Curse
The Bare Ground
Two knights shot, and the grass refused to grow.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Small stone obelisk behind a Norman castle keep
- Legend from
- Civil War, 1648
- Tone
- Dark history
Colchester Castle, 1648: two Royalist knights were shot here, and the grass refused to grow back.
When the Siege of Colchester ended in August 1648, Parliament's commander had the Royalist leaders Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle shot behind the castle. An obelisk now marks the spot in the castle's inner bailey. The inscription records that they were shot on 28 August 1648. Local legend says the grass would never grow on the ground where they fell. One version recorded in 2012 says a fellow prisoner who escaped cursed the ground so that it stayed bare. The obelisk now stands in tarmac, so nobody can test the curse.