Nether Stowey, Somerset, England
Earth ramparts of Dowsborough Camp
Dead Woman's Ditch
Dead Woman's Ditch is located on the hill of Dowsborough Camp, and it the reputed site where one Jane Walford was murdered in July 1789 (hence its macabre name). She had been married to John Walford for only a month when he slit her throat following a drunken domestic argument. Her ghost has been reportedly sighted here.
However, the area known as Walford's Gibbet below also provides us with a chilling postscript to this story.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe and Haunted Britain by Richard Jones.
Dowsborough Camp
According to the author Coxe, Dowsborough (pictured above) was the site of a Danish camp, presumably when the Vikings attacked. It is said that on wild autumn nights the sounds of battle can be heard accompanied by the sound of a young Danish boy singing. The English for some reason saved his life - perhaps it was seen as unfair to kill such a youngster, even if he was part of an attacking hostile force?
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe and Haunted Britain by Richard Jones.
Over Stowey Crossroads
Here you may come across the rather nasty “galley-beggar”, who shrieks with “demonical laughter” as he “sits on a hurdle, takes his head in his hand and slides downhill past Bincombe to Nether Stowey”! As he does so, he is bathed in an ethereal, luminous light.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe.
St. David's Well
Coxe in 'Haunted Britain' mentions this well, but no specifics are detailed regarding its properties.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe.
St. Peter's Well
The water in this well was used to cure eye problems.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe.
Seven Well’s Combe
Coxe mentions this well, but once again does not elaborate as to its properties.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe.
Stowey Blindwell
The water here in this well, as the name implies, were able to cure eye problems. It is on private land. The house of which the well belongs is supposedly haunted by the apparition of a monk that travels from it to the nearby church, presumably for vespers.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe.
Walford's Gibbet
Following the discovery of Jane Walford's body, her husband John was swiftly arrested. At his trial he was found guilty and sentenced to hang. The site of his execution and the spot where he hung for a year and a day, has since been known as Walford's Gibbet.
Visitors to the spot have reported hearing the clanking of chains and the "repulsive" odour of death. His ghost has also been reported there as well as on hearby roads and pathways.
Pictured left is the spot where Walford was hung, courtesy of Ken Grainger.
For further information, please read Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe and Haunted Britain by Richard Jones.
Location
Visitor Information
Nether Stowey is a large village in Somerset, England.
It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey.
Pictured left are the earth ramparts of Dowsborough Camp courtesy of Roger Cornfoot. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
