The famous debut Album cover featuring a ghostly palid figure of a witch cradling a black cat in her arms was released on friday the 13th 1970. Here she appears to standing before an old brick building with a crooked gable, the picture on the album has that creepy decadent look about it that adds mystery and intrique to the whey-faced looking woman and her familiar the cat. I had to learn more about this grave image that had been on an old original Sabbath cassette i still cherish and keep boxed away since my early teens.
Still standing and in operation today with its old rustic antiquated charm the background of the photo is Mapledurham Mill and is the oldest working watermill dating back to when the Doomesday book was written. Located in Oxfordshire close to the river Thames you can catch a glimpse of this haunting photo and take some pictures that would make a great screen-saver in those cold autumn nights.
When i visited the Mill it was closed, but i was only interested in taking a picture from a similar standpoint of the original photo just to satisfy my curiosity and fulfil my pilgrimage to Sabbath's debut album. The House and Watermill are open on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter Saturday until the end of September and for previously arranged party visits midweek, The Mill is located down a long lane and is not very good for parking as there is Private Ground leading to the site. please considering this if you wish to visit when the Mill is closed.
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