The fictional village of Raven’s Edge is located in what is known as the King’s Forest District (also fictional!), along with several other villages, including Calahurst and Port Rell. Calahurst is centred around a marina on the edge of the River Hurst and is popular with the sailing community. Port Rell has a long sandy beach and a pretty harbour. All Raven’s Edge has is its quirky folklore, thanks to the Victorian inhabitants who created stories around real historical characters.
Popular Legends
MAGIK MEG was a healer named Margaret Lawrence, who lived in Raven’s Cottage in the late 17th century. In those days, the cottage was a fair way outside the village and surrounded by woodland. Now it’s on the main road on the way to the moors. Outside Raven’s Cottage is Meg’s Pond, where it’s believed she was drowned by her fellow villagers. However, another legend states that Meg was thrown from the bridge over the gorge, turning herself into one hundred ravens as she fell, giving her the nickname, The Raven Queen. You can read more about her story in Something Wicked.
MATTHEW ELLIOTT and JACOB LEWIS were a couple of highwaymen who lived in the King’s Forest in the late 17th century. Matthew Elliott came from a wealthy Raven’s Edge family, but fell foul of his uncle, the Earl of Stortford, and was forced to become an outlaw. He appears in Breathless but is also mentioned in Murder at Ravenswood House. Jacob Lewis came from humbler origins in Port Rell. You can read his story in Something Wicked.
CLEMENT WAINWRIGHT was a respected Oxford professor who became obsessed with fairies and proving their existence. He moved into the quirky gothic revival house, Raven’s Hollow, in the 1920s – and promptly vanished. You can find out what really happened to him as part of Murder at Raven’s Hollow.
Buildings
Most of the houses and buildings in Raven’s Edge date from the 15th and 16th centuries, although they’ve been rebuilt and repurposed over the years. Some were destroyed during the Civil War; the church was used as a barracks by the Parliamentarian soldiers, and their ghosts are rumoured to haunt the surrounding forest.
THE CHURCH is called ST FRANCIS and is in the centre of the village. Part of it dates from Saxon times. The gravestones and tombs date from the late 1600s. The churchyard takes up two side of The Square. The Vicar is the Reverend David Griffiths. He first appears in Murder at Ravenswood House.
FOXGLOVE & HEMLOCK is a florist that specialises in large, extravagant arrangements for fashion shoots and movies. It is owned by Amelia Locke and Gabriel Fox, who are old school friends. They first appear in Murder at Raven’s Edge. DS Harriet March rents their attic.
THE POLICE STATION is housed in the old courthouse, a pale stone building with a sagging tile roof. The Murder Investigation Team, headed by DI Ben Taylor, are on the first floor, in offices previously used by the CID.
BUCKLEY MANOR was originally the home of the lord of the manor. The date over the door says it was built in 1626, but it’s rumoured to be much older. It was owned by a wealthy family called Buckley, who were responsible for building and owning much of the village, which was originally named after them. The last member of the family was Chris Buckley. His story is told in Something Wicked. The manor house has been the village MUSEUM since the 1990s. The current manager/curator is Ellie Garlick. She first appears in Murder at Ravenswood House.
THE DROP is one of three pubs in the village. It was built by a local bishop in Elizabethan times, as accommodation for pilgrims. Some of the original 16th century wall paintings remain, preserved behind glass. In the summer, wisteria grows around the windows and door. On the inside, dried herbs and flowers hang from the beams. It was built on the very edge of the gorge, beside the little humpback bridge. It is unclear whether the pub was named after the long drop to the river below or the fact that the village witch, Magik Meg, was dropped off it.
THE WITCH’S BREW is a popular café and secondhand bookstore located in Magik Meg’s old home, Raven’s Cottage. It’s run by Kat Davenport, who bakes all the cakes and cookies, helped by barista Ruby and bookseller Jay. Kat’s husband, Jack, writes historical crime fiction. Their story is told in Something Wicked.
THE CROOKED BROOMSTICK is a tiny crooked house that’s been turned into an even tinier bakery and café. It’s famous for its wide selection of cookies, all baked on the premises. The queue every morning stretches right out of the door. The majority of the customers are the police officers who work next door. The original legend states that the reason the house is so crooked is that the builder did a deal with the devil. If he didn’t build the house in one day, he’d lose his soul. Harriet believes this story is just a tale to excuse shoddy workmanship. She still goes there every morning for breakfast, because she has a crush on the owner, Misha Sokolov.
SPELLBOUND is the third and most forgotten about café in the village and is situated in the furthest corner of The Square. To drum up trade, the owner now offers a free fortune telling with every pot of tea. Phyllis Halfpenny makes the drinks and provides the fortune-telling. She first appears in Murder at Raven’s Hollow.
THE SECRET GRIMOIRE is an independent (and rather chaotic) bookstore, just off The Square, owned and run by Whittaker Smith with the enthusiastic help of Carmen Serrano. They first appear in Murder at Raven’s Hollow. The bookstore caters to the tourist market, so most of the books sold are commercial fiction, biography, or local history.
PRACTICALLY MAGIC is a New Age shop run by elderly sisters Elvira and Fliss Merriweather. It specialises in all things ‘witchy’. They live above above the shop, opposite the Church of St Francis, which Elvira and Fliss attend regularly, despite being the only two members of the local coven. (They believe in keeping all their options open.) Elvira and Fliss first appear in Something Wicked.
Raven's Edge 