Belief in witchcraft – the ability to do good or evil by supernatural means – had existed in the medieval period but during the 16th century AD, fear of witches became a mania. Many innocent people, particularly old women living alone, were arrested and executed. Laws against witches in England were not repealed until 1736.

As late as the 17th century, even the highly educated still feared the power of malevolent sorcery, and belief in magic was part of everyday life for most people. Practices to bring good fortune or to avert harm were widespread. Some of these involved burying objects under the threshold or the hearthstone of a building. One of the most curious objects associated with this practice was a stone bottle decorated with the face of a bearded man. The bottle was known as a ‘Bartmann’ or ‘Bellarmine’. Numbers of these bottles have been found in East Anglia, London and southern England.

The bottles usually contained pins, iron nails, felt hearts, and most important of all, the urine of the supposed victim, who was ailing because of a spell cast by a witch. There are several references by contemporary writers that confirm that the burial of the bottle was intended to throw back the evil upon the person who cast the spell.