Pendle Hill

A walk to the top of Pendle Hill today.

1612 saw the birth of the legend of the Pendle Witches. In a time of superstition and paranoia, accusations of witchcraft were levied against several families in the villages around Pendle Hill.

These women were accused, confessed, tried, found guilty and executed by being hanged on the Gallows at Lancaster.

Their names are famous to this day Old Chattox, Alison Device, Alice Nutter and Old Mother Demdike. They were no more witches than you or I; but the stories surrounding them give a fascinating insight into the climate of the times.