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All the United Kingdom England Hagley Wychbury Obelisk

Wychbury Obelisk

An 18th century monument regularly tagged with unsettling graffiti referencing a 1940s unsolved murder.

Hagley, England

Added By
Allison Meier
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Graffiti on the obelisk in 2006   David Buttery/Wikimedia
Graffiti on the obelisk in 2006   David Buttery/Wikimedia
The obelisk in 2011, post-restoration   Tony Hisgett/Wikimedia
The obelisk tagged in 2002   Simon Norman/Wikimedia
The obelisk tagged in 2013   mjeshenton/Flickr
The obelisk in 2006   Trevor Birch/Wikimedia
Misty winter up on Wychbury Hill   higgyC / Atlas Obscura User
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About

WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH-ELM?

That is the unsettling phrase that's been repeatedly tagged on the Wychbury Hill obelisk by an anonymous hand, a reference to a strange unsolved 1940s murder. 

The obelisk itself, sometimes called the Hagley Monument, was constructed in 1747 under the orders of Lord Lyttelton who owned the nearby Hagley Hall. It deteriorated for much of the 20th century, but was restored in 2011. However, its most interesting feature has been an ephemeral question on a gruesome murder that remains a mystery.

In 1943, in the midst of World War II, some kids discovered a skull inside a hollow witch hazel tree in Hagley Wood. When the tree was better investigated, a whole skeleton was found that appeared to belong to a woman with dark hair who had been dead for a year and a half.

No one was ever charged, and as the country was preoccupied with the mounting casualties of the war, the search for the skeleton's identity faded until it was forgotten. But not by everyone. In 1944, graffiti was discovered on an abandoned building demanding: WHO PUT LUEBELLA DOWN THE WYCH-ELM in large white letters. (The witch hazel and witch elm trees are quite close in appearance, suggesting a familiarity with the crime scene.) Soon variations appeared around the Midlands, alternately using the name Luebella and Bella (although the dead woman never officially was identified with a name) and referencing the Hagley Wood, with some just stating HAGLEY WOOD BELLA. It gradually refined into the direct: WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH-ELM, or sometimes WITCH ELM.

The graffiti on the obelisk goes back to the 1970s and continues as a chilling, recurrent reminder of the dead woman found in a tree who has still never been identified. 

Related Tags

Crime And Punishment Monuments Memento Mori Murder Graffiti

Community Contributors

Added By

Allison

Edited By

rikwilliams, higgyC

  • rikwilliams
  • higgyC

Published

October 8, 2012

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  • http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/31-days-of-halloween-who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm
  • http://theobelisk.atspace.com/
  • http://www.hagleyvillage.org/?p=walks&walk=9
Wychbury Obelisk
Wychbury Hill
Hagley, England, DY9 9JX
United Kingdom
52.432808, -2.117701
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