The Castle in Great Leighs

The Castle in Great Leighs is thought to be the oldest licensed pub in England. Previously known as St Anne’s Castle, the full history of the pub is unknown, but it was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 and is reputed to have been an alehouse since the Middle Ages.

 

The current exterior was ravaged by a fire a hundred years ago, so it is only on the inside that the building’s true history can be seen – perhaps fittingly, considering one particular story attached to the location.

 

A little way outside The Castle is a spot known as Scrapfaggots Green. “Scratch-faggot” is thought to have been an old Suffolk word for a witch, and it is here on the green where Anne Hughes lies in her final resting place.

 

Anne was a local woman who was accused of witchcraft in 1621. She was found guilty in a court of law and sentenced to death by burning. Contrary to popular depictions, most women accused of witchcraft were not executed by fire, but Anne was also accused of murdering her husband, which guaranteed her a fate at the stake. Witches would not have been permitted a Christian burial, and Anne was buried on the same spot where she died, a heavy stone marking where she lay. For centuries she rested undisturbed, lending her name to the old inn by her grave and her fate to the green where she met her death.

 

In 1944, however, American soldiers arrived in Great Leighs. They struggled to move their equipment and armoured vehicles through the village, so they decided to widen the roads. In their efforts, they moved the stone sealing Anne’s grave. In the following days, locals saw a multitude of strange events. Hens refused to lay, the church bells rang at odd times, clocks stopped, cows’ milk dried up, livestock vanished from their proper fields and suddenly reappeared elsewhere. One account says that the landlord of St Anne’s Castle awoke one morning to find that a huge boulder had mysteriously and silently been placed outside his door.

 

The villagers insisted that the stone be put back. Some sources say the original stone was broken, while others say the stone still lies in the pub’s carpark. Either way, the villagers held a solemn ceremony and Anne’s grave was resealed, and from that day on, the strange events ceased.

Peace returned to the village, and Anne’s spirit sleeps quietly to this day.

 

Find out more about England’s oldest pub The Castle in Great Leighs here.