Pendle · The Ten Who Were Hanged

In 1612, ten people from around Pendle in Lancashire were hanged for witchcraft; most were poor old women, and the evidence was often no more than a quarrel between neighbours and a dead animal.

The trial record survives, and has become the most famous witch hunt in England. Later generations have treated this hill country as the home of witches, where at night people still speak of “someone waving from the road”.

Locals dislike the fuss around Halloween. They say: the ones who were hanged were our grandmothers, not props.

Historical Mysteries / Lancashire · UK / 1612