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St. Osyth: Haunted Witch Prison



Step into the strange world of witchcraft, torture and execution, where even today, the dead still roam. The Cage of St. Osyth, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, is 500-years-old. Tragedy, depression and suicide have plagued the many past residents of “The Cage.” Is it just coincidence, or the curse of tortured witches, who once languished there awaiting their final pitiful end. The Cage is infamous for the imprisonment of Ursula Kemp and Elizabeth Bennett, both of whom were accused of witchcraft and hanged in 1582.



During the infamous St. Osyth witch trials of 1582, 13 village women were accused of witchcraft and although many were imprisoned, only Kemp and Bennett were executed following a lengthy imprisonment in The Cage. Kemp, the most powerful and notorious of all the women, made a living as a nursemaid, midwife and healer and she also had a reputation for removing spells from folk who believed they were the victims of black magic. Many consulted her for potions to cure their ills.



Kemp ended up in prison after she was asked by Grace Thurlowe, a local women, to cure her son and Kemp succeeded. However, witnesses swore she had cured the lad by using incantations. Mrs. Thurlowe returned and this time asked Ursula to cure her arthritis and Kemp suggested a cure she claimed she had learned from an old wise women and requested a shilling in payment. However, Mrs. Thrulowe refused to pay and her arthritis worsened, at which point she complained to Lord Brain Darcy and the witch trials commenced.



Justice Darcy claimed Ursula made a full – but private – confession in which she said that approximately 10 years previous, she had experienced a “lameness in her bones” and consulted a local cunning woman who told her she had been bewitched. The woman recommended a ritual that included hog’s dung, charnell, sage and St. John’s wort. After performing the ritual, Kemp claimed she recovered. Afterward, two women consulted her for lameness and she helped them in the same manner she had been helped herself and they apparently recovered.



She also allegedly admitted to having four familiars that her son had mentioned: two male spirits, who killed people, and two female spirits, who brought sickness to people and destroyed cattle. She continued, claiming she sent her familiars to lame Grace Thurlow and to kill Joan Thurlow, Elizabeth Letherdale and Kemp’s own sister-in-law. She named 12 other women as witches, six of whom were hanged along with Kemp in 1582. Many of the accused freely confessed to the practice of witchcraft despite the knowledge their confessions meant death on the gallows. Ursula Kemp was hanged in Chelmsford.



In 1921, the skeletons of two women were discovered in a St. Osyth garden by Charles Brooker and one of the skeletons was believed to be that of Ursula Kemp. The “witches’s skeletons” became a local tourist attraction and an admission was charged to view it. In 2007, historian Alison Rowlands, who had researched the witch trials, said the skeletons could belong to any of 10 women who were executed for witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. A more recent forensic study suggests the bones are from the Roman era.



It is generally accepted that the spirit of a condemned witch still haunts the prison where she was held. Vanessa Mitchell, owner of the cottage, as well as many paranormal investigators, believe there is definitely something otherworldly in the old building.



“I have seen three ghosts in there as clear as I could see someone living,” Mitchell claims. “I also experienced activity that was unexplainable to me – taps turning on and off, door latches rattling through the day and night, a Coke can whizzing across the table, objects disappearing then turning up in unusual places or not turning up at all ... something walking up and down the stairs in the night, physical touch, aggressive touch, voices as if people talking to each other.”



Sources: The Cage St. Osyth, Marion Gibson and "Bones of Contention" by Alison Rowlands.



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Goat-Like Apparition Forcing Owner to Sell House



ST. OSYTH, Essex, U.K. – Vanessa Mitchell (above), 43, was unaware the cottage – called “The Cage” – had a haunted past when she moved there in 2004. Since then, she claims to have seen several ghostly figures and was mysteriously pushed over while pregnant. She was also smacked on the bottom and saw blood appear on a floor.



Mitchell is now putting the house up for sale after an image of a sinister-looking goat – an animal some believe represents Satan – was caught on a camera at the property. Mitchell, who works in sales, said: “The face spotted on the picture and CCTV is the spitting image of a Satanic devil. I honestly believe the house is cursed. I’ve lived here for years, but seeing a tall dark figure standing between me and my son’s cot was the final straw.”



