THE WASP WOMAN – RADNAGE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

13th Century Radnage Church bathes in late summer sunshine as shadows creep up the lane.  Yet this peaceful spot in deepest Buckinghamshire hides a bizarre story.  Before the First World War it was said that the Wasp Woman walked this area tending graves in the yard.  She was deformed, having a claw-like hand and a hideous face which she hid beneath a makeshift black lace wasp bonnet.  She died sitting on a bench in the graveyard surrounded by the hum and thrum of wasps and was only discovered, still sitting, three days later.  A corpse above ground watching over those below.

She was called the Wasp Woman not only because she wore a bee keeper’s hat but also because she coated her disfigured face in honey in the belief that it would cure her ravaged skin.  It didn’t.  It only attracted the wasps and bees which is why she wore the black lace bonnet.  When she died in the graveyard and was undiscovered for three days, the insects found their way through the lace to the honey.  When the hat was removed her face was not visible, only ants, flies, bees and…wasps.

Date: 2004

Medium:  Black and White Print

Size:  16” x 12” print, including border

Price:  £28.00 within UK plus £3.00 shipping

Price:  $45.00 outside UK plus $15.00 shipping

To purchase, contact Eddie Brazil

A portion of all Eddie Brazil's work sold will go to the Chiltern Society for Psychical Research (www.cspr.org.uk).

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© 2009 by Eddie Brazil.  Original text & photograph on this page is copyright 2009 by Eddie Brazil.