WitchHidden
The Widow Common
Thrown in the river three times, and still she floated.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Market town on the Blackwater; exact spot unknown
- Legend from
- Late Stuart, 1699
- Tone
- Dark history
Coggeshall, 1699: an old widow was bound and thrown into the river three times as a witch.
One of the last witch-hunts in England took place in Coggeshall in 1699. According to the diary of the townsman Joseph Bufton, an old woman known as the widow Common was accused of witchcraft. She was 'swum' three times: her limbs were bound and she was thrown into the river to see whether the water would reject her. Each time the crowd judged her guilty because she floated. She was never hanged, as she died, probably of influenza, before any trial could follow. The vicar, James Boys, also left an account of the affair, which shows how long witch fears lasted in Essex.
One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.