Witchcraft in Great Yarmouth
This blue plaque marks the 375th. anniversary of the 1645 witch trials held in Great Yarmouth, which were overseen by the infamous Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed, as the title was never bestowed by Parliament, 'Witch Finder General'.
Prior to the mid 16th. century witchcraft cases were normally tried in ecclesiastical courts. Punishments were rarely severe and some form of public penance was the most likely sentence. Witchcraft became a secular crime in England for the first time with the passing of a short-lived act of 1542. Elizabethan legislation in 1563 resurrected the crime and provided for the death penalty when 'any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed'. However, this was repealed in 1604 and replaced by 'An Acte against Conjuration Witchcrafte and dealinge with evill and wicked Spirits'.
This provided for even harsher punishments, extending the list of offences to which the death penalty applied to wasting, consuming or laming persons as well as causing their death.
Although 'witch mania' did not seem to affect Great Yarmouth as it did in other parts of the country, nevertheless 24 allegations of witchcraft were officially recorded over four centuries. Seven resulted in convictions which led to execution.
Those accused of witchcraft usually did not fit in with the society of the day. People down on their luck who were forced to turn to begging from neighbours to survive, whose who's political or religious beliefs clashed with others, and people who fell out of favour with their peers, were found to be at the wrong end of allegations of witchcraft.
In March 1582, Elizabeth Butcher and Celia Atkins were brought before the council at the town sessions accused of witchcraft. They were found guilty and the sentence was passed that both women were to be displayed in the town’s pillory every market day until they confessed their involvement, then they would be freed. It appears Celia confessed, but Elizabeth was sentenced to imprisonment only to be released upon her confession.
The following year Elizabeth was again brought before the town sessions, but again denied any attachment to the allegations. Once again, she was placed in the custody of the town’s gaoler and at the discretion of the town bailiffs was placed in the pillory until she confessed.
In April 1584, Elizabeth Butcher was brought before the court with another woman, Joan Lingwood. This time the court found both women guilty and they were to be taken to a site of execution at the north of the town. Parish records show that they were buried in St. Nicholas’ churchyard on the 18th. April 1584.
The 10th. September 1645 saw the largest witch trials to take place in Great Yarmouth. Allegations of witchcraft had increased since the beginning of the year, and in August it was decided by council officials to send for Matthew Hopkins to come and assist in the proceedings. Hopkins had been at the Bury St. Edmund’s assizes in Suffolk, where he had discovered 18 alleged witches.
Hopkins was born c. 1620 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of a Puritan minister. His career as a witch finder began in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647.He was mainly active in East Anglia and with his colleague John Stearne (c. 1610–1670), he sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all the other witch hunters in England of the previous 160 years.
Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on 12th. August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis. He was buried a few hours after his death in the churchyard of St Mary's at Mistley Heath.
Hopkins arrived in Great Yarmouth in early September. Following spiteful whisperings and pointed fingers, after investigation two men and nine women were accused of allegedly being involved in witchcraft and were brought in front of a court in the Tolhouse on the 10th. September 1645. The accused were Marcus Pryme, John Sparkes, Elizabeth Fassett, Barbara Wilkinson, Alice Clisswell, Maria Vervey, Bridget Howard, Maria Blackbourne, Elizabeth Dudgeon, Elizabeth Bradwell and Joanna Lacey.
In the dock, Elizabeth Bradwell confessed to the performance of image magic, that being the creation of wax images in the likeness of her enemies for the purpose of their bewitchment and murder. She recalling how she thrust a nail into the head of a wax image resembling John Moulton, a neighbour’s child. Bradwell was seen to personified the early modern stereotype of the English witch, a malevolent, spiteful individual with a penchant for inflicting harm upon innocent children.
Bradwell was soon to disclose something far darker to the court. She admitted that she secured her diabolical gifts by signing, in her own blood, a contract given to her by the Devil. Her confession certainly caught the eye of both Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne, who later published a pamphlet that addressed Elizabeth Bradwell and the alarming significance of her demonic pact.
