Did you know there’s only one known female serial killer in Yorkshire? You do now. And she just so happened to reside at this beloved (and now absolutely gorgeous) Yorkshire pub.
Found in Leeds city centre just off Kirkgate, the Lamb and Flag was once just a humble new build (around 200 years ago now!), where Mary Bateman and her husband John resided with their four children. But if you think the building had seen the worst it possibly could during its tenure as a pub – you’d be pretty wrong.
Because Mary Bateman was no ordinary woman. Mary was, and is to this day, Yorkshire’s only known female serial killer.
Gaining quite a negative reputation as a thief during her time in Leeds, Bateman eventually turned her skills to con artistry – profiting off the widespread belief in witchcraft to hoax customers with false prophecies and fake potions, which, unfortunately for Bateman’s victims, were actually poisonous.
Once her customers kicked the bucket after consuming her potions, Bateman would then rob their homes of their personal belongings. Basically, she wasn’t the nicest of folk.
In fact, she’d been sharpening up her burglary skills for quite some years – and was even caught several times, however, successfully wriggled her way out of doing prison time with bribes.
At her home (now the Lamb and Flag), Mary kept her poisons and stolen goods, which were eventually discovered by policemen upon her eventual arrest – which, in true documentary style, involved a victim outsmarting Mary after realising something was amiss. Seriously, Netflix would have eaten this story up.
Thankfully today, no poisonous concoctions or quack fortune-telling is sold at the cosy pub, however, guests can enjoy refreshing Yorkshire-brewed beers, upmarket pub grub, and beautifully restored decor.
Bateman’s cons and crimes went on for well over a decade, eventually escalating to poisonings just a few years before she was caught.
Following the death of victim Rebecca Perigo, Mary was trialled for murder and found guilty over a quick, 11-hour period, with judges sentencing her to death by hanging.
Today, Bateman’s skeleton can be found at Leeds University.
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