The St Osyth Skeletons - Tudor Witch Panic, Betrayal… and a Child Witness - Tudor True Crime

In 1921, builders in the quiet Essex village of St Osyth unearthed a chilling sight:

Two female skeletons.
Buried deliberately.
With iron rivets hammered into their knees and elbows - a brutal, centuries-old method used to stop a witch from rising from the grave.

For a hundred years, villagers have whispered the same names: Ursula Kemp. Elizabeth Bennet.
Two women hanged for witchcraft in 1582.

But who were they really?

In this episode of my Tudor True Crime series, I uncover the dark world behind the St Osyth witch trials, a story of neighbourly grudges, grief, superstition, and a magistrate hungry for fame.

You’ll discover:

• How a fallen-out friendship sparked a chain of accusations
• Why Ursula Kemp was both a healer… and feared
• How an eight-year-old boy was persuaded to testify against his mother
• The terrifying role of magistrate Brian Darcy, who wanted a sensational trial
• What really happened at the Chelmsford Assizes
• Why two women ended up at the gallows
• And whether the skeletons found in 1921 really belonged to them…

This is not just a witchcraft story, it’s a story about fear, power, and the dangerous consequences of a single accusation in Tudor England.

If you’d like to explore more Tudor witch trials and the wider Essex witch-hunt, I’ve added related videos below.

• The Essex Witches - https://youtu.be/hpmkvJyc6x8
• The Tudor Witch-hunter - https://youtu.be/E7fbjYHVeGU
• Witchcraft in Tudor Times - https://youtu.be/4XqRVOnsvps

If you enjoy deep dives into Tudor true crime, superstition, and the stories that get left in the dark, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell.
Because Tudor history isn’t just kings and queens…
It’s the shadows too.

 

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