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Post by Graveyardbride on Aug 20, 2017 6:25:25 GMT -5
Pendle Witch House for SaleA house at the foot of the hill where two of the Pendle witches lived is on the market for £675,000 ($865,000). West Close Farm, on the edge of the village of Higham, near Burnley, was the home of Anne Whittle and her daughter Anne Redferne, who were both executed in 1612 after being found guilty of witchcraft at Lancaster Castle. At that time, causing harm through the use of magic was punishable by death.
James I had ascended the throne nine years earlier and one of his crusades was to outlaw witchcraft. But healing and practicing magic were lucrative professions for many. Two rival matriarchs were at the center of the Pendle Witch saga: Elizabeth Southern, known as Old Demdike, and Anne Whittle, called Old Chattox. Both were investigated for witchcraft – a case sparked when one of Old Demdike’s granddaughters, Alizon, put a curse on a hawker, John Law, for refusing to give her some pins. Law collapsed and was temporarily paralyzed, unable to speak. He later reported the incident and subsequent thereto, all manner of claims and counter-claims were made, the most serious of which was Alizon’s accusation that Old Chattox had murdered four men by witchcraft, including Alizon’s father. Another woman alleged that her brother had died after a disagreement with Redferne.
Much of the evidence was based on hearsay and conjecture – none of which would be admissible in a modern court. However, the two Annes were among 10 found guilty and sentenced to death.
West Close Farm is now owned by Wendy Handley, 52, who learned of its link with the Pendle Witches when she moved in 13 years ago. “A friend of my father’s, a local policeman and a keen amateur historian, told us that witchcraft was rife around here and revealed that the house was at the center of the saga,” she says. Mrs. Handley and her late husband, Spike, spent £60,000 improving the cottage over the years and, like all good renovations, it is almost impossible to see the join. You can still imagine Old Chattox and her daughter making potions in the ancient-looking farmhouse kitchen. A once-hidden stone staircase, which was found boarded up in the kitchen by the previous owners, adds to the sense of antiquity.
There is a comfortable sitting room with sturdy oak floors and this leads through to a second reception room and conservatory, which overlooks open countryside. Upstairs there is a family bathroom and four bedrooms – the master bedroom has an en suite shower.
The house comes with three acres, a Jacuzzi, stables and outbuildings, where Wendy used to keep horses before Spike became ill. There is also a little stream running across the land.
The story of the witches still brings a number of visitors to Pendle Hill every Halloween and West Close Farm featured in a film about the case several years ago. The Handleys plan to downsize and move to Spain, but, Wendy admits: “I want to read and find out more about the history of the house before I hand over the keys and put it behind me.”
Source: Fred Redwood, The Mail on Sunday, July 8, 2017.
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Post by jane on Aug 20, 2017 18:06:18 GMT -5
When I read this I was reminded of our trip to England and went back and copied my notes from the time we were in the Pendle Hill region, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip:
Trough of Bowland - Day 13
Friday, 2 October 2009
We left our Cumbrian inn this morning after a late breakfast of omelets, stopped in Carlilse to pick up dry cleaning, and started for Lancashire. We hadn’t gone far when it started raining which pleased those who had been complaining about the pleasant weather. The drive was scenic and became hillier as we got closer to the Peak District. We arrived at Kirkstone Pass, which I’m told is just north of Lake Windermere, around 1 p.m. The Kirkstone Pass Pub where we ate is advertised as the highest pub in Cumbria. It’s an old building up in the peaks with nothing else around and panoramic views of the countryside. It’s in an area that we were told President Woodrow Wilson said was his favorite walk. I suppose the landlord told us that because we’re American. We had the steak and ale pie, which wasn’t as good as some of the other pies we’ve had, but wasn’t bad.
There are several ghosts, but the one seen the most is a woman who froze to death one night when she went to visit a sick relative and carried her baby with her. When her husband got home and she hadn’t returned, he went looking for her and almost froze to death before he was rescued. The woman was later found, frozen stiff, but somehow, she had wrapped the baby warmly enough that it was still alive. Ever since, a woman who appears as a half-frozen corpse has been seen near the pub. She is supposed to be a warning of bad weather and to remind people they shouldn’t go out in the cold unprepared.
