A replica slate memorial stone for Joan Wytte, the Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin, who died in Bodmin jail.
"Joan Wytte was born in 1775 in Bodmin, Cornwall. She was sometimes called the “Fighting Fairy Woman” or the “Wytte (White) Witch”.
Joan was famed as a clairvoyant, and people would seek her services as a seer, diviner and healer. Her healing practices included the use of “clooties” (or “clouties”), strips of cloth taken from a sick person and tied to a tree or a holy well as a form of sympathetic magic, such that when the cloth rots, the disease was believed to dissipate.
Later in life, she became very ill-tempered as a result of a tooth abscess, and would shout and rail at people. She often became involved in fights where she exhibited remarkable strength and people came to believe she was possessed by the devil. She was eventually incarcerated in Bodmin Jail, not for witchcraft but for public brawling, and due to poor conditions in the jail, Joan died of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 38.
Her bones were disinterred and used for séances and various pranks, then later displayed at the Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle, Cornwall. It is said that, while her skeleton was on display in the museum, they started to experience disruptive poltergeists, and a witch was bought in to advise them, who said that Wytte's spirit wished to be laid in a proper burial. She was finally laid to rest in a peaceful wooded area in Boscastle, and her gravestone reads: “Joan Wytte. Born 1775. Died 1813 in Bodmin Jail. Buried 1998. No longer abused”."
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"Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'You are looking at the mortal remains of Joan Wytte of Bodmin, Cornwall, a witch known in her day as the fighting fairy woman of Bodmin, Joan Wytte was born in Bodmin in 1775 and she died in 1813 from bronchial pneumonia in Bodmin jail, aged 38. Town records of 1524 list a John Wytte as being a weaver and yarn twister. By 1780 to 1790 weaving and yarn spinning had gone into a decline, and a Wytte of back street, now Pool Street, Bodmin, was listed as a "tawner" that is maker of white leather, a trade for which Bodmin by then had become renowned. This white leather of finest quality was in demand for ladies' and gentlemen's gloves, gauntlets, boots and shoes etc. This skeleton has been submitted to inspection by a home office forensic expert the report states that the skeleton is that of a female person, aged about 38. That she was a heavy tobacco smoker and used a clay pipe. Her diet included a large consumption of stone ground flour. That in stature she was a small, short person, undernourished and very slim. Her arms were long for her height and her hands slender with bird-like claw fingers. The body does not show any sign of arthritis, but the bones are exceptional in that they show two things. One that the water supply source used by the Wytte household was exceptionally rich in natural fluoride, the other that the bones show that she was in long contact with kaolin or china clay. The report concluded by pointing to the huge abscess cavity in the right wisdom tooth. It is of interest to know that James Chappel, governor of Bodmin jail from 1780 to 1827 stated in an interview with the press that, "yes, I admit that we have had women that we could not tame, but never a man," poor Joan Wytte, she must have endured considerable pain over a long period from the abscess under her wisdom tooth. As the home office expert said, anyone with a thing like that would certainly be bad tempered and aggressive, which would account for her being dubbed, when one also takes into account the smallness of her body, "the fighting fairy woman of Bodmin" and it was her fighting spirit that landed her in jail. As to the unusual fact of natural fluoride found in above average quantity in her bones, this was to provide evidence and to pin-point the location of the Wytte family home in Bodmin town where she was born and brought up. Dr Thomas Queller-Couch, father of the famous Cornish writer sir Arthur Quiller-Couch had his practice in Bodmin, where there was a holy well called Scarlett's well, long famous among the population for its reputed healing powers. Certain it was that many sick people had been cured after taking its waters. This aroused the curiosity of the good doctor with the result that at his own expense he had the waters of the holy well analysed, the report showed that together with other chemicals Scarlett's well was rich in natural fluoride. It is interesting to note that back street where the Wytte family lived is close to this source of drinking water. With regard to the traces of kaolin or china clay discernible within the bones, it is interesting to remember that the "tawers" or white leather workers made use of large quantities of china clay in their leather whitening process.' (The skeleton is missing some bones from right hand and both feet and right patella.)
A story relating to the skeletons' history and misuse at Bodmin Gaol by the Governor is reported by Cecil Williamson (See Joan Wytte File in the Archive). In summary, Wytte's remains were set up as a dinner-time entertainment by the Gaol's governor William Hicks. The dinner guests were invited to ask questions of the skeleton, and concealed men would make the arms rap on the table to indicate yes and no answers. The proceedings were overtaken by a 'poltergeist force' however. The Museum once owned three femur bones (Object No. 27). See the following text by Cecil Williamson:
"These are the three bones seized by the poltergeist force on that fateful night of the spoof seance organised by William Hicks and with which the assembled party guests were beaten about the head and shoulders. After the debacle the bones were picked up and put into the cupboard with Joan Wytte's skeleton where - in spite of a number of strange incidents over the last hundred years or more - they have remained ever since." "
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"Physical description:
Slate memorial stone for Joan Wytte, with engraved moons etc.
Museum classification:
Joan Wytte
Size:
360 x 200 x 20 mm
Information:
Three headstones have been made. One is buried with Joan, a replica is displayed here. A final stone has been placed near the burying place.
Resource:
Object
Materials:
Stone"
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Opening hours:
Open daily from April until November
Monday to Saturday 10.30am – 6pm (last entry 5.00pm)
Sunday from 11.30 – 6pm (last entry 5.00pm)
Prices for entry:
£5 – Adults (aged 16-59 years)
£4 – Children (aged 6-15 years)
Concessions and family tickets are available