Meg Shelton (died 1705) known as the "Fylde Hag" was an English woman accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

. Her grave can be seen at St. Anne's Church in

Woodplumpton Woodplumpton is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England, located north of Preston. Geography It is part of the Fylde, a flat area of land between the Forest of Bowland and the Lancashire coast. Community The v ...

, now part of the City of Preston district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Meg Shelton's real name is recorded by St Anne's Church as Margery Hilton. She was found dead in her cottage, crushed between a wall and a large barrel. According to local rumour, she was able to use her magic to make crops fail, turn milk sour and to cause illness in cattle. After her death, it was said that whenever they buried her in the graveyard, every so often her corpse would keep digging up to the surface. To prevent her from rising again, they buried her face down and had a large boulder placed on top of it. An alternative telling suggests that she was buried head down in a narrow shaft, accounting for the relatively small size of the boulder.

References

External links

Meg Shelton the Fylde Witch
at mysteriousbritain.co.uk
People and Stories - 'Other Witch Stories' by Melvyn Dod
at lancastercastle.com 1705 deaths People from Preston (district) Year of birth unknown {{england-bio-stub