Lower Quinton Witchcraft Murder

[Appleby]

New Evidence

Anyone interested in this fascinating case should read the new article that appears on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Walton
This contains a wealth of previously unpublished material, including the real relationship between Charles Walton and Anne Tennant.

[Appleby]

The Police File

The 'Home Office files' are presumably a reference to the Metropolitan Police file held at the National Archives in Kew. To access this you merely need to present yourself and obtain a Reader's Ticket, a process that takes about 30 minutes.
There is a link between the murders of Charles Walton and Ann Tennant (not Turner) as the Daily Mirror suggested in 1954, but it is certainly not the modus operandi which was quite different in the two cases (see my earlier posts).
Nothing on the Police file suggests that the murder was regarded as 'ritualistic' in 1945. It was seen as frenzied, however, and the message that the Deputy Chief Constable of Warwickshire sent to New Scotland Yard on 15 February 1945 stated that 'The murder was either committed by a madman or one of the Italian prisoners who are in a camp nearby'! Because of this, Detective Sergeant Saunders, an Italian speaking officer from Special Branch, arrived in the area on the evening of 16 February and, over the next few weeks, conducted scores of interviews with the Italian prisoners, numerous records of which are held on the file.
The picture that emerges from these interviews is of a prison camp regime that was entirely laissez faire. Prisoners were allowed to roam the area at will, on foot or on bicycle, and although, officially, there were days on which they were supposed to work in camp and days on which they were free, in practice, no record was kept of who was and was not in camp. On the afternoon concerned (Dr Webster had determined that Walton died between 1and 2 pm) some prisoners had gone into Stratford to see Moliere's The School for Husbands, while others had visited the cinema and seen Mr. Emmanuel, a 1944 Felix Aylmer film in which an elderly Jew travels to Germany before World War II to see for himself what was happening there. This was dismissed by more than one of the Italians as 'some sort of anti-German propaganda'.
It does not appear that any of the Italians was ever seriously considered to have killed Walton.
Surprisingly, the file reveals that there were four people in the vicinity when Charles Walton's body was found: Edith Walton, Harry Beasley, Alfred Potter and a Harry Peachey who happened to be passing by on the other side of the hedge when Walton's body was found. Indeed, it was Peachey who was dispatched to alert the police.
Moreover, the file also reveals that Walton's best friend, George Higgins, a 72-year-old of Fairview, Lower Quinton, was working in a barn no more than 300 yards from Walton at the time of his murder.
The major revelation in the file, however, is that no one was ever seriously suspected of carrying out the murder other than Alfred John Potter.
While there may have been talk of witchcraft, black dogs, Harvey Bloom's book etc., none of this found its way on to the file: I suspect that Fabian cared too much for his career to allow this to happen.
However, for the witchcraft theorists, it is worth mentioning that the heifer which is often quoted as having mysteriously died, belonged to Potter and expired on 13 February: it drowned in Doomsday Ditch.

[em614]

I actually wrote a play about this case because I was fascinated at how within such a short space of time the truth could get so distorted and these witchcraft rumours could become so popular. Having visited the village a few times and studied the Home Office files I think what is far more sinister than the witchcraft myth is just how many people in the village clearly know who was responsible.

The only thing that does puzzle me is the "witch's mirror" puzzle. This was supposedly a piece of glass Walton kept in his watchcase which disappeared when he was killed and was found in one of his outbuildings in 1960 when it was being demolished though they had been thoroughly searched at the time. Is there any truth in any of this do we know? I could find no reference to it in the police files so where Donald McCormick got it from is a mystery to me for his Murder by Witchcraft book, but then McCormick is famously a fantasist.

Yes, I think the villagers' reaction is the truly interesting thing. Attempting to provide positive proof that there was a causal (or otherwise mystical) link between the murder to Ann Tennant/Turner or the Charles Walton of the 1880s will lead us nowhere. We know that the veracity of Ann being killed in a ritualistic manner is hugely suspect (at the time national newspaper mocked their provincial ways for the mere suggestion that she was a witch) and that the Charles Walton of 1885 is unlikely to have been the same one or have actually undergone the experience. I know one of these stories from from Harvey Bloom's book, the other was from Clive Holland's 'Warwickshire' (1906/8(?)), so they were both local publications.

