To the north east and overlooking Mickleton, albeit just over the border in Warwickshire, is Meon Hill. It is the northern most point of the Cotswolds, is 194m (636ft) high and one of the so called Cotswold mounds. The word Meon is possibly from the Greek meaning “lesser” as in a small size or an adjunct to a main range of hills. A mound in this context is a natural elevation or small hill. The hill is part of the Cotswolds with the same geology albeit as a mound that is separate from the main range of hills. A Wold is a term used in England to describe a range of hills which consists of open high ground or country overlying a base of limestone or chalk. In the case of the Cotswolds the underlying geology is limestone.
Even though Meon Hill might be described as a mound or small hill, it was probably a pretty important place in ancient times. That is because it is topped by a large multivallate Iron Age hill fort. It would have been a dominant settlement in the area. A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement. The location on top of a hill would have used the elevation for defensive advantage. Multivallate is an archeological term meaning surrounded by two or more ramparts forming multiple lines of defence. On Meon Hill, and typically for a hill fort, the fortification follows the contours of the hill and consists of a series of earthworks, which would have had stockades or some form of defensive wall, and an external ditch.
Meon Hill, has been associated by strange tales for many centuries, especially concerning ancient hauntings and devilish deeds. Why this should be is not obvious in present times; being a mystical mound may have given it a haunted atmosphere in medieval times. This would be particularly acute as it was much darker and quieter than we experience nowadays - there would have been virtually no artificial light and background noise to speak off. As a hill it would have stood out in the dim light of an evening and any strange noise due to the wind or whatever would have been noticeable in the village.
Two devilish deeds have been associated with the hill. - One involves the Devil kicking a boulder from the top of the hill to smash the newly built Evesham Abbey. However, the deed was thwarted by the prayers of the locals and the stone instead fell on Cleeve Hill. The stone was subsequently carved into a cross by the people there to nullify the Devil’s touch. - Another version says the Devil threw a clod of earth to smother the newly built abbey. However, the Bishop of Worcester is said to have seen the Devil and through the power of prayer altered the Devil’s aim. The clod fell short and formed Meon Hill.
Other hauntings associated with the hill involve mythical dogs. There is a legend that phantom hounds of the Celtic King Arawyn hunt the hill at night. The king was the lord of departed spirits who would hunt to gather souls, riding a pale horse and accompanied by a pack of white hounds with red ears. In another legend mysterious black dogs have been purported to have been sighted in the area on many occasions. Such sightings are, however, not unique to Meon Hill, they are part of a long tradition of ghostly dog sightings in the British Isles.
In more recent times the hill has been associated with witchcraft and murder. The murder victim was 74 year-old Charles Walton, a farm labourer who lived in Lower Quinton, which is below Meon Hill in Warwickshire. Despite his age he continued to work on local farms until the day of his murder. He was a real country man and knew many rural tales and the old ways of the countryside. He was purported to be well-liked in the village, although he was an unusual character. It is said that birds would flock to be fed from his hand and he had the ability to tame wild dogs with his voice. However, it's said some villagers thought he might have been involved with witchcraft because of his strange knowledge and abilities.
Charles was killed on 14 February 1945, while tending hedges in a field at the bottom of the Meon Hill, with a pitch fork and a trouncing hook (otherwise known as a billhook). It was a brutal and unusual murder; his trouncing hook was embedded in his throat and his body was pinned to the floor by his pitch fork. Witchcraft was suspected as a large cross was carved into his chest. This is because people were murdered by those they believe have put them under a spell. In these cases, the victim - believed to be the witch that cast the spell - was often given the sign of the cross by the person taking their revenge.
The case was so important that investigations were led by Scotland Yard's renowned Detective Inspector Robert Fabian. The character of Fabian was later to feature in a television detective series. The crime, however, has never been solved. Whether it was a fanciful tale of believed spells and witchcraft or had a more prosaic motive that used witchcraft as a “smoke screen” remains a mystery. The period in which the murder occurred may have some relevance being just after the Second World War and all the went on during that period.