Behind the North-South Grave: The Evolution of the Molly Leigh Legend (Burslem Witch)
Updated: Sep 19
In 1748, Margaret Leigh, an old hag popularly known and feared by many around Stoke-On-Trent as The Witch of Burslem, passed away at the age of 63 and was buried in an unorthodox method. Instead of remaining in the conventional east to west direction she was re-buried facing north to south. A stone slab to this day sits on her grave, its right angular appearance standing out from the other gravestones and grabbing the attention of people passing by. For many, a burial would have been the final chapter of the book but for Margaret Leigh it was just the prologue to a very sinister tale that still remains legendary amongst the residents of the potteries.
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The Geography of a Legend: Burslem and the Staffordshire Moorlands
To truly understand the Molly Leigh ghost story, one must map out the rugged geography of 18th-century Stoke-on-Trent. Long before the six towns federated, Burslem was known as the "Mother Town" of the Potteries, but its surrounding landscape was wild and treacherous.
The Jackfield Estate: Located on the edges of the Staffordshire Moorlands, Jackfield was an isolated, fog-heavy pocket of land. Its remote nature naturally bred suspicion among the townspeople, who viewed anyone living on the moors as an outsider.
St John the Baptist Church: Situated in the heart of Burslem, this historic parish churchyard serves as the permanent resting place for Molly Leigh. The churchyard itself is central to Staffordshire paranormal tourism, drawing hundreds of visitors specifically seeking out the anomalous north-south grave layout.
The Turk’s Head & The Leopard Inn: Located on Market Place in Burslem, this site evolved from the humble tavern where Parson Spencer drank into The Leopard Inn, one of the most haunted historic pubs in the UK. The physical proximity between Molly’s home, the churchyard, and the pub created a tight triangle of local dread.
A Brutal Childhood on the Moorlands
Separating historical fact from hearsay is a challenge, but records suggest she was born in 1685 at Jackfield, an isolated estate nestled on the desolate moorlands just outside Burslem. Local myth claims she was born with teeth and managed to eat a hard crust of bread within hours of her birth, later choosing to suckle milk from livestock rather than her own mother. The truth is that Molly lost her parents at a young age. If she did drink directly from nearby animals, it was not a sign of the occult; it was a natural instinct for survival.
Superstition in the Pre-Industrial Potteries
To understand why the townsfolk hated her, one must understand 18th-century Burslem. Long before it became a bustling industrial hub revolutionised by potters like Josiah Wedgwood, it was a deeply isolated, insular farming village. Cut off from major trade routes, its muddy lanes were dark, and its people were intensely superstitious, with a worldview unchanged since the Middle Ages. Life was brutal. Dental hygiene was non-existent, and diseases like smallpox frequently left survivors disfigured. Lacking an education and carrying the physical scars of a harsh childhood, Molly became an easy target for local gossip.
The Blackbird and the Drunken Parson
Inheriting her family's land and livestock, Molly carved out a living hawking milk on the streets of the village. She was regularly accompanied by a pet blackbird that perched on her shoulder. A sight that deeply unsettled the paranoid community. Petty grievances quickly spiralled. Neighbours accused her of watering down the milk, but her fiercest critic was the local parson, Reverend Thomas Spencer. Molly rarely attended church. This sparked a bitter feud with the parson, who frequently drank at The Turk's Head pub.
It was within the smoky rooms of The Turk's Head (which later became the famously, fire-damaged Leopard Inn which was known as one of the most haunted pubs in Staffordshire) that Spencer launched his smear campaign. When a blackbird perched outside the tavern. The superstitious drinkers claimed the beer turned sour and that those inside developed sudden rheumatism. Spencer fired a gun at the bird but missed. When he fell bedridden with severe stomach pains shortly after, he claimed Molly had sent the bird as a demonic familiar to spy on him.
With the parson leading the charge, the town turned completely on Molly. Every stroke of bad luck. Ruined crop. Sick calves in Burslem. She was blamed on her doorstep. Though she never stood trial under the law, she was completely ostracized. With no one willing to buy her milk, she spent her final years entirely alone at her Jackfield cottage, passing away at the age of 63.
Yet, death did not ease the town’s panic. Terror gripped the streets as residents claimed to see Molly’s phantom. This spirit was accompanied by her mischievous blackbird, gliding through the village. Driven by fear, or perhaps looking for valuables to loot, Reverend Spencer peered through the window of her empty cottage one evening. To his horror, he saw the unmistakable spirit of Molly Leigh sitting peacefully in her armchair. She was knitting by a blazing fire. Some rumours state that her feet were in the fire.
The Midnight Exorcism & Molly Leigh Grave
Terrified, Spencer rallied a group of priests from nearby towns. Together, they launched a midnight exorcism. They captured her blackbird in a sack and desecrated her grave. According to legend, they drove a wooden stake through her heart before burying the bird alive alongside her. To ensure she could never trouble the town again, her body was turned to face north-to-south. This was a deliberate disruption of traditional Christian burial practices intended to prevent her from seeing Christ on Judgement Day.
