UK UK - Worcestershire, Fem Skeletal 'Bella in the Wych Elm', Hagley Hall, Apr'43

[Grouse]

Her underskirt was taffeta and there was taffeta in her mouth. It sounds like she was gagged.

In the book by Alex Merrill it states that one of the boys who discovered the remains believed he may have pushed the cloth into the hole at the base of the skull with the stick he used to fish it out. If that indeed was the case then we don't appear to have a cause of death.

 

[Grouse]

Does anyone know if this tree is still there? Was it cut down? Or memorialized somehow? I can’t seem to find any information on the tree itself aside from old photographs.

In episode 1 of the podcast (at approx 13:50) that @dotr shared in post #51 they visited the scene and the tree is "long gone".

 

[Susikatze]

Bumping for Wych Elm Bella.

Hopefully we find her bones one day. They've got to be locked away in some museum or anthropology department somewhere.

Even a hair sample would suffice or one tooth or fingernail but apparently everything was misplaced or cremated and buried in an unknown location

 

[Susikatze]

She had such distinctively crooked teeth that it should be easy to find her skull if it is really in some storage or archive. Ive worked in big archeological archives and while there were some boxes with old finds pre 1960, they were still somehow labeled at least with location and type of artifact and most had inventory numbers.
Also no archive is endless, just check the boxes that are not clearly labeled and among those search for bones and a skull. Shouldnt take more than 1-2 weeks. I mean, really.

jmoo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

In episode 1 of the podcast (at approx 13:50) that @dotr shared in post #51 they visited the scene and the tree is "long gone".

This is not surprising. The hillfort on top of Wychbury Hill has long been a hangout for groups of teens who lit and sat around small fires drinking and of groups of pagans doing the same at dates of significance in the pagan calendar. Unfortunately at least a handful of hollow yews up there have been destroyed by fire over the decades due to carelessness.