There was a tiny news bulletin at today’s The Sun tabloid newspaper that the witch of Wookey Hole Cave has resigned and left.
Actress Sunny Van der Pas is leaving her role after two years to launch her own clothing line based upon her costumes.
But now directors at the popular tourist attraction need a little magic of their own to find a replacement witch in time for Halloween.
Wookey Hole Director Daniel Medley said: “Our new witch has to be someone who can work school holidays and weekends and who is not allergic to cats or children.”
The attraction employs a witch pro rata, largely over the summer holidays, Halloween and Christmas, They are expected to live in the site’s caves during busy periods and to teach witchcraft and magic.
The role normally attracts thousands of applicants, who then compete in for the post X Factor style auditions.
The original Witch lived in the caves with some goats and a dog, and was blamed for a number of ills, including crop failures to disease.
The previous incumbent in the role, Fiona Robertson, caused controversy when she was spotted by her bosses performing on X Factor, in her costume, despite the fact that she was off sick.
She faced disciplinary proceedings, but was allowed to keep her job after overwhelming public support.
BTW the pay is not bad. It is £50,000 per annum pro rota.
Where is Wookey Hole Cave?
Wookey Hole Caves is a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England.
Wookey Hole cave was formed through erosion of the limestone hills by the River Axe. Before emerging at Wookey Hole the water enters underground streams and passes through other caves such as Swildon’s Hole and St Cuthbert’s Swallet. After resurging, the waters of the River Axe are used in a handmade paper mill, the oldest extant in Britain, which began operations circa 1610, although a corn grinding mill operated there as early as 1086.
The Legend of the Witch of Wookey Hole
The cave is noted for the Witch of Wookey Hole – a roughly human shaped rock outcrop, reputedly turned to stone by a monk from Glastonbury. It is also the site of the first cave dives in Britain.
There are old legends of a “witch of Wookey Hole”, which are still preserved in the name of a stalagmite in the first chamber of the caves. The story has several different versions with the same basic features:
A man from Glastonbury is betrothed to a girl from Wookey. A witch living in Wookey Hole Caves curses the romance so that it fails. The man, now a monk, seeks revenge on this witch who—having been jilted herself—frequently spoils budding relationships. The monk stalks the witch into the cave and she hides in a dark corner near one of the underground rivers. The monk blesses the water and splashes some of it at the dark parts of the cave. Catching the witch off guard, the monk splashes the water at the dark corner she is hiding in. The blessed water immediately petrifies the witch, and she remains in the cave to this day.
A 1000 year-old skeleton of a woman was discovered in the caves by Herbert E. Balch in 1912, and has also traditionally been linked to the legendary witch. The remains have been part of the collection of the Wells and Mendip Museum, which was founded by Balch, since they were excavated, though in 2004 the owner of the Caves said that he wanted them to be returned to Wookey Hole.
It was partly down to the legend of the witch that prompted TV’s Most Haunted team to visit Wookey Hole Caves and Mill to explore the location in depth, searching for evidence of paranormal activity. The show, which aired on 10 March 2009, was the last episode transmitted in series eleven of the show’s run on the satellite and cable TV channel Living.
In 2009 a new ‘witch’ was chosen by Wookey Hole Ltd amid much media interest. Carole Bohanan in the role of Carla Calamity was selected ahead of over 3,000 other applicants.
Sources: Wikipedia & The Telegraph