It was close to dark and raining steadily by the time we got to the Trough of Bowland and our hotel, called Inn at Whitewell, which is a 14th century building in a tiny village on the banks of the river. There’s an old stone bridge across the river and the village doesn’t seem to be much more than the hotel with a pub on one side and a little church and graveyard on the other. It’s in the middle of what is called the “fells.” Pendle Hill is about 6 miles away, but it wasn’t visible when we arrived because of the mist. The hotel is quite charming with antiques, old fishing tackle, mounted fish and animals, and old artwork. It’s cold and wet outside, but there are fireplaces all over the place, even in the bedrooms, which you can request be lit. I was glad of the roaring fire in the dining room, where we had leg of lamb, which we had pre-ordered, and lots of wine. Some of our members had their bedroom fireplaces lit. All the rooms I’ve seen have beamed ceilings furnished in a traditional style in keeping with the age of the building. We were told that the rooms at the back of the hotel overlook the river.
After dinner, we went to the pub and ordered hot drinks and sat around the fire telling ghost stories and talking about interesting places to visit, and some of the locals joined in. We’ve been very lucky because, so far, everyone we’ve met has been exceptionally nice and gone out of their way to make us feel welcome, but with the locals in pubs, that could be because we always buy them a round or two.
There are internet connections in the rooms, so I’m doing my report as the rain beats against the very dark windows. Reminds me of a scene from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” where Watson is writing his report for Holmes in the safety of the Hall, but all the time, you know there’s something lurking just outside.
Trough of Bowland - Day 14
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Today was mostly cloudy and rainy and we had a great view of the rain-drenched fells and forest from the dining room window at breakfast. Afterwards, we took a walk across the fells. Serena, Joe, Andy and I returned to the hotel when we reached a point where we had to climb a fence to cross a sheep pasture, which was about a mile into the walk, I think, but the others completed the walk. We had not seen another soul on the part of the walk we’d taken, and the others said they didn’t see anyone on the rest of it, just a few sheep and cows. We had a lite lunch of fish cakes.
I didn’t know where we were going for dinner because Lee and Maddie had done all of the planning and made all the arrangements for our dinners, et cetera, but we were told it was going to be something special. We drove south to another place out in the middle of nowhere called the Fisherman’s Retreat in a place called Ramsbottom. The first thing I thought to myself was that if I’d known we were having fish for dinner, I wouldn’t have had fish cakes for lunch, but we were shown to this private dining room with a long table covered with small pumpkins and bouquets of gold and burgundy-colored mums on an orange tablecloth which gave the room a “Halloween” appearance. Pumpkins aren’t native to England, so before America was discovered, they made jack-o-lanterns from huge turnips. After lite appetizers, the waiter brought in a whole suckling pig. It has been years since I’ve had suckling pig on a platter like that and it was exceptionally good. So was the champagne! I wouldn’t have thought champagne exactly went with roast pig, but I think it was the right choice.
On the return trip, we could see the almost full moon shining through the clouds. It will be a full moon tomorrow nite. It was quite late when we got back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we explore Pendle Hill and the trails of the Pendle Witches.
Trough of Bowland - Day 15
Monday, 5 October 2009
I apologize for not reporting in last nite, but we didn’t get back to our hotel until quite late and everyone was tired and ready for bed. We spent the day in and around Pendle Hill, went on a “witch walk” that included Lancaster Castle, where the witches were imprisoned. We also stopped at a graveyard where Alice Nutter, one of the Pendle witches, is supposed to be buried. One of the little villages has a shop called “Witches Galore” and all the other women bought all kinds of things, such as witch dolls, and had them mailed home to the U.S. The men and I waited at a pub down the road.
We had “Pendle Pie,” which was steak and ale pie, for dinner at the Pendle Inn, which is a very spooky old looking building on the edge of one of the little villages. The moon was full last night and when the clouds would clear, it was very large and gave the landscape an almost surreal appearance.
Today, we’re going to take it easy, maybe walk around the graveyard next door and across the moors, fells, or whatever they call them, and have dinner here in the hotel, roast leg of lamb again.
I think if the trip ended now, everyone would be happy because this constant traveling and packing and unpacking is taking its toll. I’ve already heard some of them talking about taking our “next trip” in the U.S.!
Trough of Bowland - Day 16
Monday, 5 October 2009
I don’t recall if my last report was Day 15 or 16, but it should have been 15, because this is Day 16. We sort of divided into small groups and did our own thing today except for a long walk together after lunch. We walked eastward across the fells about a mile, and back. It was cloudy and misty, making the already mysterious moorland even more lonely and mysterious, but very beautiful with the heather blooming and turning everything a shade of purple. But despite the beauty, we were all acutely aware of Pendle Hill looming in the distance. I kept thinking of a horror novel or movie where everyone is having a good time, but there’s something menacing nearby.