For centuries, visitors stared at the massive, expensive stone table-tomb and wondered: how could a penniless orphan afford such a grand monument? Was it paid for by Parson Spencer to act as a heavy physical weight to pin her spirit down?
Witchcraft Accusations in 18th-Century England: The Legal Truth
While Molly Leigh is popularly remembered across the Midlands as The Witch of Burslem, the historical timeline reveals a crucial legal truth. By the time Molly passed away in 1748, the formal prosecution of witches had technically ended.
The Witchcraft Act of 1735: Passed by the British Parliament just over a decade before Molly's death, this law officially abolished the execution of people for witchcraft in England and Scotland. Under the new law, the state no longer believed in literal magic; instead, it punished people who pretended to use witchcraft to con others.
Trial by Gossip: Because Parson Spencer could no longer legally drag Molly to a courtroom or a gallows under the charge of witchcraft, he utilised the social structures of the pre-industrial Potteries to destroy her. Her "trial" took place entirely via community isolation, economic boycotts, and malicious tavern gossip.
The Shocking Discovery in the Archives: Stoke-On-Trent History
The truth, as it turns out, completely shatters the myth of the old witch.
In recent years, local historians uncovered Molly Leigh’s actual last will and testament, signed just days before her death in April 1748. The document revealed that far from being a penniless beggar, Molly was an incredibly wealthy, independent landowner. She owned multiple properties and vast acres of land. This spanned across Burslem and Newbold Astbury. She bought the massive stone tomb herself.
Furthermore, her will paints the picture of a pioneering woman who used her fortune to protect other women. In an era where women had almost no financial rights, Molly left her estate to her mother, specifically writing that her stepfather could not touch a penny. She also left a yearly income to her female cousin, explicitly blocking the cousin's husband from controlling the money. Most ironic of all, the townsfolk who ostracised her actually benefited from her death; she left a massive charitable trust to buy food and clothing for the poor of Burslem.
The Real Reason Behind the Smear Campaign
This archival discovery completely flips the narrative on Parson Spencer. Molly was actually a deeply religious woman, but she fiercely refused to pay her church tithes because she despised Spencer's public drunkenness and aggressive demands for money. The parson's witchcraft accusations were not a holy crusade; they were a malicious, vengeful smear campaign against an independent, wealthy woman who dared to say "no" to him.
Even after her vengeful north-to-south reburial, local folklore claims her spirit refused to be silenced, reportedly haunting the area while defiantly chanting: "Weight and measure held I ever, milk and water sold I never!"
A Legacy That Refuses to Die
Over the centuries, the real Margaret Leigh morphs into a classic gothic archetype. The shifting of the narrative from a dispute over church tithes into a tale of demonic blackbirds and midnight exorcisms shows how Midlands folklore uses the supernatural to explain independent women who defied religious authority.
We may never know the true events of Molly Leigh’s life and death but her grave remains in St John the Baptist Churchyard in Burslem where it is visited by teenagers each Halloween. They chant the rhyme ‘Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh, you can’t catch me,’ a ritual which apparently reveals her ghost. Whether she does or doesn’t reveal herself, her legend undoubtedly lives on.
Molly Leigh: The Witch of Burslem Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly is Molly Leigh’s grave located?
Molly Leigh’s unique north-to-south tomb is located in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire). The sandstone table-tomb is positioned at a striking right angle compared to all the other traditional Christian graves on the grounds, making it immediately visible to anyone walking through the historic churchyard.
Why is Molly Leigh buried north to south?
In traditional Christian custom, graves are aligned east-to-west so the deceased face the rising sun, symbolising the resurrection. Burials aligned north-to-south were deliberately unorthodox and used for people viewed as outcasts, criminals, or suspected witches. According to Stoke-on-Trent folklore, Parson Spencer ordered her reburial in this direction to symbolically turn her back on Judgement Day and break her spirit's tie to the town.
What is the rhyme to summon the ghost of Molly Leigh?
According to local Potteries urban legend, if you visit her grave at midnight, particularly on Halloween, and run around the tomb three times while chanting, "Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh, you can't catch me, or Molly Leigh, Molly Leigh, Chase me around the apple tree" her phantom blackbird will fly out from the stone, or her spirit will manifest. While this remains a popular childhood rite of passage in Staffordshire, historians note it is a modern folkloric addition to her historical legacy.
Was Molly Leigh actually a witch?
No, historical records and architectural archives show that Margaret "Molly" Leigh was an exceptionally wealthy, eccentric, and independent single businesswoman. She was a major landowner in Burslem who chose not to marry, managed her own dairy business, and openly refused to pay church taxes to a corrupt local parson. The witchcraft stories were entirely fabricated as a vengeful smear campaign by the clergy she defied.
Can you visit the cottage where Molly Leigh lived?
No, the original Jackfield cottage where Molly Leigh spent her final reclusive years no longer stands. The industrial expansion of the Staffordshire Potteries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries completely transformed the landscape, and the rural moorlands of her childhood were eventually built over as Burslem expanded into a major industrial town.
