THE TALE OF THE DANCING COFFIN
| Artwork | Hilary Ellingham, Jan Johnson |
| Maker(s) | Adele Booth, Yvonne Chadderton |
| Location | Riverside Organic, Manor Lane, Whatcroft, CW9 7RH https://w3w.co/fats.inferior.joints |
| Sources | Winsford Chronicle 15th September 1999 written by Brian Curzon Also grateful thanks to John Rowe for access to his research Davenham 900 Years of Work and Worship Lynch et al. 1978 |
During the eighteenth century there was a tax on salt and as Northwich and Winsford were producing tons of salt there were plenty of local Revenue Men keeping an eye on comings and goings and ensuring that the tax was paid.
Of course when there are taxes there are people who wish to avoid paying them…Smugglers!
The salt tax was paid when the salt was produced at the factory and before it was moved to the buyer. If the salt was moved secretly without the knowledge of the Revenue Men then no tax was paid. The farmers and other locals were happy to buy a bag of salt regularly from the smugglers especially if was cheaper than other suppliers because no tax had been paid.
The smugglers of Cheshire devised devious ways to hide the movement of salt from the Revenue Men and our mosaic “The Dancing Coffin” tells one of their stories.
The action takes place at a small bridge over Puddinglake Brook, a small waterway running through the valley on the lane leading from Shipbrook to Whatcroft. People who passed this way at dead of night would be scared by the sight of a bright shining coffin coming out of the woods alongside the brook and stumping across the road on unseen legs.
One night, a young woman was passing through the valley when she heard the thumping sound and saw the coffin. Terrified, she stood rooted to the spot, where upon the lid fell off the coffin and out stepped a glowing skeleton which had been painted with phosphorous. The woman swooned and was eventually found the following morning.
When she had recovered enough to tell her story, several men decided the following night to take up guns and investigate further. Sure enough the coffin appeared but one of the men was so terrified that he fired his weapon too soon. The coffin fell and the sound of running was heard. On investigation in daylight a coffin was found, plus items relating to smuggling and a quantity of phosphorus.
Whether this is true or not, it makes a good story.
Another time a Revenue man was suspicious of the number of evening funerals especially as the coffins seemed to being carried by the same men and away from the church rather than towards it. He got special authorization to open the coffin and discovered bags of salts that were being taken to farms tax free and evading the law.
The Salt Tax was abolished in 1825 and so that put an end to the antics of the salt smugglers.
