Yesterday we
visited the little New Forest village of Burley. It is a tiny little village - one main ‘high
street’, quite a few little tea shops, a couple of pubs and
several witchcraft shops. As it is in
the New Forest you also get cows and horses wandering freely around the high
street! We spent a lot of time in a tea shop obviously, researching cake ;-)
They hold
some interesting events throughout the year, we caught the Rescue Santa event
one year, just by chance. It was
hilarious, keystone firemen attempting to rescue Santa who was stuck on the
chimney of the pub, very entertaining.
The website for more details on events is burleynewforest.co.uk
Burley also
has a mystical history of witches, smuggling and dragons!
In the late
1950’s a witch called Sybil Leek lived there.
She was often seen wandering around the village in her long cloak
with her pet jackdaw sitting on her shoulder.
Once she announced she was a witch, it brought a lot of media attention
too, the Witchcraft Act only being repealed in 1951. Burley was flooded with tourists coming to
catch a glimpse of her. Unfortunately her looks started to cause un rest within
the community, believing her to be a
black witch. Eventually when her
landlord refused to renew her lease she decided it was time to move on and left
for America. Some information also
states that Sybil worked for the British Government during the Second Wold War,
providing phony horoscopes for the Germans that were interested in
Astrology. She is apparently responsible
for writing the chart that convinced Rudolf Hess to fly to England, where he
was captured. Sybil passed away in 1982
but leaves behind over 60 books on the craft. For more details of her life there is a good recount here witchcraftandwitches.com/witches_leek.html
The 16th
Century pub, the Queens head was notorious for smuggling and highwaymen.
And the
dragon? Apparently the Bisterne Dragon
lived in the earthworks of Burley Beacon.
He demanded a bucket of milk every day until a knight happened along one
day with his two dogs. There was a
fearsome battle and the dragon and the dogs were left dead, however
unfortunately the knight was also mortally wounded.
Tansy
x
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