The thing that we really need to ascertain is how well known were these stories. I doubt Bloom or Holland were merely fabricating (I'm reminded of medieval historians in this sense, basing their works on known stories but applying little rigour), and they wrote well before the murder took place. These were local works, most likely based on local rumours, and Walton himself was rumoured to be involved in witchcraft (although I don't know the sources on this - whether he was or was rumoured to, who alleged it and when is a bit of a mystery - it reoccurs in accounts). So I'm willing to countenance the idea that there was some suspicion among the population, that rumours were circulating of witchcraft etc. Obviously Potter may have had personal motives but I'm interested in who else was implicated, whether anyone knew it was coming in advance, just how many knew what was going on and how many were genuinely perplexed.

In response to sn_redditch, p. 3: I think you're being a bit uncivil. You might think the link to witchcraft farcical but the fact is he was killed in an odd, not unprecented (at least in extant literature), way and the behaviour of the villagers was suspicious. Fabian and Spooner linked it to witchcraft in the course of their own investgation. I don't believe the villagers were involved in witchcraft; I think it's plausible that some segments believed Walton was, or was some sort of pagan oddball, it was legitimate to off him, or at least keep quiet about it.

On another note: how would I go about accessing Home Office files on this? Sorry if this sounds a bit naive.

[sn_redditch]

>>Having visited the village a few times and studied the Home Office files I >>think what is far more sinister than the witchcraft myth is just how many >>people in the village clearly know who was responsible.
You need to back up a claim like this? From living in the village up to age of 20, and speaking to my father on a number of occasions - his best friend discovered the body - I don't believe your statement. Yes, my father and many other villagers had their suspicions, but this is very different from fact.

As far as I'm aware the "witch's mirror" puzzle is true.

[Writerboy]

I actually wrote a play about this case because I was fascinated at how within such a short space of time the truth could get so distorted and these witchcraft rumours could become so popular. Having visited the village a few times and studied the Home Office files I think what is far more sinister than the witchcraft myth is just how many people in the village clearly know who was responsible.

The only thing that does puzzle me is the "witch's mirror" puzzle. This was supposedly a piece of glass Walton kept in his watchcase which disappeared when he was killed and was found in one of his outbuildings in 1960 when it was being demolished though they had been thoroughly searched at the time. Is there any truth in any of this do we know? I could find no reference to it in the police files so where Donald McCormick got it from is a mystery to me for his Murder by Witchcraft book, but then McCormick is famously a fantasist.

[sn_redditch]

A relatives perspective

As a distant relative of Charles Walton, living up to recently in the village, I was interested to come across the murder on the forum, sadly I was disappointed to see the same rubbish being spouted about the case, so here are my thoughts on some of the entries posted on this thread....

Entry by ianincleveland

I think Fabian was convinced P was the killer but couldnt prove it.

We'll probably never know

Have actually been to Lower Quinton and even now its hardly a very hospitable place

I'll mention it to the Parish council !

best not to mention the Walton murder,people even now just turn their backs and refuse to say a word

Most people in the village are sick and tired of talking about the murder.


Larry

....He was old enough to have been around when
the murder happened.... when I later on brought the subject of the murder up
(I didn’t know at the time that the locals
were still so touchy about it. it happened years before so what’s the problem?), he just turned funny, walked away, and wouldn’t talk to me anymore.

There's a very good chance that the person you spoke to either knew, or was a relative of, the alleged murderer, or of the murder victim so it's hardly going to go down well in conversation. Don't forget that Quinton at the time of the murder was much smaller than it is now.

I found the whole area around there had a strange otherworldly atmosphere about it a lot of the time. There was certainly a lot of paranormal activity going on. This wasn’t just imagined by me, but confirmed to me by a lot of other people’s experiences as well.

Really!