Exactly why Bradwell admitted to such crimes remains unclear. Were these simply the ramblings of a confused old woman? It is no secret that witch hunts claimed the lives of many whose minds were confronted by conditions modern thinking would now acknowledge as mental illness. Such individuals would have proven prime targets for zealots like Hopkins and Stearne, and whilst the application of torture to procure confessions of witchcraft was strictly prohibited in England during this period, it's know that Hopkins was liberal in his implementation of sleep deprivation to secure the confession he desired. For Hopkins, such practices had already demonstrated their worth in Manningtree in Essex earlier that year, when Elizabeth Clarke was interrogated and coerced with sleep deprivation whilst being ‘watched’ for any communication with her alleged demonic familiars.
Irrespective of the accusations levied against her, Elizabeth Bradwell was no witch. A Norfolk born woman, a mother or sister, perhaps, forsaken by her neighbours and swept up in the mass hysteria of witchcraft.
The trials pronounced six of the accused women as guilty and they were sentenced to death by hanging. A few days after the trial Joanna Lacey was reprieved. Alice Clisswell, Elizabeth Bradwell, Elizabeth Dudgeon, Bridget Howard and Margaret Blackbourne were taken to a site of execution at the north of the town. Parish records show again that the five women were buried in St. Nicholas’ churchyard on 29th. September 1645.
Many people do not understand the reason why the alleged witches of 1584 and 1645 were recorded as being buried in the churchyard. Long tradition state that those condemned as criminals, including witches, would normally be buried in unconsecrated ground or at crossroads, where the spirit would be confused and not be able to return and cause mischief in a godly society.
Christian tradition records that the north side of a churchyard was only used for burial of outcasts and suicides. This ruling included the unbaptised, excommunicated, strangers and vagabonds, and also executed criminals and those accused of witchcraft. This was often referred to as burial without the sanctuary or to lie out of the sanctuary. An old saying is that the devil walks in dark places; originally a reference to shadowy areas of a churchyard, especially on the north side of a church.
Non outcast burials were prohibited by the council from taking place on the north side of St. Nicholas’ church until 1648, when the growth of the town’s population was causing a lack of burial space. In 1799, the churchyard was enlarged when the town wall and a gate east of the church were demolished.
The famous witchcraft trials at Salem in Massachusetts in 1692 also had a Great Yarmouth connection. Among those executed were two elderly sisters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty. They had been born in Great Yarmouth and were the daughters of William Towne, who emigrated to America with his family.
Witchcraft in Great Yarmouth
This blue plaque marks the 375th. anniversary of the 1645 witch trials held in Great Yarmouth, which were overseen by the infamous Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed, as the title was never bestowed by Parliament, 'Witch Finder General'.
Prior to the mid 16th. century witchcraft cases were normally tried in ecclesiastical courts. Punishments were rarely severe and some form of public penance was the most likely sentence. Witchcraft became a secular crime in England for the first time with the passing of a short-lived act of 1542. Elizabethan legislation in 1563 resurrected the crime and provided for the death penalty when 'any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed'. However, this was repealed in 1604 and replaced by 'An Acte against Conjuration Witchcrafte and dealinge with evill and wicked Spirits'.
This provided for even harsher punishments, extending the list of offences to which the death penalty applied to wasting, consuming or laming persons as well as causing their death.
Although 'witch mania' did not seem to affect Great Yarmouth as it did in other parts of the country, nevertheless 24 allegations of witchcraft were officially recorded over four centuries. Seven resulted in convictions which led to execution.
Those accused of witchcraft usually did not fit in with the society of the day. People down on their luck who were forced to turn to begging from neighbours to survive, whose who's political or religious beliefs clashed with others, and people who fell out of favour with their peers, were found to be at the wrong end of allegations of witchcraft.
In March 1582, Elizabeth Butcher and Celia Atkins were brought before the council at the town sessions accused of witchcraft. They were found guilty and the sentence was passed that both women were to be displayed in the town’s pillory every market day until they confessed their involvement, then they would be freed. It appears Celia confessed, but Elizabeth was sentenced to imprisonment only to be released upon her confession.
