Mad Bess Wood

Hornbeam, musical history and Murder Most Horrid in Ruislip:

Made up of Bayhurst Wood, Copse Wood, Mad Bess Wood and Park Wood, Ruislip Woods, for those lucky enough to live nearby, are a peaceful haven from the bustle of everyday life but, amongst the beauty of the Hornbeam and Oak, lies a dark tale of murder and treachery.

A documentary, Mad Bess Wood, made for the Borough of Hillingdon in 2016 revisits a crime that shocked the ancient community of Ruislip almost two hundred years ago and is still part of the Borough’s folklore today.

On the 16th February 1837, John Brill, a local boy, was working on James Churchill’s farm in Mad Bess Wood, filling gaps in a hedge and ensuring that underwood should not be stolen. When he failed to return home that day, a search party was organised which went on until Sunday morning when his body was found and a murder investigation instigated. The previous year, John had given evidence against two poachers, Thomas Lavender and James Bray Jnr and, after both men were convicted, they threatened John with a violent revenge. Although both men were prosecuted for John’s murder, both were acquitted and a conviction for the crime was never made. In a grisly twist, the story goes that both of the accused demanded to be taken to the boy’s body as, at that time, it was believed that, in the presence of the murderer, blood would burst from the body of the deceased. Needless to say, this disturbing phenomenon did not occur, leading to the two men claiming that this was proof of their innocence.

Urban myth has it that, after a funeral ceremony, John’s body was buried in the local Inn, The Six Bells, rather than in the cemetery at nearby at St Martin’s Church. Still a prominent fixture on Ducks Hill Road, close to the woods themselves, The Six Bells has had a troubled past and is currently not open for business. Records show that the first known instance of the building trading as an inn was in 1826 with a Mark Clayton as the proprietor but the pub has seen considerable development and changed hands several times since Mr Clayton’s reign. Making history of a different kind, The Six Bells proved to be something of a muse in choosing a name for Cliff Richard’s now infamous backing band, a problem that the band had been struggling with for some time. In July 1959 when Hank Marvin and Jet Harris took off on their scooters up to the Six Bells, Hank recalls that, sitting in the pub, Jet hit upon a name straight away. ‘What about the Shadows?’ The lad was a genius! So we became the Shadows for the first time on Cliff’s sixth single “Travellin’ Light”

Rich in history, both good and bad, Ruislip Woods are a Site of Special Scientific

Interest and national nature reserve covering 726 acres in Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

The documentary Mad Bess Wood can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/179002435/0287a8f8fa

Nicci Rae’s novel Mad Bess Wood, based on the murder of John Brill is available to buy on Kindle and in paperback here (the author can also be seen interviewed in the documentary): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mad-Bess-Wood-Nicci-Rae/dp/1505239842/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485768914&sr=8-4&keywords=nicci+rae