The property was once a medieval prison and played a part in one of England’s most infamous witch hunts in the 16th Century, which ended in the deaths of eight women who had been accused.







“Footage from the past couple of weeks shows the picture of a satanic goat (above), which just reaffirms that the place is haunted by something malevolent,” the owner added. “There is something evil in there … something demonic. I’ve had every medium, psychic and investigator in to try to get rid of what’s in there.”



Mitchell endured a shocking incident of her own when she was pushed over when she was eight months pregnant with son Jesse, who is now eight. She described what happened as “absolutely terrifying.” Recalling the disturbing incident, she continued: “I remember feeling a force – like something had pushed me – and then falling on my side. When I was on the floor, I just lay there in shock. Another incident happened while I was brushing my teeth – something gave me a hard smack on my backside when there was just me in the house. It wasn’t a tap, it was a full-blown whack. It was such a vicious act and there wasn’t a person in sight. While I had company with me in the house I felt safe but when I was alone I couldn’t stand it.”



She has researched the history of the house and found plague victims were sent there to die. “I’ve had enough of its spooky residents and the devil goat picture has led me to finally put it on the market,” she said.





The Cage – a two-bedroom, one-bath dwelling located at 14 Colchester Road – is currently for sale with an asking price of £290,000 ($413,000 US). But even if you don’t believe in ghosts and demons, don’t expect to be left entirely in peace for there’s a sign near the door telling all and sundry that until 1908, the building served as a prison and one of its inmates was the infamous witch Ursula Kemp.

Source: Joshua Saunders, The Daily Sun, January 31, 2016.





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St. Osyth's Haunted Witch Jail Back on the Market at a Reduced Price



Once a prison for those accused of witchcraft, what is claimed to be Britain’s most haunted house is up for sale – again. Known as “The Cage,” the historic building in St. Osyth, Essex, has been owned by Vanessa Mitchell since 2004, however, she vacated the premises in 2008 after being terrorized by “ evil spirits.” Since that time, she has attempted to sell the property and now, the house is on the market for the third time at an asking price of £240,000 ($293,280) – £50,000 ($61,100) less than the asking price three years ago.



The simple fact of the matter is the property isn’t selling. So, to displace dark forces and stimulate “market forces,” the estate agent claims, “the spirits, including a Satanic-looking goat, have now been vanquished” and confirms “the house has now been cleared of the many evil residents encountered over the years. It’s time for someone else to take on this unique Cage, one of only seven cages left in the country, and none with the reputation of this one.” The agent admits, “It is still haunted, but there seems to be a certain newly found harmony within.”



The agent describes The Cage as follows: “The accommodation comprises of three reception rooms, a kitchen which is open-plan into the dining room/cage, and a ground floor cloakroom. Whilst upstairs over split level is an oak beamed gallery landing, two double bedrooms and the bath/shower room. Outside, there is a small walled courtyard with a door to Cof’n Alley which runs alongside the property. So-called because the bodies of the dead were carried along here on the way to the local cemetery.”



The village of St. Osyth is named for Osgyth, a 7th century princess and saint. Because of its quintessential English village charm, St. Osyth is a tourist attraction. It is also the driest recorded location in England with rainfall of just 20 inches per year. Notable buildings include the 12th century grade I listed St Osyth’s Priory and, of course, the downtown Cage, where witches were once held for trial. Another local attraction is Mill Dam Lake, that is filled by, and emptied into, St. Osyth Creek, and used for water skiing. A beach and static caravan site boost the summer population to an estimated 7,000.



Have a look at the interior of The Cage here .



Sources: Mindy Seisberger, "For Sale: 'Haunted' Medieval Prison that Held Accused Witches," LiveScience, June 12, 2019; Ashley Cowie, "Satanic Panic Freezes Sale of Witches' Prison," Ancient Origins, June 6, 2019; and RightMove.