"Haunted" medieval prison with accused witches

A small building in England that was once a medieval prison for people accused of witchcraft is now a comfortable home that needs a homeowner.

But potential buyers must be forewarned: the sordid history of the old prison, known as "The Cage", has led many to assert that the house was haunted, some calling it the The most haunted house in England, the British real estate agency Home Domus 360 wrote in a list on Facebook.

"With a reputation attracting television crews from around the world, this unique 2-bedroom cottage is available with many resident ghosts," say Home Domus 360 representatives on Facebook. [Black Magic: 6 Infamous Witch Trials in History]

Located in St. Osyth in Essex, UK, the building was recently put on the market by the owner, Vanessa Mitchell; This is the third time Mitchell has been trying to sell The Cage since his move in 2008, according to local media reports The Clacton and Frinton Gazette. Mitchell reportedly fled the house in 2004 to settle elsewhere after seeing "mysterious blood splatters" and being "physically attacked" by malicious ghosts – one of whom was "a goat at the time". satanic air, "Mitchell told The Gazette.

In witch trials in St. Osyth in 1582, 14 women were charged with witchcraft-related crimes, for which three were executed, the East Anglian Times reported. During the trials, the women were housed in The Cage. One of the defendants, Ursula Kemp, was a local healer who was sentenced to death by hanging. it is commemorated on a plaque hung on one of the walls of the old prison.

Kemp was accused of throwing spells that resulted in the death of a neighbor's newborn baby. She then accused other people of practicing witchcraft and, in turn, accused even more unhappy people, according to the Times. Essex was a hotbed of litigation for witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Of the 112 witches executed in England in the 1640s alone, 82 were put to death in Essex, the Times reported.

In 1921, two female skeletons that were supposed to be the remains of executed witches – one of them, Kemp – would have been discovered in a garden of St. Osyth during a construction project. According to the Times, some of the bones appeared to have been pierced with nails, a common practice among dead witches to prevent their spirits from haunting the living.

According to Wales Online, the asking price for the allegedly haunted former prison is 240,000 pounds ($ 305,478).

Originally published on Science live.