The Witches of Pendle
Day one- Research
I decided to go on a trip to Pendle in Lancashire to satisfy an interest in Witches and Witchcraft that was recently re-sparked by studying 17th Century witchcraft as part of my Early Modern literature module at Brighton University.
My Grandparents live in Preston, so as a child I remember going to Pendle Hill with my Grandad and him telling me the stories of the Pendle Witches, which created interest in the subject from a young age. The next level of interest developed when I tried (but can’t remember if I succeeded) to read a book called Spooks Apprentice. This was set in Lancashire and made references to places I knew, and to Pendle Hill and its Witches, it was also a great read. It would have to be for me to get past the first page. While studying witchcraft in The Tempest (through the unseen character of Sycorax), I hadn’t really given witchcraft much further thought. After finding out I could choose my topic of interest in Early Modern Literature I haven’t been able to get enough of Witches in early England and I decided to focus on The Pendle Witches as there seemed a large amount of research on them. I watched documentaries, scoured the internet and read Thomas Potts's, (court clerk at the Pendle witch trials) book: Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancashire, which is a detailed and possibly biased report on the trials. Then I decided it was time to go up north and hunt for what was left of the Pendle Witches and their story.
From the research I had done there were certain places that I knew I wanted to go, for example Malkin Tower (the place where the witches were said to have met/ lived), Lancaster Castle (where the witches were incarcerated) and Gallows Hill, which is where all the Witches were hung until death. These initial locations were inspired by a very knowledgeable and interesting documentary called “The Pendle Witch Child”. It is well worth a watch.
My Grandparents live in Preston, so as a child I remember going to Pendle Hill with my Grandad and him telling me the stories of the Pendle Witches, which created interest in the subject from a young age. The next level of interest developed when I tried (but can’t remember if I succeeded) to read a book called Spooks Apprentice. This was set in Lancashire and made references to places I knew, and to Pendle Hill and its Witches, it was also a great read. It would have to be for me to get past the first page. While studying witchcraft in The Tempest (through the unseen character of Sycorax), I hadn’t really given witchcraft much further thought. After finding out I could choose my topic of interest in Early Modern Literature I haven’t been able to get enough of Witches in early England and I decided to focus on The Pendle Witches as there seemed a large amount of research on them. I watched documentaries, scoured the internet and read Thomas Potts's, (court clerk at the Pendle witch trials) book: Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancashire, which is a detailed and possibly biased report on the trials. Then I decided it was time to go up north and hunt for what was left of the Pendle Witches and their story.
From the research I had done there were certain places that I knew I wanted to go, for example Malkin Tower (the place where the witches were said to have met/ lived), Lancaster Castle (where the witches were incarcerated) and Gallows Hill, which is where all the Witches were hung until death. These initial locations were inspired by a very knowledgeable and interesting documentary called “The Pendle Witch Child”. It is well worth a watch.
From the evidence against the witches, I was able to understand how “witchcraft” was performed or
perceived to be performed at the time.
There was also a particular type of woman
(sometimes a man) that fit the stereotype
of a witch. Usually old, not very popular
and often known as a wise/cunning woman, very often living on the fringes of
society. Some of the accused clearly believed that they had supernatural powers
but might not have thought they were in
league with the devil. Their witchcraft was used to threaten/scare neighbours
into giving them resources, resources that the women needed because they had no other means of support. This predatory
relationship between the cunning women and the public made it very easy for
them to be accused if there was a falling-out which seems to be the case for
many of the Pendle Witches. The fact that they did perform rituals and had a
deeper connection with the spiritual meant they were easy to blame when people/ animals became sick/died. Especially if
the witches had fallen out with their
afflicted neighbours beforehand.
The devil was thought to meet and be in connection with the women. Most of the woman that “confessed” said that the devil came to them in hidden form. This could be a man, dog, hare and once a cat. Most commonly a man or black dog that sucked the blood of the women. Which is said to have left a mark (Devils Mark). In reality, this would have just been a birthmark or mole. But cats are not as popular a choice for the witch's familiar, dogs being a much more popular form. This contrasts with today's perceptions of witches where the cat is the favoured familiar.
There was evidence presented in court that we would recognise as witchcraft practices such as “clay pictures”. These are models of people that the witches disliked and if you pricked or burnt certain parts of the clay model, it would injure the person. This is very similar to how we see voodoo dolls today, and I would like to explore the relationship between this later. One of the women was also caught with human teeth stolen from a graveyard. Again, not helping her case against not being a witch. Plus, specific curses were repeated in court that certainly would have had power in the 17th Century.
