At Wookey Hole in Wookey, Somerset, legend has it that during the Dark Ages an old woman who kept a dog and some goats lived alone in the caves. Everything that went wrong in the village was blamed
on her, and local people believed she was a witch, casting spells and causing misfortune.
Eventually, they sought the assistance of the Abbot at nearby Glastonbury Abbey, who sent a monk, Father Bernard, to exorcise the witch’s spirit. Entering the cave armed only with a Bible and a candle, in the faint light Father Bernard saw the witch stooping over her cooking pot. He tried to talk to her, but, screaming curses and casting spells, the witch fled deeper into the cave, down a narrow passageway called Hell’s Ladder.
The brave monk followed and they met again in the shadowy depths of an inner cavern. Quickly, Father Bernard scooped up a handful of water from the river, blessed it and threw it over the witch. She turned instantly to stone and her frozen figure remains in the cavern — known as The Witch’s Kitchen — to this day.
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