Alveston Black Dog

Roy Palmer in his 1976 book ‘The Folklore of Warwickshire’ tells us that within living memory a black dog that was seen running down a hill and transformed into a woman. ‘Charles Walton, a ploughboy at Alveston, met a dog on the way home on nine successive evenings. On the final occasion a headless lady in a silk gown rushed past him, and the following day he heard of his sister’s death.’ This does of course nicely link with the tradition that seeing a Black Dog is an omen of death.

If this refers to the same person, the above mentioned experience was likely to have taken place prior 14 February 1945, as this is the date that Charles Walton was murdered in a manner that brought suspicions of witchcraft.