Molly Leigh - Witch. St John's Church, Woodbank Road, Burslem, Staffordshire, UK. - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

In a time when peoplke were wary of the supernatural, Molly Leigh was thought to be haunting the area. Drastic measures were taken to stop the hauntings.

Her grave is easy to find. Not only is it rather larger than might be expected for a poor old woman, it is qnique within in this graveyard.

Description: Molly was accused of being a witch, as were many old women. In fact many older women had a knowledge of basic herbal medicine. They may have lived on the outskirts of towns and villages because it was cheaper to do so and to compound their problems they might be condemned to use poor wuality wheat which may have been infected with a fungus called ergot which is known to have had effects similar to LSD. And she had a pet blackbird as well. Molly was accused of witchcraft by the local vicar. He clained that she was responsible for sending her blackbird to perch on the Turk's Head pub where he drank. The bird, it was claimed, was responsible for turning the beer sour. She was also blamed for the illnesses of townsfolk. When she died she was burried in the local churc yard. However, it was claimed that she was haunting the locals. Her grave was opened and turned through 90 degrees. Her live blackbird was also thrown, alive, into her grave and sealed in. In a graveyard full of graves aligned east-west, hers is the only one standing north-south. There are stories that her ghost appeared to walk the streets of Burslem apologising for her sins. There are also that her spirit was exorcised by a group of priests and that while it was successful, some of them died in the process. It is said that if you skips around her grave three times chanting "Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh, Chase me around the apple tree," her ghost will return. These ghost stories are still told to local children. Date of birth: 01/01/1685 Date of death: 01/01/1746 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Tomb (above ground) Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: No restriction. Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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