At the moment, with the research I have done, it is unclear how many of the Pendle Witches, actually believed themselves to be witches, how many were persecuted because they were fervent Catholics, and how many were cunning women wrongly accused. I am hoping this trip will help me understand how and why these women and men were hanged and killed for something that would not warrant the same punishment today.
The devil was thought to meet and be in connection with the women. Most of the woman that “confessed” said that the devil came to them in hidden form. This could be a man, dog, hare and once a cat. Most commonly a man or black dog that sucked the blood of the women. Which is said to have left a mark (Devils Mark). In reality, this would have just been a birthmark or mole. But cats are not as popular a choice for the witch's familiar, dogs being a much more popular form. This contrasts with today's perceptions of witches where the cat is the favoured familiar.
There was evidence presented in court that we would recognise as witchcraft practices such as “clay pictures”. These are models of people that the witches disliked and if you pricked or burnt certain parts of the clay model, it would injure the person. This is very similar to how we see voodoo dolls today, and I would like to explore the relationship between this later. One of the women was also caught with human teeth stolen from a graveyard. Again, not helping her case against not being a witch. Plus, specific curses were repeated in court that certainly would have had power in the 17th Century.
At the moment, with the research I have done, it is unclear how many of the Pendle Witches, actually believed themselves to be witches, how many were persecuted because they were fervent Catholics, and how many were cunning women wrongly accused. I am hoping this trip will help me understand how and why these women and men were hanged and killed for something that would not warrant the same punishment today.
Day Two- Malkin Tower
Today I woke up at Preston Travelodge Central which turns out was to be an old cotton mill. Opposite was also an old mill with massive chimneys jutting into the sky. It was clear from the area we were in the old industrial district of the city. This was interesting to me as we studied the industrial revolution last semester when doing the 19th-century module. As I was brought up in Bromley and now go to University in Brighton I never really had the chance to see these factories up close, let alone stay in one.
The first thing on my itinerary was the Pendle Heritage centre, in Barrowford. I knew it had a section on the Pendle Witches and was eager to get the local perspective to the story and see if I could get more information that wasn’t already in the resources I had. It was a cute historic manor house with a cafe and restaurant added with a great gift room. The museum told more than the story of the Pendle Witches, it showed how the house had been continuously altered since it was built in the 1300s and the story of the family that owned the house (The Bannisters). Unfortunately, not much of the information I found at the museum was new to me as it seemed that pretty much what is known of the trial came from the Court clerks’ book "Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancashire " which I had already read. This book was written almost four hundred years ago and really displayed the importance of literature as all that is known on the witch case is predominantly from this account. However, the museum did put the reports and information down in a way that made it very easy to communicate as it was in time order. Again, they also had a short video that told the story of the Pendle Witches which was historically correct and not too long. This was a video that I had not already seen on YouTube.
The first thing on my itinerary was the Pendle Heritage centre, in Barrowford. I knew it had a section on the Pendle Witches and was eager to get the local perspective to the story and see if I could get more information that wasn’t already in the resources I had. It was a cute historic manor house with a cafe and restaurant added with a great gift room. The museum told more than the story of the Pendle Witches, it showed how the house had been continuously altered since it was built in the 1300s and the story of the family that owned the house (The Bannisters). Unfortunately, not much of the information I found at the museum was new to me as it seemed that pretty much what is known of the trial came from the Court clerks’ book "Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancashire " which I had already read. This book was written almost four hundred years ago and really displayed the importance of literature as all that is known on the witch case is predominantly from this account. However, the museum did put the reports and information down in a way that made it very easy to communicate as it was in time order. Again, they also had a short video that told the story of the Pendle Witches which was historically correct and not too long. This was a video that I had not already seen on YouTube.
My next task was to track down Malkin tower, I discovered this was no easy feat as historians have been trying to determine the location for hundreds of years. Not wanting to step into their shoes I went for an area that was already thought could have been the location of Malkin Tower. It was the site closest to Blacko and had been subject to an archaeological dig recently that has some promising finds. The reason Malkin tower is such an important site to the Pendle Witch trials is that it is the location that the coven met for "black sabbath", instead of being at church. Consequently, anyone that was said to have been there was tried as a witch. Those that attended the meeting at Malkin Tower and were acquitted of witchcraft were supposed to have not been at church due to their Catholic beliefs which at the time was almost as bad as admitting to being a witch, the only difference was at the time it was not punishable by death, unlike witchcraft.
