The Curious Case of York's Witch Bottle
In 1983, York Archaeology uncovered a mysterious Witch Bottle in the heart of York. But what were these strange objects, and what can they tell us about the use of magic?
Back in 1983, York Archaeology excavated the grounds surrounding the Judges’ Lodgings in the centre of York. As they dug in what was thought to be the disused graveyard of St Wilfred’s Church, archaeologists uncovered an unsettling find. A Witch Bottle.
A Haunting Discovery
Witch Bottles are said to protect mortals from harmful spirits, witches and ghosts. The fact that one was found here, while surprising, made sense. York is, after all, often considered the most haunted city in England, with many parts of the city having played host to ghosts at some time or another. The Judges’ Lodgings were no different.
As you may have gathered, before it was a hotel and bar, the building was somewhere judges would stay. Judges staying there are said to have condemned over 200 people to death, including the infamous highwayman Richard Turpin (or Dick, to some). It is no wonder, therefore, that there have long been rumours of hauntings within its walls.
Some guests have even heard feet dragging outside their room, followed by the voice of a man calling out a single name. Henry. Staff and guests alike have been known to see a man sitting quietly in a chair in the foyer, only for him to disappear when they looked too closely.
What is a Witch Bottle?
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, it was not uncommon for people to use a Witch Bottle as protective magic, sometimes described as white magic. It’s hard to imagine now, but back in the 16th century (that’s around the 1500s), it was a commonly held belief that witches lived amongst us. In fact, there was a surge in witch trials during this era.
If you wanted to protect yourself or your loved ones from evil-aligned magic, you would need a way to counteract it. Along came the Witch Bottle. In theory, it could revert the curse back onto the caster.
These have been found all across the UK, with some hidden in walls, below hearths and under floorboards, presumably to protect the whole household. Others have been found in churchyards, where the ground was considered hallowed, and more oddly in ditches and riverbanks.
Witch Bottles, as the name suggests, were often stoneware flasks filled with, let’s call them, personal items. These could include human and animal hair, animal bones, bits of fabric and, well, pee (or, as scientists call it, urine).
The neck of the bottle would then be blocked off by a cluster of metal pins, nails or wire before being sealed with its cork. Exactly how this prevented curses from taking root varied depending on historical records. Some believed that the metal in the neck would catch the evil spell. Others seemed to suggest that if you kept the contents warm, it could inflict pain on the original curse caster, although we imagine that could get quite stinky with pee in the bottle.
The hope was that once the evil-doer had died, the bottle would break. So why was the one found at the Judges’ Lodgings still intact?
The Judges' Lodgings Bottle
The bottle found in York is thought to be the most northerly discovered example of this practice. But there is something particularly strange about it. The flask itself dates to the 16th century, yet it was found alongside deposits dating to the 17th century. By the time someone buried it, the bottle was already an antique.
When it was discovered, the cork was still in place, although it had shrunk over the centuries. There is still a lot we don’t know about why the bottle was made, who buried it or exactly what they hoped it would protect them from. We do know that someone went to the trouble of filling it, sealing it and hiding it away. Whatever they feared, they clearly wanted it kept there.
A Bottle Full of Questions
There is still a lot we don’t know about witchcraft and the beliefs surrounding it. The lines between medicine, superstition and religion were often blurred, and what one person considered protection could look very different to someone else.
What we do know is that people in York believed in different kinds of magic, which could be used to help and protect as much as to harm. The Witch Bottle found at the Judges’ Lodgings is one of those rare objects that gives us a glimpse into those beliefs. It survived for hundreds of years, still sealed with its cork, waiting to be uncovered.
But perhaps the strangest part is what happened after it was found.
For years, the bottle was kept safely under lock and key, occasionally brought out for study. Now it has found its way to Barley Hall, which has its own growing collection of accounts of ghosts, strange sightings and occurrences that don’t always seem to have an easy explanation. Staff have reported seeing a grey woman staring from a window, while others have spotted the ghost of a young boy walking through the Hall.
Is the Witch Bottle connected to any of this? Or is it simply an unsettling coincidence?
We’ll leave that for you to decide.