The Oldest Swingers in Town

Witchcraft has always just been, ‘one of those things’ - a sort of taboo if you like. Not many people these days approach the subject with much belief or sincerity. When asked what the word, ‘witch’ reminds people of, most would respond with Halloween or Professor McGonagoll from Harry Potter. But what about the ‘real’ witches? What about those who actually began the stories. Not many people would think of James I, Demonology or the idea that witches were also men. But try venturing away from this for a moment and I bet most of us have checked our horoscope recently, and when walking past the psychics on Blackpool Pier have wondered what our fortune would tell.

The year 2012 not only marks the London 2012 Olympics, 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic, and for some the end of the world, but 2012 also celebrates the 400th anniversary since the trials and executions of a group of witches in Lancashire.

Wind back the clock 400 years, to 1612, and find yourself in the Pendle area; the time of the infamous Pendle Witches. A somewhat uneasy time for anyone who did not follow the crowd or fit the norm. A group of 12 people created what can only be described as the greatest and most intriguing tale to come out of Lancashire. The story offers everything you would associate with a Hollywood blockbuster: deception, greed, jealousy and terrible acts of barbarism.

On March 18th 1612, young Alice Device was walking along the foot of Pendle when she met a peddler called John Law. She begged the man for some pins and he refused. Law claimed a huge dog appeared out of nowhere and asked the young girl: “Alice, would you like me to lame him for you?”

John insisted that Alice was brought to him at an alehouse where he was recuperating, as he believed he had been cursed and on entering the alehouse Alice admitted to being a witch. Eleven incidents followed and the Pendle Witches all found themselves locked in what is known today as the ‘Witches Tower’ at Lancaster Castle. The cells are still there. There is no daylight and they would have been herded together like cattle with basic food and nowhere to wash.

Christine Goodier, the manager of Lancaster Castle, said: “We do know that Demdike died whilst she was in the cells so even though she was an 80 year old woman, the conditions can’t have been great.” There is no evidence to suggest that the Pendle Witches were tortured whilst in the cells, but four of them did admit to the accusations against them.

Christine added: “They could have done this [admitted to witchcraft] because they had been tortured, or perhaps the conditions were so bad they would have said anything to try and get out. But then again, maybe they did think they were witches.”

It is fair to say that people’s perceptions of witches in 1612 were coloured by the beliefs of James I. He had no doubt in his mind that anyone associated with witchcraft was evil and out to get him. Christine said, “James I vamped it up and changed the idea of what a witch was. He thought they had a pact with the devil. He was well travelled and got all his ideas from abroad, and brought them back to England and no one challenged him.”

Mix that with the strength of the Church of England at the time, and this spells a potion of disaster for witches. Why else would people flock from miles away with their Grannie Doris and a picnic hamper to watch witches being put in a pillory and effectively strangled to death on a sunny afternoon in April?

It has been argued that witches have been romanticised in recent years. Simon Entwistle, a local tour guide and Pendle Witch expert believes that being an outcast in society could lead you into trouble. He said: “If you didn’t have a husband or if you lived out in the wild which of course these people did, and they begged for a living and were making nuisances of themselves really, people looked on them as a bit of ‘we don’t like these people.'”

Moorhouse’s Brewery in Burnley has started a petition to get the Pendle Witches pardoned, but they need over 100,000 signatures to succeed. The brewery is also showing its support by housing beers named: Black Cat, Blond Witch and Pendle Witches Brew. Also in Burnley, they have 12 buses each named after the 12 Pendle Witches and in Roughlee Village a statue of Alice Nutter is to be erected to remember the executions 400 years ago.

Michael Williams, tourism officer at Pendle Borough Council thinks that the anniversary will have a very positive effect on tourism in the Pendle area. He said: “We are expecting more visitors from around the country. We are essentially re-marketing what has always been here for the anniversary and hoping that more people will show an interest and come to Pendle to share something that is very important to us here.”

The concept of witchcraft is now almost a guilty pleasure. We, as a nation, take an interest in the supernatural whether that is reading Roald Dahls children’s classic ‘The Witches’ or cringing at the cheery woman on Come Dine With Me who claims to be a white witch. The world is a different place to how it was in 1612, but the Pendle Witches still remain as something to be not only commemorated, but also celebrated as a key factor in Lancashire’s history.