I found the site after crossing a few streams and putting my foot in a bog or two. And honestly, it was just a raised part of a stone wall, made from different blocks of stone. I could still see where the archaeological dig had taken place, and it didn’t look like it was finished as there were rubble bags and uncovered earth... maybe there is still more to find. On the other side of the wall, there was a very friendly ram that decided it wanted petting.
The next stop on my trail of the witches was a village called Barley, which had a marked out walk that was to take us to some locations linked to the witches of Pendle. Again, this involved walking up hills and over bogs... I began to wish I was wearing something more appropriate than Nike trainers. The scenery was terrific with Pendle Hill in the background with a reservoir underneath. We had been blessed with the weather so far, as if it was raining I’m not sure I would have got out of the car. The first stop on the walk was Faughs Quarry where the oldest Demdike witch confessed to having given her soul to the devil who had taken the form of a boy called Tibb. She also admitted that the Devil, in the form of a boy, sucked her blood from under her arm while there (leaving the devil's mark). There was a rock in the quarry that had been carved to look like the face of a wizard, but this had been done at a later date than the witch trials. It did make me wonder if the maker did not know how to carve a witch or maybe found it too hard?
After this, I went to Newchurch in Pendle to see St. Marys church. In the tower of the church, there was an eye set in the stone. This was put there to look over the local population and protect them from dark magic. It is called the “Eye of God”. Finding this shows us that it was not just a myth that had been taken too far. It is clear from the eye and the research I have done so far that to the population, and the witches themselves, that they did believe in dark magic. And that it was an everyday threat to the community.
Also, at the church was a gravestone that is said to have belonged to a witch. This I am sceptical of, as convicted witches would not have been allowed to be buried in churchyards at that time. Furthermore, the reason that people believe it was the resting place of a witch is because of the skeleton carved into it. During the 17th century, it was trendy to have skulls on pretty much anything and everything, it was somewhat in fashion; thus, it would have been common to have one on your gravestone at the least. Having said all this, it is interesting to note that the name of the headstone shared the same surname of one of the women hung for being a witch (Nutter). This could be why again people say that it is the witches grave, but the date on the stone is over twenty years after the death of Alice Nutter (Hung for being a witch) and had a different first name, Ellen. What’s more, Alice Nutter was the person that most people thought had nothing to do with witchcraft. One popular belief was that Alice Nutter was just a Catholic boycotting the Protestant Church service like a large population of Lancashire did at the time.
After this, I went to Newchurch in Pendle to see St. Marys church. In the tower of the church, there was an eye set in the stone. This was put there to look over the local population and protect them from dark magic. It is called the “Eye of God”. Finding this shows us that it was not just a myth that had been taken too far. It is clear from the eye and the research I have done so far that to the population, and the witches themselves, that they did believe in dark magic. And that it was an everyday threat to the community.
Also, at the church was a gravestone that is said to have belonged to a witch. This I am sceptical of, as convicted witches would not have been allowed to be buried in churchyards at that time. Furthermore, the reason that people believe it was the resting place of a witch is because of the skeleton carved into it. During the 17th century, it was trendy to have skulls on pretty much anything and everything, it was somewhat in fashion; thus, it would have been common to have one on your gravestone at the least. Having said all this, it is interesting to note that the name of the headstone shared the same surname of one of the women hung for being a witch (Nutter). This could be why again people say that it is the witches grave, but the date on the stone is over twenty years after the death of Alice Nutter (Hung for being a witch) and had a different first name, Ellen. What’s more, Alice Nutter was the person that most people thought had nothing to do with witchcraft. One popular belief was that Alice Nutter was just a Catholic boycotting the Protestant Church service like a large population of Lancashire did at the time.
After a day of looking for the remains of the Witches legacy, I headed to the tiny village of Slaidburn to an equally small youth hostel under the same name as the village. I was the first guest to have arrived this year which gives you an indication of how quiet this village is. The village pub (Hark to Bounty), however, where I went for dinner was anything but quiet, I was lucky they fit me in on this Fish Friday as every table was full. The food was excellent and very cheap, every main being £7.50 and of course fish.
Due to the business of the pub and just being able to eat in time before the table was wanted back I decided that it would be best to head back to the hostel for an hour or so until the pub was a little quieter. When I got back to the pub I set up my laptop (the only place in the village that had Wi-fi was the pub, and there was no phone signal, meaning to connect to the outside world the only option was to go to the Hark to Bounty. Which isn’t a bad thing as there food is great quality and cheap and their desserts were even better. I would recommend the incredible cheesecake). As I have already stated my family on my dad’s side, live in Lancashire, and my Dads cousin used to manage the Hark To Bounty. He had passed on information that the first floor of the pub was also used as a local manorial courtroom.
