The village of Burley has several gift shops specialising in witchcraft but why are they there?
In the 1950s a woman called Sybil Leek lived in Burley with her pet Jackdaw. She became a TV reporter but primarily claimed to be a witch.
 | A witch doll |
Sybil had lived with gypsies and gained an excellent knowledge of the New Forest.
She was recognised as an expert on forest ways and wrote several books on the subject. She also named a witchcraft shop, "A Coven of Witches".
After her television success in Britain, Sybil went to live in America where her popularity continued. She died in 1982 but her son, Julian, is constructing a building in Florida to house her memorabilia and many of her students practice witchcraft to this day.
Sybil was by no means the only Forest witch. Gerald Gardner, a retired civil servant from Christchurch, claimed to have been initiated into a coven of New Forest witches in 1939 by Dorothy Clutterbuck, or "old Dorothy" as she was known.
Gardner wrote several books on modern witchcraft, or Wicca, and sparked a revival of "the old religion" which became known as Gardnerian Wicca.
As interest in witchcraft grew during the early 60s, Gardner became a respected spokesperson for Pagans. The press referred to him as "Britain's Chief Witch".
The exact practices of Gardner's coven were kept secret but they are reported to have attempted to prevent a German invasion during World War II by going down to the beach and sending out a "cone of power".
Whether the spell worked or not is debatable but the invasion never came! Gerald Gardner died in 1964.
 | | Jenny Tucker - Shopkeeper |
According to locals there are still white witches in the forest but they live quietly and prefer to detach themselves from the typical broomstick and pointed hat image.
Many like to adopt the term "Hedgewitch", meaning a witch who works alone rather than as part of a group, or coven.
The shop named by Sybil Leek has been owned by Jenny Tucker for the past 21 years. According to Jenny trade is good. Indeed several similar shops have opened in Burley: "We sell quite a few books nowadays but our best seller is spells, which are made by Hedgewitches."
Among the many strange wares on her shelves are spells, which come in bottles and with
full instructions.
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