Long Compton Ghost Walk

Long Compton Ghost Walk

A funny, spooky stroll around one of the most haunted chocolate box villages in England.

Describing this honeyed stone Cotswolds village, the famous 19th century folk saying declares “There are enough witches in Long Compton to draw a wagon-load of hay up Long Compton Hill"

With Halloween around the corner and the rise in “legend tripping” and “thanatourism“ this seeks to combine elements of these fashionable trends but with a funny, historically accurate twist.

Famed for the grizzly murder of Ann Tenant 150 years ago by a neighbour (pierced with a pitchfork to try to end the curse put on a farm labourer), convinced of the dark spectre of a coven of at least sixteen witches, in the picture perfect beauty spot.

Nestled amongst thatched cottages, join us to explore the gorgeous church with its stone “witch” effigy resting her feet on a dog, in the stunning porch. This is the legendary site on which necromancing St Augustine split the church floor and raised a rude zombie priest.

Throw in some UFOlogy, crop circles, a fae wood, black dogs, poppets, a real life gaol, witch marks,, a stone circle sacred site next door, the torture of thousands of women, cunning folk, witch bottles, Shakespeare, and a baffled celebrity detective, and you’ve got a night to remember and anecdotes galore to horrify and entertain your friends, family, strangers and colleagues.

Learn how to spot a witch and a fairy, predict the future, find buried treasure and use apotropaic magic to protect yourself, like our ancestors did.

NB: This aims to be funny entertaining story telling, but also seeks to be deeply thought provoking, spiritual, respectful, as historically accurate as we can be and is led by a Christian. It aims to encourage us to reflect upon death, fear, religion, God and an afterlife, and draw attention to the misconceptions, persecution and demonization of ordinary (and extraordinary) people throughout the last millennium. It condemns satanism, wickedness and evil.

So many questions:

What exactly is a cheese kibbler and why is there a witch riding it through long Compton?

How do you steer a headless coach with headless horses plunging down Harrow Hill?

Is the whichford wood witch who only turns into white animals a racist?

Is it lucky or unlucky to bump into the Rollrights’ drinking knights who like to pop down to the village for a drink?

What on earth did witches wear on their heads before the 18th century?

How do you say the Lord’s Prayer backwards (word by word, phonetically?) to raise an army of imps, in a dark bargain on the close outside the church?

Why did dead “witches” often shake their fist at their oppressors when they burned them?

Is eye of newt disappointingly actually code for a mustard seed?

Was it trauma that made king James obsessed with demonologie and then demicide thousands of women?

What is flying ointment and did witches actually “ride” brooms the other way around?

A funny spooky tour full of fascinating facts: myths, murders, priests, history, hauntings, love potions, cunning folk, folklore, the fae, flying ointment, superstitions, witchcraft and weirdos...