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The Inn at Willow Grove presents: Witches of the Mid-Atlantic

Written by: Cheryl Johnson

How much do you really know about the Salem witch trials? Even if you don’t know a lot, you’ve almost certainly heard about them. But have you ever heard of the Witches of the Mid-Atlantic?

Most people haven’t. Yet accusations of witchcraft stretched well beyond Salem and continued into surprisingly recent history. Why did people point the finger and cry “witch”? How were the accused treated? And what happened when a court officially declared someone a witch?

Consider the chilling case of Joan Flower and her daughters, the so‑called “Witches of Belvoir” in England—a single story among hundreds we could tell, but one that captures the fear, superstition, and cruelty of the era.

We’ll be diving into the forgotten stories of the Witches of the Mid-Atlantic on April 23, 2026, at 8 pm at the Inn at Willow Grove in Orange, Virginia—an immersive living‑history evening that brings these real cases to life in a historic 19th‑century barn. Until then, start your journey into this darker side of history!

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Joan Flower and her daughters, the “Witches of Belvoir”: 

She Cursed a Castle. History Believed Her.

In 1618, Joan Flower worked as a servant at Belvoir Castle in Lincolnshire — home of the Earl of Rutland. When her daughter was dismissed from service for theft, Joan did not go quietly.

Within months, the Earl’s eldest son fell ill and died. Then the second son. Then the Countess herself fell into a mysterious and prolonged sickness that the physicians could not explain.

Joan and her two daughters, Margaret and Philippa, were arrested.

The story that followed was the kind that traveled. Joan Flower, it was said, had taken a glove belonging to the Earl’s eldest boy, boiled it with blood, and buried it in a dunghill — asking the devil to rot the child as the glove rotted in the earth.

Margaret confessed. Philippa confessed.

Joan Flower, they say, called for bread and butter and declared that if she were guilty, may this bread choke her.

She swallowed it.

And choked.

She died in the road before she ever reached the jail. Her daughters were hanged at Lincoln in March of 1619.

The Earl of Rutland was so shaken that he had the entire account carved into his family tomb at Bottesford Church — where it can still be read today, in stone, four hundred years later.

Whether Joan Flower was a grieving mother, a genuine practitioner of dark arts, or simply a woman that powerful people needed to blame — no one living can say.

But the castle still stands. And so does the tomb. And the question has never quite been answered.

Some say ghosts are just echoes of the past — but perhaps they are our greatest storytellers. They linger not just to haunt, but to remind us that the lives lived here before us matter. By listening to their stories, we honor those who came before and ensure that their history, and the lessons within it, continue to shape our future. 

Thank you for taking your time to peer into the portals of the past. 

Join us on our inaugural launch in to the Witches of the Mid-Atlanic. Delve into the eerie past of the Chesapeake Bay with the Witches of the Mid-Atlantic Shadows presentation. This immersive journey invites you to explore the dark tales of witch trials and societal fears that shaped history. Hear the chilling stories of people in the mid-Atlantic that were accused of witchcraft. This presentation offers an emotional connection to the past, provoking thought and reflection on the echoes of history in today’s society.

Read more about – Witches of the Mid-Atlantic Presentation