Witchcraft

Susan Wowen, the Horned Witch of Bewdley

Also known as: Susanna Wowen; The Bewdley Witch

Dowles Church graveyard, near Bewdley

Horns reported 1728; witch tradition undated

The Worcester People and Places site, says a witch at Bewdley named Susan Wowen gained great notoriety. She was said to be so wicked that she grew horns on the back of her head three inches long. These were shed every three years, and one tipped with silver was owned by a Mr Soley of Sandbourne while another was sent to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

A real person lies behind the tale. The Royal Society's catalogue lists an account of Susanna Wowen of Bewdley, who had a succession of horns growing from her head, written by Richard Beard at Worcester on 10 December 1728. That is a medical curiosity, not a witchcraft record, so the witch label is later folklore laid over it.

Wikipedia's article on Dowles Church describes an urban myth in Bewdley that Susan Wowen is buried in the churchyard, and says plainly that her burial there cannot be verified because many grave names are illegible. The church, consecrated in 1789 on an older site, was demolished in 1956, and a mortsafe survives in the overgrown graveyard. The pin is at the graveyard as the place where the story is told today, not as a known burial.

The graveyard is reached by public paths in the Wyre Forest near Bewdley; not checked on the ground.
Evidence
Disputed or debunked
Access
Public footpath only
Location
52.384, -2.324 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Worcester People and Places, "The Bewdley Witch" [other]; Royal Society, account of Susanna Wowen of Bewdley (1728) [other]; Wikipedia, "Dowles Church" [other]

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