I think everyone got around to exploring the lovely little church and graveyard next door. The church no longer has services and that is the case with many of the churches we’ve visited, and those that do still have services only have them once or twice a month. People in England don’t go to church anymore and I heard some of those in our group blaming the lack of church attendance for the high crime rate and other problems in England today. I’m not a churchgoer myself, but I don’t doubt that the lack of the church’s influence has led to a lot of problems. Whether you like it or not, Christianity does provide what I guess you would call a “moral compass” to guide people in their daily lives.
We had our leg of lamb dinner at 6:30 so that we could all get to bed early and be rested for our long trip down to Wiltshire tomorrow. We had planned to stay in Gloucestershire, but changed to Wiltshire after reading some reviews from people who complained about the smell of dogs in their hotel rooms. I’m going to be disappointed to leave our peaceful hotel in its beautiful setting here in Lancashire, like I was the one in Norfolk. I didn’t mind leaving London, Whitby and Cumbria!
I understand that we’re having lunch at a haunted pub tomorrow, but I don’t recall the name of it.
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Post by demdike on Aug 21, 2017 2:46:04 GMT -5
This is a story very close to my heart. I live about thirty miles away from Pendle Hill and it is a magnificent landmark in the area, you can see it from several high points in Yorkshire and around. As my board name suggests I identify very closely with Elizabeth Southern, and have read quite a bit about the history of the events that year and previously. The way the poor people such as Elizabeth and Anne and their families had to eke out a living in those hard times resonates very strongly with me. I would love to know what they were really like as I hate the portrayals of them as evil and inleague with the devil. People were happy to use their services when they wanted a charm or their services to card wool or the like.
We are told there was a genuine fear of witchcraft in those times, but with the swaying to and fro of the monarchy it was equally dangerous to be whichever now mainstream religion was not in favour of the current monarch. Mary Tudor even had her own sister Elizabeth incarcerated for not following 'the true religion' of Catholicism.
Elizabeth was a girl in the times of Henry the eighth, when religion, for most people, was very important. It is important to note that these so called witches prayed in the local church in Newchurch in Pendle, and the so called spells were invocations to a host of Christian icons, not the devil at all.
The image of the pointy hat and cauldron I think came after this time. They made charms, yes, they had familiars, and used helpful magic, and sadly made 'clay pictures' of their enemies, but in reality that would have really been about as harmful as a nasty tweet or the like today. In other words, as nasty as people let it be.
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Post by Kate on Aug 21, 2017 3:12:45 GMT -5
This is a story very close to my heart. I live about thirty miles away from Pendle Hill and it is a magnificent landmark in the area, you can see it from several high points in Yorkshire and around. As my board name suggests I identify very closely with Elizabeth Southern, and have read quite a bit about the history of the events that year and previously. The way the poor people such as Elizabeth and Anne and their families had to eke out a living in those hard times resonates very strongly with me. I would love to know what they were really like as I hate the portrayals of them as evil and inleague with the devil. People were happy to use their services when they wanted a charm or their services to card wool or the like. We are told there was a genuine fear of witchcraft in those times, but with the swaying to and fro of the monarchy it was equally dangerous to be whichever now mainstream religion was not in favour of the current monarch. Mary Tudor even had her own sister Elizabeth incarcerated for not following 'the true religion' of Catholicism. Elizabeth was a girl in the times of Henry the eighth, when religion, for most people, was very important. It is important to note that these so called witches prayed in the local church in Newchurch in Pendle, and the so called spells were invocations to a host of Christian icons, not the devil at all. The image of the pointy hat and cauldron I think came after this time. They made charms, yes, they had familiars, and used helpful magic, and sadly made 'clay pictures' of their enemies, but in reality that would have really been about as harmful as a nasty tweet or the like today. In other words, as nasty as people let it be.
I had just asked you about the Pendle witch post in my comment in the Mark's dream thread and now I see that you already knew about it.
I really envied Jane and the others who spent a month in England a few years ago. I would have loved to go, but I just didn't feel like I could afford to charge $10,000 or more to my credit cards at that time. As you can see from Jane's post, they had a great time and went to all kinds of interesting places. I'd absolutely love to visit Pendle Hill. I've been to Salem (our famous witch trial location) twice and would love to go again.
BTW, Welcome to the group!
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Post by natalie on Aug 21, 2017 17:11:40 GMT -5
What a beautiful house it is!
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