
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993                   TAG: 9305200153
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

LEGENDARY WITCH HOUSE DESTROYED

A fire has destroyed the rural house where, according to local legend, the Witch of Pungo once lived.

The frame house was on land now part of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The fire was early Monday.

Whether Grace Sherwood, who was tried for witchcraft in the 1700s, lived in the house is not known for sure. Some historians say that the house was built in 1820, 80 years after Sherwood's death in 1740.

Anthony D. Leger, refuge manager, said he suspects the blaze was set. He said refuge workers last week found signs that someone had pried loose boards nailed over the front windows.

Back Bay purchased the house in 1990. Workers had erected a fence around the property and cleaned out trash to prevent a fire, Leger said.

The house was listed on the State Register of Historic Places and in the Archaeological Restoration Protection Act.

by CNB