Once I had finished my Cheese Cake, I asked the barmaid if I could have a look at the courtroom and thankfully she obliged. I was first met by a heavy wooden reinforced door, and when I entered, I could see the dock and the pews that clearly were from when the pub had also been a courtroom. It wasn’t exactly what you would call “untouched” as the place has been used by the pub for functions ever since it wasn’t a courtroom, but it still was clearly used as a courtroom with certain aspects still there. The reason that I was so interested in this room is that It would have been where the Witches were kept and viewed on their way to Lancaster Castle for their official trial.
Due to the business of the pub and just being able to eat in time before the table was wanted back I decided that it would be best to head back to the hostel for an hour or so until the pub was a little quieter. When I got back to the pub I set up my laptop (the only place in the village that had Wi-fi was the pub, and there was no phone signal, meaning to connect to the outside world the only option was to go to the Hark to Bounty. Which isn’t a bad thing as there food is great quality and cheap and their desserts were even better. I would recommend the incredible cheesecake). As I have already stated my family on my dad’s side, live in Lancashire, and my Dads cousin used to manage the Hark To Bounty. He had passed on information that the first floor of the pub was also used as a local manorial courtroom.
Once I had finished my Cheese Cake, I asked the barmaid if I could have a look at the courtroom and thankfully she obliged. I was first met by a heavy wooden reinforced door, and when I entered, I could see the dock and the pews that clearly were from when the pub had also been a courtroom. It wasn’t exactly what you would call “untouched” as the place has been used by the pub for functions ever since it wasn’t a courtroom, but it still was clearly used as a courtroom with certain aspects still there. The reason that I was so interested in this room is that It would have been where the Witches were kept and viewed on their way to Lancaster Castle for their official trial.
Day Three- Lancaster Castle
Today we continued the path that the witches would have been taken on their way from Pendle to Lancaster. Yesterday I stayed and ate in the small village of Slaidburn which is where the witches would have been kept and stayed over at on their final trip. The next town that they would have gone through and been kept in was that of Clitheroe. At each of these towns, the witches would have been paraded and made a show of to put off locals committing the same offence and keep them fearful of breaking the law. However, the authorities were also more scared of the witches than they were other criminals, resulting in the witches being held in Clitheroe castle’s cellar instead of a locked room in a tavern. The Castle is a traditional Motte and Bailey with a stone keep in the middle which is where the witches would have spent the night. It is now a very picturesque town and castle and well worth a visit, however to the witches it must have been a very different experience.
Near Clitheroe was the Whalley Abbey. As it was a Catholic abbey, I expected it to have been destroyed when Henery VIII dissolved all Catholic lands and buildings. However, I was surprised by how much of the Abby was still standing. On the research I have done I can guess that the reason the Abbey wasn’t completely destroyed when Catholicism was outlawed is that the Catholic faith still had a lot of support and power within Lancashire throughout the 16th and 17th centuries even though it had been prohibited. Thus, the owner who bought the land from Henery VIII was a lot less likely to knock it all down and sell off the stone. You might be wondering what this Abbey has to do with the witches, but it’s more than you would expect. As a much larger population of Lancashire retained their Catholic belief, it also meant they were making themselves an enemy of the crown and country which is why Lancashire was described by puritan Protestants as one of ‘the dark corners of the land’ during the 17th century. This allowed the population to become divided and unruly which was the perfect place for Witches to be left alone and practice their own beliefs.
What's more, many of those accused of witchcraft had their trials acquitted as it turned out it was just an attack on them for being Catholic and they weren’t witches at all. There is a very blurred line especially in the comparable wildness of Pendle between witchcraft and the old religion (Catholicism). And in this case, the high population of Catholics who were seen as heretics did correlate to a higher number of witches.
Near Clitheroe was the Whalley Abbey. As it was a Catholic abbey, I expected it to have been destroyed when Henery VIII dissolved all Catholic lands and buildings. However, I was surprised by how much of the Abby was still standing. On the research I have done I can guess that the reason the Abbey wasn’t completely destroyed when Catholicism was outlawed is that the Catholic faith still had a lot of support and power within Lancashire throughout the 16th and 17th centuries even though it had been prohibited. Thus, the owner who bought the land from Henery VIII was a lot less likely to knock it all down and sell off the stone. You might be wondering what this Abbey has to do with the witches, but it’s more than you would expect. As a much larger population of Lancashire retained their Catholic belief, it also meant they were making themselves an enemy of the crown and country which is why Lancashire was described by puritan Protestants as one of ‘the dark corners of the land’ during the 17th century. This allowed the population to become divided and unruly which was the perfect place for Witches to be left alone and practice their own beliefs.