The community was involved in witchcraft (or some darker form of it); Walton fell out with them and because of it suffered the consequences.

Maybe it was only one or two people, who actually committed the murder, but it was on behalf of the community and it had their approval, and when the authorities came calling the community closed ranks.

Ordinary people do not keep quiet about a murder in their community. Had it been a simple murder that one person had taken it upon themselves to commit (for their own reasons) then it would have had to come out.

Somebody would have said something. You don’t get a whole community trying to protect a murderer. Something was going on that involved a lot of people, and that’s why until this day no-one there will talk about it to outsiders.

Absolute rubbish, do you want to know why the papers linked the case to Witchcraft? Because the press offered free drinks to any villagers' willing to talk about the murder, and what do the press like? That's right, a good story, and what could be better than Witchcraft?!

There is no conspiracy, someone was murdered, a horrific act at any time, but even more keenly felt in a small rural community. I'll leave it to "Miffy-Moo" to close :

I lived in Lower Quinton until I was 25 (11 years ago ago), in fact my bedroom window overlooked Meon Hill.

As a general rule, I don't think the villagers are purposefully keeping quiet on the subject I believe that since so much time has passed memories fade etc. etc.

I remember asking my aunt about it when I was little and she suggested that Alfred Potter was the murderer and witchcraft played no part in it.

My grandad provided an alibi for a farmhand who was under suspicion at the time.

I think it's one of those mysteries that will never be solved. but good hunting and keep me informed !

[Larry]

Sorry I’m a bit late contributing to this post but I’ve only just joined the site – and a very interesting site it looks as well.
Back in the early 1980s my brother was in the army and stationed at long Marston army camp two or three miles from the village of lower Quinton (the camp is long gone and is now home to the annual bulldog run biker’s event).
Nearer the village itself was a small estate that housed the married/family men from the base (of which my brother was one).Meon hill directly overlooked this estate.
I lived in Birmingham at the time and during the three years he was stationed there I regularly used to go and stay at his house for a weekend for a break from the city and to have a drink with him and his army pals.
I had never heard anything before about the Charles Walton case until my brother told me about it one time when I was there. I thought then it was just a thing known locally. It wasn’t until years later when I read about it in certain books -and then later on the internet- that I realised how famous a case it was.
Some of the army lads used to go jogging over Meon Hill and told me they had on occasion actually seen a lone black dog on there. Some told me of other odd experiences they had had in that vicinity. Your guess is as good as mine whether they were actually telling the truth, but would they all be lying???
Like some of you mentioned, the locals could be a funny lot. I remember one evening having a chat with one local in the village pub. He was old enough to have been around when the murder happened. We were getting on great and buying each other drinks, but when I later on brought the subject of the murder up (I didn’t know at the time that the locals were still so touchy about it. it happened years before so what’s the problem?), he just turned funny, walked away, and wouldn’t talk to me anymore.
I found the whole area around there had a strange otherworldly atmosphere about it a lot of the time. There was certainly a lot of paranormal activity going on. This wasn’t just imagined by me, but confirmed to me by a lot of other people’s experiences as well.
My brother’s army house was haunted (as were a lot of other houses on the estate I was to later find out).my brother didn’t tell me and the family about that until he had moved out of there. He didn’t want to scare us from going to stay there occasionally.
Sometimes at night a baby could be heard crying and/or screaming. My brother and his wife did have three young children at the time but it wasn’t found to be any of them. I slept in the small box room one time and plainly heard a baby breathing (as asleep) in the corner of the room. It was odd, but I put it down that I could hear one of my brother’s children asleep in the other bedroom through the wall.
Sometimes when my brother was away on manoeuvres his wife would put the children to bed and would be watching television downstairs. She said would hear a baby crying from upstairs and/or people running across the landing and up and down the stairs. When it happened once too often, and it was certain it wasn’t her own children doing it, she did get very spooked! She told my brother about it but he wouldn’t believe it at first. However, He was looking after the children one night while his wife was at bingo, and the same experience happened with him. There were other occasions when disturbing things happened as well.
Eventually it all got so unsettling they asked for a move. it was later found out that a baby had died there (drowned in the bath) but what all the rest of it was about was never found out. Another house on the estate had such bad phenomena
Going on a priest was brought in to try and exorcise it. It ended up that he wouldn’t go over the threshold of the door. He said it was, too evil!
Anyway, getting back to the Walton case; I would not be too quick to dismiss the witchcraft angle. People today don’t seem to understand and grasp the great believe in witchcraft that rural communities, across the length and breath of the country, had in the past – and in some places, until this very day! The period of the Walton murder may be considered part of more recent history, but even in the 1940s most rural communities had more customs and believes steeped in the past than in the then present.
Rather than all these different theories that people come up with about Walton’s murder, the truth is probably in the version already known. The community was involved in witchcraft (or some darker form of it); Walton fell out with them and because of it suffered the consequences. Maybe it was only one or two people, who actually committed the murder, but it was on behalf of the community and it had their approval, and when the authorities came calling the community closed ranks.
Ordinary people do not keep quiet about a murder in their community. Had it been a simple murder that one person had taken it upon themselves to commit (for their own reasons) then it would have had to come out. Somebody would have said something. You don’t get a whole community trying to protect a murderer. Something was going on that involved a lot of people, and that’s why until this day no-one there will talk about it to outsiders.

