Betty’s Grave is a quiet rural crossroads 1/4 mile from Poulton, a small Gloucestershire village situated 5 miles from Cirencester on the a41 7 to Fairford. Once in the village, you’ll see the Falcon Inn on your right, by the junction to Down Ampney – continue the A417 until you reach a sharp bend round to the right. Here, at bell lane, turn left and continue along, leaving the village, until you reach the crossroads. The signpost is labelled Betty’s grave.
Who was Betty?
There can be no absolute answers to this question. The crossroads first appears as Betty’s grave on an ordnance survey map of 1830 but the stories go further back than that. There are many different versions of the tale. One reveals Betty as a hard working & virtuous girl who wagered that she could cut an acre of corn with her sickle faster than any man. She succeeded but once finished dropped dead from the effort; she was buried where she fell – a crossroads.
Another tale paints her as a witch who lived near the crossroads and would make animals and people sick ‘while she danced in the streets at midnight & spat up hundreds of pins & young crows’. She was also said to waylay peddlers on their way to Fairford market by some magic which involved crossed pins on the sign post. Yet another says she arrived in the village naked & mute. Her strange behaviour (she wandered alone in the moonlight) & her muteness meant she was suspected of being a witch. A mob attacked & hung her, then burying her at the crossroads. Next day she had risen from her grave, so they buried her again. She rose from her grave again & was buried again. The third time she rose from her grave she told them She would only rest quietly if they swore to always lay flowers on Her grave. They agreed and generations of villagers laid flowers At the crossroads until the 7o’s when suddenly it stopped. This caused her to appear again and she wandered as a ghost through Fairford until the flowers started again.
Other versions have Betty as a murderess who poisoned her employer; as a victim of poisoning by her employer; a sheep stealer hanged at the crossroads; a gypsy; a suicide. A variation on this tale has it that she made a nuisance of herself around the village, begging food and money. If the villagers refused she would threaten curses. One bitter winter’s morning she was found under a hedge, apparently having died of cold so the villagers buried her in a pauper’s grave in the churchyard. Two years later, however, Betty was back begging for food as if nothing had happened, and yet again by winter she was found dead under a hedge. So, they buried her again. Two years on, she re-appeared yet again, and after making herself a nuisance was found under the hedge, again. However, this time the villagers decided not to put her in the churchyard. They believed her to be a witch and therefore not entitled to a Christian burial so she was buried at the crossroads.
One interpretation sends Betty’s story further back into rural folklore – associating Betty with a character in the sword dance. The phrase ‘hanging the Betty” comes from the sword dances of ritual drama. The Betty was the victim whose head was cut off at the climax of the play. This kind of dance is known to have taken place in nearby Ablington.
Why is this crossroads called Betty’s Grave? No one knows. One of these stories may be true or none of them is true. In the end, does this really matter?
Route & Re-enactment
Starting at the church in Poulton, we undertake a pilgrimage up to betty’s grave. We walk up bell lane to the crossroads carrying a representation of Betty (made of flowers & corn). Once a small act of memorial has been completed we return down bell lane back to the church. We then undertake this journey for the second time. Once the second is complete the pilgrims start the journey for the third time. On this third visit to the crossroads, the representation of Betty is laid at the grave before we return to the village and end our journey in the falcon for some refreshment.
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