sea. Legendary FiguresCú ChulainnCounty Sligo, IrelandThe Hound of Ulster — Ireland's greatest hero, son of the sun god Lugh. He single-handedly held the ford against the armies of Connacht while Ulster's warriors lay cursed, entering the battle-fury called the ríastrad that made him unrecognisable even to himself. Aquatic LegendsDoom BarCornwallA dangerous sandbar at the mouth of the River Camel, linked to the Mermaid of Padstow. In legend, a dying mermaid cursed the harbour after being shot, raising the bar to wreck ships forever. WitchesDorrington WitchDorrington, Lincolnshire, EnglandA witch of Dorrington who took the form of a rat was kicked hard by a villager one night, and the next morning was found confined to her bed, badly beaten in human form—a transformation tale from the tradition of Lincolnshire witch-belief gathered by folklorist Ethel Rudkin in the 1930s. DragonsDragon of Radnor ForestRadnorshire, WalesBeneath Radnor Forest, the last dragon of Wales sleeps — kept there by a ring of five churches all dedicated to St Michael. Shatter any one of them, the legend warns, and it wakes. WitchesDòideag of MullIsle of Mull, Argyll, ScotlandThe Dòideag—'Little Frizzle'—was the most feared storm-witch of the Isle of Mull, famed for raising tempests; in 1588 she is said to have called down fire that sank a Spanish Armada galleon in Tobermory harbour, whose treasure-laden wreck lies unraised to this day. WitchesFan o' the Fensnear Louth, Lincolnshire, EnglandA magpie's gossip, a cat that wakes on the guilty party's shoulder, and a girl engulfed in flames near Louth — the brutal mob 'trial' of 'Fan' captures fenland witch-panic at its cruellest. WitchesFlorence NewtonYoughal, County Cork, IrelandFlorence Newton, the 'Witch of Youghal', was tried for witchcraft in County Cork in 1661 after allegedly bewitching a servant girl with a kiss — one of Ireland's best-documented witch trials. GhostsGunby Hall Ghost WalkGunby, Lincolnshire, EnglandA jealous squire shot his daughter's lover dead and dumped his body in the pond — the murdered postillion still walks 'Ghost Walk' awaiting his love. WitchesGwen ferch EllisDenbigh, Denbighshire, WalesA healer and charm-maker from the Vale of Clwyd, Gwen ferch Ellis became the first person executed for witchcraft in Wales in 1594, after one of her protective charms was found written backwards. WitchesJanet Forsyth, the Westray Storm WitchWestray, Orkney, ScotlandJanet Forsyth supposedly saved a storm-wrecked crew by piloting their ship into Pierowall Bay — then was arrested for witchcraft days later and burned in 1629, a tale later softened into a romance. WitchesJinny the Witch (Joney Lowney)Braddan, Isle of ManJoney Lowney of Braddan was tried in 1715 for stopping a corn mill with witchcraft — and was reborn in folk memory as 'Jinny the Witch', the figure Manx children still chant about every Hop tu Naa. WitchesLilias AdieTorryburn, Fife, ScotlandAccused of witchcraft and consorting with the Devil, she died in prison and was buried in a unique intertidal grave to stop her returning. WitchesLlanddona WitchesLlanddona, Anglesey, WalesExiled witches washed ashore at Llanddona in a rudderless boat, conjured a freshwater spring from the sand, and settled to terrorise the parish. WitchesLong Compton WitchesLong Compton, Warwickshire, EnglandLong Compton in Warwickshire was believed to harbour a coven of sixteen witches, a tradition so alive that in 1875 John Haywood stabbed 79-year-old Ann Turner to death with a pitchfork, claiming she had overlooked his cattle—a murder that exposed the unbroken force of witch-belief in Victorian England. WitchesMary Butters, the Carnmoney WitchCarnmoney, County Antrim, Northern IrelandIn 1807 the Carnmoney wise-woman Mary Butters was called to cure a bewitched cow; she sealed a farmhouse in foul smoke to perform her rite and two people were found dead by dawn—yet she was acquitted at the spring assizes and continued curing bewitched cattle for decades afterwards. WitchesMolly DownerHillway, Isle of Wight, EnglandReputed to be the last witch of the Isle of Wight, she lived at 'Witches Hatch' near Bembridge and cursed a tormentor with fatal bad luck. Sacred SitesMuseum of Witchcraft and MagicCornwallThe world's largest collection of witchcraft and magic artefacts, housed in the village of Boscastle in Cornwall — founded by Cecil Williamson in 1951 and home to objects of folk magic, ceremonial practice, and genuine historical weight. WitchesPetronilla de MeathKilkenny, County Kilkenny, IrelandPetronilla de Meath, maidservant of Alice Kyteler, was burned at Kilkenny on 3 November 1324 — the first person executed for witchcraft in Ireland, after torture forced her confession while her mistress escaped. Sacred SitesRollright Stones curseOxfordshireA Bronze Age stone circle said to be a king and his knights turned to stone by a witch. The stones are impossible to count twice and reach the same number. The King Stone bleeds if cut. GhostsScreaming Skull of BettiscombeBettiscombe, Dorset, EnglandA human skull kept at Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset that is said to scream if removed from the house — and to bring pestilence, failed harvests and livestock death on any household foolish enough to try. No force has yet succeeded in burying it permanently. DeitiesSulisBath, SomersetA Celtic goddess of healing waters whose sacred spring at Bath was so powerful the Romans built a great temple around it, naming her Sulis Minerva. Thousands of curse tablets were cast into her waters — prayers, pleas and vengeance.
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