The job sounds simple enough... if you’re a witch. It pays £50,000 and consists of entertaining visitors at the tourist site Wookey Hole Caves. The successful candidate will have to sit in the caves and teach visitors about witchcraft and magic. A member of staff from the site described the role in more basic terms, “You live in the cave, be a witch and do witch things.”
The requirements are fairly basic. Applicants are informed that they must be able to cackle and that they cannot be allergic to cats. Any potential candidates should come to the interview “dressed for work”. They should also bring any essential equipment and potions. Due to sexual discrimination law, the job is open to men too. Interviews involve an on-site assessment and will incorporate a range of standard tasks, one of which involves a broomstick.
The job is available because the previous witch retired. “We are in desperate need of a witch at the moment, and we need to get the post filled as soon as possible,” a member of staff at the caves explained. Many years ago, an elderly woman, who many say was a witch, did actually live in the caves. “We want the successful applicant to go about her everyday business as a witch, so that people passing through the caves can get a sense of what the place was like in the Dark Ages.”