Rare ‘witch bottle’ — full of peculiar liquid to ward off evil — found in England

While renovating a building in Cleethorpes, a seaside town on the east coast of England, workers found an old bottle crammed inside of a wall.

The glass vessel — dirty, but intact — was sealed with a cork and filled with a mysterious liquid. But before the workers could pop the cork and try a taste, the bottle was whisked away to a laboratory to be examined.

Now, many months later, the object has been identified as a “witch bottle,” a rare vestige of 18th-century superstition.

University analysis

In order to demystify its origins — and its contents — the bottle was meticulously cleaned and subjected to a battery of tests at the University of Lincoln, according to a Jan. 24 university news release.

Zara Yeates, a student who took on the project, discovered it was handcrafted sometime between 1790 and 1840, making it at least 185 years old.

X-ray scans were then conducted in order to determine the bottle’s contents — since the building’s owners asked that it not be opened. These tests revealed it was filled with a rather unsavory fluid: human urine.

“As such the bottle is believed to be a ‘witch bottle’, a type of protective item historically used to ward off evil from the dwelling,” the release said. “These bottles typically contain urine and other material, such as small animal bones or iron nails.”

Additional scans indicated the presence of sediment resting at the bottom of the bottle. This is hypothesized to be the remnants of plant matter — which have historically been used in making witch bottles.

More than 200 such bottles have previously been unearthed, reflecting the widespread prevalence of belief in witches several centuries ago, according to research from McGill University.

One witch bottle, found at a construction site in London, contained not only urine, but also hair, nail clippings and a leather heart pierced by an iron nail.

The newly discovered bottle will be displayed at the University of Lincoln’s Conservation of Cultural Heritage show in June, according to the release. It will then be given back to its owner.

This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Rare ‘witch bottle’ — full of peculiar liquid to ward off evil — found in England."