Many of the locals would refuse to step
foot on the grounds in fear of the curse
and family members of the Magpie Miners
would plead with their loved ones to find
alternative work.
The mine eventually closed for production
in 1835 just a mere two years after the
incident and was eventually sold and
taken over by new owners and workers
in 1839. It would then go on to continue
its production until 1954 seeing several
different owners over its lifespan.
The widow’s curse is said to remain until
this day and many workers of the mine
over the years have reported strange
‘ghostly’ activity. Some even saying that
the spirits of the three miners that were
murdered have been spotted here on
several occasions and apparently haunt
the area, not at rest as justice was never
properly served.
As well as the curse, there is also two
documented deaths on the site itself
which occurred in 1842 although no
details of how these miners died has
emerged. A lot of the deaths were not
documented, and historians believe that
more deaths would have occurred here
due to the nature of the work.
For the remaining years the site would see
both flooding and fires and would even
undergo a name change in the attempts to
break the curse, but it seems many owners
were never able to keep the business fully
afloat and each would fail miserably. Was
this truly the windows curse? Or simply
just a paranoia which made it all fail?
When I first started to research this
location, it was because I was drawn to its
natural beauty and it was only after that I
discovered the prospect of the harrowing
curse.
The Magpie Mine is one of the most
intact mines left in the United Kingdom
(if not the world) which makes this a
very unusual location for us to be able
to investigate. Although we were unable
to step foot inside of the buildings, it is
the grounds of the mine itself that is said
to be haunted which is what made us
become so fascinated with the area. After so many sightings of apparitions
here and an unsolved mystery of who
really caused the deaths of the Redsoil
miners, we knew we had to investigate
this location to see if we could uncover
some answers to these age-old questions. Visitation?
James and I had known for a while
that we would be visiting the mine to
investigate and a week prior to our actual
investigation I found it incredibly odd as
I began to have a ‘Magpie’ visit me at my
home. I have lived in this property for over
twenty years and it’s an extremely built up
area with no fields or parks nearby. In my
entire time living there I have never ONCE
witnessed a Magpie on my property. This
Magpie has now become a regular visitor
since the investigation, and I see him most
days. He will sit on my fence and stare at
me from the garden, he also has made an
appearance directly outside of my kitchen
window. Coincidence?
Maybe? Strange all the same. But, that’s
not all that happened. After our first day
visit, I also had a dream about the mine
and particularly remember a man called
“Richard” being a part of it. I’d messaged
James the next day to let him know I
thought it was odd. A week later we found
a list of names of the men who were put
on trial for the murders of the red soil
miners in 1835, at the very top of the list
was the name ‘Richard Sutton’ age thirty-
five. I’ll leave that with you, make of it
what you will! The
Investigation
The investigation at Magpie started
like any other that we’d done before.
A long music filled drive with talk and
excitement of what lay ahead, not
to mention the small muddy tracks
that seem to be EVERYWHERE we go! I
sometimes wonder why I even bother
to clean the car...As we pulled up it became clear that
we were not alone. No, honestly, there
were two other cars there, one bearing
a Dutch licence plate! It was still light,
and we weren’t worried, it was evident
with the beauty that the location
possesses, that they were more than
likely just tourists taking in the views
and history that the Mine has to offer.
We still had to gather some more intro
footage and take some photos, and by
the time dark fell upon us, they had left,
and we were the only two there.Now for anyone that wants to visit after
they’ve read this article, please beware- it gets extremely windy!