At the time suicide was considered a mortal sin, and those who committed it would have been denied a Christian burial.

There was also a belief that suicides would not rest easy in their graves, and that their unquiet ghosts would inevitably haunt the area where they died if precautionary measures were not taken.

For this reason, it was common to bury suicides at a crossroads, the logic being that if thus buried their restless spirit would not be able to find its way home to cause trouble.

However, a kinder explanation of why suicides were buried at crossroads is that the cross of the road was considered symbolic of the Christian cross. Therefore, for the grieving families of the deceased who had been blocked from burying their loved one in the Churchyard, a crossroads was considered the next best thing.

However, years later it was revealed that someone had been seen climbing a ladder up to Mr. Condive's bedroom window shortly before his body was found and that his death may have actually been the result of murder.

As a result, Condive's body was dug up again and returned to the church at Charlbury where it was given a proper Christian burial!

In his slim volume A Handy Guide to the Oxford and County Ghost Stories (1967), John Richardson mentions another crossroads with a sinister reputation that is said to be 'haunted by something strange' which horses and other animals are often unwilling to pass by.

However, Richardson describes the location as 'the crossroads on the Witney by-pass near the Cassington to Eynsham junction', and despite pouring over maps both old and new, I can't for the life of me work out where this might be! Both Cassington and Eynsham are in the same direction from Witney, and there is nothing on the A40 near Witney that resembles a crossroads. Perhaps he means the roundabout on the A40 to the northeast of Eynsham? I'm at something of a loss.