Happy Halloween! 🎃
To celebrate the spookiest night of the year I have decided to place a cache dedicated to one of the spookiest places in Buxted (if not all of Sussex)
This cache is placed along Nan Tucks Lane, a road to the south of the village that is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a woman from Rotherfield called Nan Tuck.
The story goes that in around 1810 Nan Tuck's husband died suddenly and the people of Buxted suspected that she had something to do with it. They accused her of being a witch and she was chased away from her home by the village mob.
Nan Tuck sought refuge in the dark woods (along what is now Nan Tucks Lane), she planned to hide here before heading to the nearby St Margaret's church where she would be given sanctuary (Fugitives were allowed to escape punishment by touching the altar of a church if they were able to reach it). However, her pursuers caught sight of her and chased her down.
At this point there are three versions of the story of what happened to her:
1.) She miraculously disappeared leaving nothing but a patch of utterly dead grass and foliage, on which nothing grows still to this day..
2.) Nan Tuck was caught and murdered (possibly via hanging) by the angry mob who would claim that (being a witch) she had simply run off into the woods and disappeared.
or
3.) She made it to the church, but was found and put through trial by water. She managed to escape, but her body was found hanging in the woods soon after, leaving locals unsure as to whether she committed suicide or was murdered.
Nevertheless, Nan Tuck is still said to haunt the very woods where she was last seen alive! When looking for this cache I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled, for you might catch sight of her between the trees! (If you do post a picture, I'd love to see :) )
A Poem was written about the Ghost by Roy Carnon
The new moon
older by a memory
threw this sinuous line
down and round
Poundsley way.
Following feet
that trod the centuries
across the weald -
deepening contoured tracks
unknowing.
The way imprinted
to Hadlow, Framfield, Buxted, -
on to Blackboys,
cruciform neeting, pointing
the fingerpost of death.
Following feet -
feet following years
crushed harsh in grass;
tearing the flowers wond -
gaping
raped petals laid
cold on the lane.
Congealing tar
concealing blood,
the shape of your agony
lays still
on bruised grass
still
on earth maimed by you fall.
Tear-blurred, memory retreats
beneath track-patterned clay
but a Sussex lane Remembers.
Congrats to:
FTF: Seafordians
STF: Martletsman
TTF: LostInTheWoods!