Milk and Stone: The Witch of Mitchell's Fold

There’s something about circles, isn’t there? Spheres or flat, they’re one of the first things children try to draw. We’re fascinated by them as they hang in the sky, and we pay special attention when the moon will be a different colour to usual. We love them just as much when mushrooms pop up from the ground to form circles.

One of the best things about people is that we want answers and, when none are available, we’re just as happy to make up stories to explain the world around us. The moon is red? To Hindus, that might mean that Rahu has consumed it – and the Inca believed a jaguar was eating it! To medieval Christians? Well, it meant the end of the world was coming.

And mushroom rings? They're caused by fairies. Obviously!

Another great thing about humans? We’ve pretty much always been the same.

Over 3,000 years ago, people gathered large stones from Stapeley Hill, moved them to Mitchell’s Fold, and stood them up in a circle. And thousands of years later, just like some of those stones fell to time, so the meaning of the monument was lost to memory.

When our ancestors – a little more recently than 3,000 years ago! – looked at the mysterious stone circle on the hill, they needed to know why they were there. So, they explained, the circle must be a magical prison built to hold an evil witch.

But what crime could be so bad that a woman would need to be imprisoned for so long?

Perhaps the storyteller was thirsty, because they thought the only thing bad enough to warrant such a long punishment was that she deprived the surrounding village of their milk.

It’s not quite as simple a story as that, of course. 

You see, the area’s crops had failed that year and left many on the verge of starvation. While normal cows might suffer the same as people, this village was gifted a magic cow that produced endless milk, unaffected by the lack of food.

Unhappy to see them thriving despite the famine, an evil witch thought perhaps she could find a way to put an end to their endless supply by milking the cow through a sieve – and onto the ground. Surely the cow would waste away eventually!

But the cow didn't waste away, and when the sun came up and she was caught in the trick, it disappeared - never to be seen again.

Doomed to famine, the villagers were furious. The witch fled as fast as she could, running up the hill to get away, but, just when she was cornered - well, the town didn’t even have time to punish her! Whatever magic had given them their cow turned the woman to stone before their eyes.

To be extra sure she didn’t break free, the villagers erected a circle of stones to anchor her to the place, keeping her there for all time.

With so few ideas about the life of people alive in the Bronze Age, it’s as good a guess as any!