Meg Shelton (died 1705) known as the "Fylde Hag" was an English woman accused of witchcraft. Her grave can be seen at St. Anne's Church in Woodplumpton, now part of the City of Preston district of Lancashire. Meg Shelton's real name is recorded by St Anne's Church as Margery Hilton.
The Woodplumpton 'witch' is reputedly buried upside down with a boulder on her grave...
Accused of using witchcraft to destroy crops, steal milk and transform herself into animals, Meg Shelton was subject of many fantastical tales and stories. Most traditions have her body being found crushed against her cottage wall by a barrel. According to some versions of the story, the unusual death was seen by villagers as a sign that the Devil had come to claim her.
Meg Shelton was buried in St Anne's churchyard, but her body refused to stay underground. The following morning, her corpse was found lying beside her grave. She was reburied, and once more her corpse reappeared. Finally, the priest performed an exorcism and Shelton was buried for the third time, but this time she was interred in a narrow vertical hole, like an oversized post hole, and she was inserted upside down, so that if she tried to dig her way to the surface she'd be going the wrong way. Finally, a boulder was placed over the top of her unusually-shaped grave.
You'll see her tomb three or four times in my flight... Can you spot it??? Dare you look?
Paul.
