Mystery · Watford ·

The Fig Tree Tomb (the 'Witch's Tomb')

A man who denied any afterlife asks for something to be buried with him, as a test. Years later, a fig tree forces his tomb lid open.

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Mystery

The Fig Tree Tomb

A doubter's tomb burst open by a fig tree, proving him wrong.

See it clearly

What's there: A worn tomb against the church wall; the fig is gone
Legend from: Victorian
Tone: Curious

Tombs & gravesTreesCurses

Before you go

The Fig Tree Tomb stands against the south wall of St Mary's church; the churchyard is now a public open space. The fig tree died in 1963 and the inscription has worn away.

Fig Tree Tomb site, St Mary's Churchyard, Watford
Near Church Street, Watford
The pin is approximate.

Coming up is St Mary's churchyard in Watford, where a fig tree once burst open a doubter's tomb to prove him wrong about the afterlife.

Against the wall of St Mary's Church stood an ornate tomb whose heavy stone lid was forced up at a strange angle by a fig tree growing from inside. The Parish Magazine of 1898 tied it to a man called Ben Wangford, who denied any afterlife and asked for something to be buried with him: if it sprouted, his family would know his soul lived on. A fig tree duly appeared, some said from his heart, and Victorian visitors travelled miles to see it. Postcards sold it as the Witch's Tomb, and the story frightened local children for generations until frost killed the tree in the 1960s.

The Fig Tree Tomb (the 'Witch's Tomb')

The Fig Tree Tomb

Before you go

Sources