S2 E3: Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?

This week, dive into the unsolved mystery that's plagued England for nearly a century! Lady tells us the story of the young woman, "Bella," whose decomposing remains were found in the center of a tree. Who put her there? Why was she there at all? And most importantly, who even is Bella? Let's dive in to this classic unsolved mystery!

Sources Cited:

• Armitage, Rebecca, and Lucia Stein. “When Four Boys Found a Woman inside a Wych Elm, It Sparked a Series of Wild Theories.” ABC News, ABC News, 6 Apr. 2023, www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-07/mystery-over-who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm-/102171844

• BBC News. “Disease Killing ‘Europe’s Oldest’ Elm Tree.” BBC News, BBC, 29 July 2021, www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58013952

• Coleman, M (ed.). (2009). Wych Elm. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. ISBN 978-1-906129-21-7.

• Haywood, Bob. “60-Year Link to Bones Riddle; Skeleton Found at ‘witch’ Death Spot.” The Free Library, 12 June 2005, www.thefreelibrary.com/60-YEAR+LINK+TO+BONES+RIDDLE%3B+Skeleton+found+at+’witch’+death+spot.-a0133177420

• Holder, Bev. “Iconic Bella Graffiti on Hagley Monument Mysteriously Changed.” Stourbridge News, Stourbridge News, 30 Nov. 2020, www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/18909712.iconic-bella-graffiti-hagley-monument-mysteriously-changed/

• Hunt, Amber, and Emily G. Thompson. “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?” CrimeReads, 25 Feb. 2019, crimereads.com/who-put-bella-in-the-wych-elm/

• IWM. “What Life Was like in Britain during the Second World War.” Iwm.Org.Uk, www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-life-was-like-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war Accessed 20 May 2025. 

• Jacob George Strutt (1822). Sylva Britannica. p. 66. Full text of expanded 1830 edition.

• Josefjacobs.info. “Bella in the Wych Elm – The Mysterious Anna from Claverley (a.k.a. Una Hainsworth).” Josefjakobs.Info, 12 Jan. 2018, josefjakobs.info/2018/01/bella-in-wych-elm-mysterious-anna-from.html

• Kane, Hannah. “The Cursed Spy Who Was the Last Person to Be Executed at the Tower of London.” My London, 8 Dec. 2021, www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/spy-executed-tower-of-london-18286103

• "La main de gloire, & ses effets" [The Hand of Glory, and its effects] (in French). Chapter 45. Retrieved March 15, 2015.

• Lockley, Mike. “Revealed after 75 Years: The Face of Bella in the Wych Elm.” Birmingham Live, 25 Feb. 2018, www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/revealed-after-75-years-face-14329271

• Staveley-Wadham, Rose. “‘who Put Bella Down the Wych Elm?’ – An Unsolved Murder Mystery Seventy-Seven Years On.” The British Newspaper Archive Blog | Amazing Finds and News from over 300 Years of Historical Newspapers, 4 Apr. 2019, blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2019/04/04/who-put-bella-down-the-wych-elm/

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