What's more, many of those accused of witchcraft had their trials acquitted as it turned out it was just an attack on them for being Catholic and they weren’t witches at all. There is a very blurred line especially in the comparable wildness of Pendle between witchcraft and the old religion (Catholicism). And in this case, the high population of Catholics who were seen as heretics did correlate to a higher number of witches.
The next stop was one of the last and terrifying stops for the Pendle women: Lancaster Castle. Here the women were kept for months on end, in the cellar of a tower all cramped into one room. Living in filthy conditions. The reason they were held in this cell was the fear that the authorities had of the women, and the cellar cell was the most secure and secluded of the cells in Lancaster Castle. The conditions were so terrible that the oldest of the Demdikes; Elizabeth Southern, alias Old Demdike aged around eighty, never made it to trial and died in the cell. However, not before she confessed to being a witch and dropping the rival witch family (The Chattoxes) in the dirt as well. It was not the two confessions of the matriarchal head of the families that caused the most shock in the courtroom. However, it was the evidence given by the youngest member of the Demdike family. Jennet Demdike aged only nine, who was said to have jumped on top of the dock and offered clear and concise if not excited evidence against every member of her own family. Which lead to her whole family being hung. She also confirmed the names of all the member who had met at Malkin Tower that fateful night. One woman, who did not belong to the same class or profession as the two witch families was Alice Nutter who was said to have never really fitted in with the witches and the evidence given, however, Jennet pointed out Alice to have been at the party, and that sealed her fate to be hung.
The Castle itself had been used as a prison until 2011, and there was a lot more to see than just the Witch history. On the guided tour I got to see the civil and criminal courtrooms and the jail/ prison that had been used until eight years ago. Honestly, it is well worth the visit as the Castle contains such a large amount of history. At the moment you can only look around the castle with a tour guide, however, in the future, it will be opened as a museum. As the courtrooms are still in use, I was unable to take photo’s inside certain (most interesting) areas of the castle due to British Law.
The Castle itself had been used as a prison until 2011, and there was a lot more to see than just the Witch history. On the guided tour I got to see the civil and criminal courtrooms and the jail/ prison that had been used until eight years ago. Honestly, it is well worth the visit as the Castle contains such a large amount of history. At the moment you can only look around the castle with a tour guide, however, in the future, it will be opened as a museum. As the courtrooms are still in use, I was unable to take photo’s inside certain (most interesting) areas of the castle due to British Law.
The last and final destination for the Pendle Witches was Gallows Hill, this was about thirty minutes walk through town. When walking this final part of my journey, it was hard not to think of how the men and women, not just the convicted witches but the other criminals that were hung there would have felt. Being led through the streets followed by a crowd eager to see you hang, as it was very much a community event going to see the hanging on Gallows Hill. From the spot that the Witches were hung you could see right over the city meaning the whole of Lancaster would have been able to see them.
Between the witches, they were convicted of killing cows, humans and crops, turning milk and ale sour and causing illness. Some of the women did believe that they had done these things and did think that they were witches. Some of the women standing there waiting to be hung due to religious and political reason, as it was easy to pin witchcraft on the women on the outskirts of society and some like Alice Nutter could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. I doubt that any of the women standing on the hill ever did cast a spell or speak a curse that resulted in harm, which is why it is hard not to feel sorry for the ten people that were strangled to death on that hillside. And it is hard to understand the reason that Jennet aged nine decided to take the laws side over her families. This trip to Lancashire has created as many questions as it has answered, but it has been an eye-opening journey, and I am lucky enough I could walk away from Gallows Hill unlike so many people in British History innocent or guilty.
Between the witches, they were convicted of killing cows, humans and crops, turning milk and ale sour and causing illness. Some of the women did believe that they had done these things and did think that they were witches. Some of the women standing there waiting to be hung due to religious and political reason, as it was easy to pin witchcraft on the women on the outskirts of society and some like Alice Nutter could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. I doubt that any of the women standing on the hill ever did cast a spell or speak a curse that resulted in harm, which is why it is hard not to feel sorry for the ten people that were strangled to death on that hillside. And it is hard to understand the reason that Jennet aged nine decided to take the laws side over her families. This trip to Lancashire has created as many questions as it has answered, but it has been an eye-opening journey, and I am lucky enough I could walk away from Gallows Hill unlike so many people in British History innocent or guilty.