[ianincleveland]

I think Fabian was convinced Potter was the killer but couldnt prove it.Have actually been to Lower Quinton and even now its hardly a very hospitable place and best not to mention the Walton murder,people even now just turn their backs and refuse to say a word

[Graham]

Hi Melamber,

If you Google 'Lower Quinton Murder' you'll find a load of sites about it. Some of them are a bit loony, going on about witchcraft and so forth, but I'm sure you'll find the information you're looking for.

Good luck,

Graham

[melamber]

Hi im researching this as much as possible at mo has im related to charles walton and wanting to know what happened.If anyone could help me illl be very gratful. i cant find out is his wife name if anyone can help.Also general knowledge on this case.facts really has all i read is hearsay.When did his headstone go missing?

[Miffy-Moo]

Jtr

Hi Graham,

What are your views on JTR then?

Personally I think he was a complete unknown and his identity will have gone with him to the grave. Judging from most serial killers' MO they usually "peak" and are then captured or die, which I think is the case here.

However, the Maybrick diary is intriguing.........

[Graham]

Graham,

I'm sure that it must have been Potter that did it and Fabian must have thought that too.

Hi Miffy-Moo,

I think so too, but in those days without rock-solid evidence, a 'gentleman copper' like Fabian wouldn't have publicly expressed an opinion.

Graham

[Miffy-Moo]

Graham,

I'm sure that it must have been Potter that did it and Fabian must have thought that too.

[Graham]

Hiya Miffy-Moo,

Poor old Eddie. He had a hard start to life, from the sound of it. My cat Joolz is also 100% pure black, not a white hair on him, but he's a spoiled, pampered little thing.

As an aside, Conan Doyle's 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' was based on East Anglian legend transposed to Dartmoor, largely because Conan Doyle felt that Dartmoor was a much more distant and romantic place that Norfolk and Suffolk. If you Google 'black dogs' or 'Black Shuck', you'll get many leads to this fascinating legend.

Getting back to Meon Hill for a moment, the famous Fabian of the Yard investigated the Walton Murder, and even after his retirement kept going back there. Chances are he knew who did it...

Cheers,

Graham

[Miffy-Moo]

I had a v.handsome pure black cat called "Eddie" but unfortunately he had to be put to sleep in July.

There was certainly nothing "lucky" about him:

He was run over as a kitten (broke his ankle); had lower urinary tract disease which resulted in a special diet for the rest of his life; he got lost for 7 weeks when we moved house; he contracted FIV from his "lost" period"; had a tumour on his leg and eventually a brain tumour / blindness polished him off ......

My father in law had a black dog called "Robbie" and he was v.soppy, nothing evil or scary about him at all.