Chattox was the matriarch of another Pendle family associated with witchcraft, and the two families despised each other. Alizon may have believed that Chattox and Anne were really witches, or she simply saw the chance for revenge; she accused Chattox of murdering five men, including her father John Device, perhaps as recompense for an instance in 1601 when a member of Chattox’s family broke into the Device’s home, Malkin Tower, and stole some goods. Usually a child of nine would not have been used as a key witness in a case such as this, but in Daemonologie James I made a case that, when trying to punish witches for their crimes, it was acceptable to bend the normal rules of providing evidence at a witch trial. The search for Malkin Tower has been something that Michael has significantly been involved in, and he spoke to Haunt to tell us more… Hello Michael. Can you tell us more about your interest in folklore and witchcraft – where did this stem from? The story would have ended there had it not been for a meeting held at Malkin Tower by James Device (Alizon’s brother), for which he stole a neighbour’s sheep. Those sympathetic to the family attended but word reached the judge who felt compelled to investigate. As a result, a further eight people were summoned for questioning and then trial.

Alizon continued to admit her guilt, and old Demdike did not appear at the trial. She’d died in the horrid conditions at Lancaster Castle while awaiting the assizes. By the end of the trial, the only person found not guilty was Alice Grey. The remaining nine were hanged on 20 August 1612. In terms of the Pendle case, many of the accused witches were seen as recusants – those who failed to go to church – heightening suspicion. Of the twelve individuals that were accused, Demdike died in prison, leaving nine women and two men left – one who was tried at York and the rest at Lancaster Assizes on 18 and 19 August 1612. It was ruled that ten were guilty, and the punishment to be execution by hanging. [1] Whether ‘The Pendle Witches’ were dedicated to the cult of witchcraft, local healers misinterpreted over time or victims of an suspicious society, remains a point of exploration. So too do the locations they were reported to frequent; a key example being Malkin Tower: believed to be the home of Demdike (Elizabeth Southerns). It is here a witches’ coven reportedly took place on Good Friday 10 April 1612, a gathering involving a significant number of those who went on to be accused as part of the trials. Accounts from a court clerk at the time, Thomas Potts, detailed that Malkin Tower was based within the Forest of Pendle – though it is thought that the building was demolished shortly after. Since then, the mystery of its exact whereabouts and what happened there has continued to build.

Discover more dark history

I am currently investigating the Neolithic passage tomb known as Bryn Celli Ddu (The mound in the dark grove) on the Isle of Anglesey as part of my PhD research project. Geophysical surveys have revealed an Iron Age settlement and possible stone circle alongside several previoulsy undiscovered Bronze Age burials in the landscape surrounding the tomb. The remnants of strange ritual can be found all across Anglesey with many of the Neolithic and Bronze Age tombs having a deposit of human ear bones in the centre of the monuments and mysterious symbols such as spirals, cups and rings are often etched into the stones from which these tombs are constructed. I am about to start surveys near the village of Llanfechell which is home to a number of standing monoliths, a Neolithic tomb and a stone triangle. (Pictured above:Llanfechell Triangle) Aiming to unearth a former haunt of The Pendle Witches, uncovering the history of Neolithic and Bronze Age tombs, and exploring ritual landscapes – all are fascinating projects pursued by Mike Woods, an Archaeologist and Geophysicist currently in the 3rd year of an Archaeology PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University. His PhD research focuses on the Neolithic passage tombs on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, and he is involved in multiple other projects. Perhaps this would have been the end of it, to have rooted four witches out of his town would be a success for Nowell, but on Good Friday – 10 April 1612 – Elizabeth Device organised a meeting at Malkin Tower. Those who were sympathetic to the family’s plight attended, and to feed them James Device stole a neighbour’s sheep. When word reached Nowell and an inquiry was carried out, eight more people who had attended the meeting were accused of witchcraft and seven of them were sent to join the others in Lancaster Castle. Demdike, Chattox and Anne Redferne were summoned to appear before Nowell on 2 April 1612. Though vulnerable, both Demdike and Chattox were blind and in their 80s at this time, they both admitted to selling their souls to the devil. Anne refused to admit such a thing but, like the Devices, this was another family that believed in all or nothing, for her own mother accused her of making clay figures which she used to practice witchcraft. With three admittances of guilt, it’s no surprise that Nowell sent all four women – Demdike and her granddaughter Alizon, and Chattox and her daughter Anne – to Lancaster Castle to await an official trial at the next assizes.

For many years before the trials, Elizabeth Southerns, more commonly known as ‘Demdike’, was considered a witch by many in her local area. She lived with her daughter, Elizabeth Device, and Elizabeth’s children James, Alizon, and Jennet, and it was not considered unusual that the whole family believed in magic and that they could use it. For a long time ‘witch’ hadn’t necessarily meant ‘evil’, and could often be used interchangeably as a term for a healer or wise woman, and though Demdike and her family had received accusations of casting curses from their neighbours before, it was an event in March 1612 that caught the attention of Pendle’s justice of the peace, Robert Nowell, and sealed the family’s fate. This is Wilma, she is a Pendle witch and one of the witches from the Pendle Trial. The only true account of what actually occurred is written in a book titled ‘The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster'(sic) by Thomas Potts and was written just 3 months after their execution.My mother is a witch and that I know to be true. I have seen her spirit in the likeness of a brown dog, which she calls Ball. The dog did ask what she would have him do, and she answered that she would have him help her to kill.’