rewind.
Historically, Warwickshire is no exception when it comes to witchcraft and ‘magic’. Nor is it unique in the specific beliefs and taboos surrounding these subjects, ranging from the phantasmal black dogs said to haunt Meon Hill – a place already steeped in sinister reputation – to the widespread practice of witches using particular ingredients in potions for various purposes. However, where Warwickshire stands apart is in the witchcraft-related events that occurred long after the phenomenon’s infamous peak.
Witchcraft trials and associated violence reached their zenith in the 16th and 17th centuries, marked by figures such as King James I, who enacted the Witchcraft Act of 1604 that allowed capital punishment for those found guilty, and the notorious witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins, whose victim count is estimated to exceed 200. Given this history, it is all the more bewildering that a case of witch-related violence should occur as late as 1875.
The supposedly enlightened Victorian society was shocked when 80-year-old Ann Tennant was brutally murdered with a pitchfork in the Long Compton area of Warwickshire. The assailant, James Haywood, justified his actions by accusing Tennant of being one of some twenty witches living locally who he claimed prevented him from tending his fields. Unlike earlier centuries, the Victorian justice system recognised Haywood’s insanity and confined him to an asylum. Though Haywood was removed, his beliefs endured: in 1928, over fifty years later, one of an eyewitness’s sons stated that, while he acknowledged Haywood’s madness, he felt Haywood’s suspicions were justified. He linked these suspicions to another local case, highlighting how such beliefs persisted across generations, particularly in small rural communities.
Spectral black dogs are not the only things to haunt Meon Hill. Its most infamous event occurred on Valentine’s Day 1945, when Charles Walton, a 74-year-old farm labourer, was found murdered in the fields. A trouncing hook was embedded in his throat, and his body was pinned to the ground with his own pitchfork. As with Ann Tennant’s murder, a pitchfork was the weapon, and a cross was reportedly carved into Walton’s chest. Theories connecting the killing to witchcraft quickly surfaced. Walton was believed to be a ‘cunning man’ – a local folk magician – who allegedly ‘blasted’ (cursed) crops and livestock during the 1944 harvest. It was suggested that local villagers murdered him in retaliation, deliberately pinning his body so that his blood might “replenish the soil he had cursed”. Whatever the true motive, it remains a mystery, as the murderer was never caught. The last major development in the case came in 1960, when a tin watch belonging to Walton was discovered in an outhouse on his property. The watch, thought to contain ‘witch glass’ – a talisman against witchcraft – had not been found during the original police search, raising more questions than answers nearly a century after the crime.
Warwickshire thus holds a unique place in history: its most infamous witchcraft-related events occurred centuries after such beliefs were expected to have died out. The cases of Ann Tennant and Charles Walton serve as haunting reminders to wider, especially urban, populations that the superstitions of the past can persist into the modern age.
Bibliography:
https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/article/tales-about-meon-hill
Brian Hoggard, Magical House Protection: The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft (2019)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-Hopkins
https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/article/murder-long-compton
https://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/weird-warwickshire/1945-witchcraft-murder.shtml
https://medium.com/@anncarney51/a-murder-on-valentines-day-f1088bde52c6