Mystery · Frensham · Famous
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Borrowed from the fairies. Returned late. Refused.
See it clearly
Parish church; the cauldron is inside. Usually open in daytime. Check before you go.
Knock on the stone, name what you want and when it comes back. Break that promise and the fairies are done with you.
Inside Frensham's parish church stands a huge battered copper cauldron, about three feet across. John Aubrey was told the fairies brought it from Borough Hill, a mile away. Anyone who needed something knocked on a great stone there, named the loan and the day it would come back, and a voice answered. This cauldron was borrowed and returned late, the fairies refused it, and nobody could borrow there again. Later tellings swap the fairies for Mother Ludlam and her cave. The vicar thinks it was more likely used to brew beer, perhaps brought from Waverley Abbey after 1536.