The following year Elizabeth was again brought before the town sessions, but again denied any attachment to the allegations. Once again, she was placed in the custody of the town’s gaoler and at the discretion of the town bailiffs was placed in the pillory until she confessed.
In April 1584, Elizabeth Butcher was brought before the court with another woman, Joan Lingwood. This time the court found both women guilty and they were to be taken to a site of execution at the north of the town. Parish records show that they were buried in St. Nicholas’ churchyard on the 18th. April 1584.
The 10th. September 1645 saw the largest witch trials to take place in Great Yarmouth. Allegations of witchcraft had increased since the beginning of the year, and in August it was decided by council officials to send for Matthew Hopkins to come and assist in the proceedings. Hopkins had been at the Bury St. Edmund’s assizes in Suffolk, where he had discovered 18 alleged witches.
Hopkins was born c. 1620 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of a Puritan minister. His career as a witch finder began in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647.He was mainly active in East Anglia and with his colleague John Stearne (c. 1610–1670), he sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all the other witch hunters in England of the previous 160 years.
Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on 12th. August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis. He was buried a few hours after his death in the churchyard of St Mary's at Mistley Heath.
Hopkins arrived in Great Yarmouth in early September. Following spiteful whisperings and pointed fingers, after investigation two men and nine women were accused of allegedly being involved in witchcraft and were brought in front of a court in the Tolhouse on the 10th. September 1645. The accused were Marcus Pryme, John Sparkes, Elizabeth Fassett, Barbara Wilkinson, Alice Clisswell, Maria Vervey, Bridget Howard, Maria Blackbourne, Elizabeth Dudgeon, Elizabeth Bradwell and Joanna Lacey.
In the dock, Elizabeth Bradwell confessed to the performance of image magic, that being the creation of wax images in the likeness of her enemies for the purpose of their bewitchment and murder. She recalling how she thrust a nail into the head of a wax image resembling John Moulton, a neighbour’s child. Bradwell was seen to personified the early modern stereotype of the English witch, a malevolent, spiteful individual with a penchant for inflicting harm upon innocent children.
Bradwell was soon to disclose something far darker to the court. She admitted that she secured her diabolical gifts by signing, in her own blood, a contract given to her by the Devil. Her confession certainly caught the eye of both Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne, who later published a pamphlet that addressed Elizabeth Bradwell and the alarming significance of her demonic pact.
Exactly why Bradwell admitted to such crimes remains unclear. Were these simply the ramblings of a confused old woman? It is no secret that witch hunts claimed the lives of many whose minds were confronted by conditions modern thinking would now acknowledge as mental illness. Such individuals would have proven prime targets for zealots like Hopkins and Stearne, and whilst the application of torture to procure confessions of witchcraft was strictly prohibited in England during this period, it's know that Hopkins was liberal in his implementation of sleep deprivation to secure the confession he desired. For Hopkins, such practices had already demonstrated their worth in Manningtree in Essex earlier that year, when Elizabeth Clarke was interrogated and coerced with sleep deprivation whilst being ‘watched’ for any communication with her alleged demonic familiars.
Irrespective of the accusations levied against her, Elizabeth Bradwell was no witch. A Norfolk born woman, a mother or sister, perhaps, forsaken by her neighbours and swept up in the mass hysteria of witchcraft.
The trials pronounced six of the accused women as guilty and they were sentenced to death by hanging. A few days after the trial Joanna Lacey was reprieved. Alice Clisswell, Elizabeth Bradwell, Elizabeth Dudgeon, Bridget Howard and Margaret Blackbourne were taken to a site of execution at the north of the town. Parish records show again that the five women were buried in St. Nicholas’ churchyard on 29th. September 1645.
Many people do not understand the reason why the alleged witches of 1584 and 1645 were recorded as being buried in the churchyard. Long tradition state that those condemned as criminals, including witches, would normally be buried in unconsecrated ground or at crossroads, where the spirit would be confused and not be able to return and cause mischief in a godly society.
Christian tradition records that the north side of a churchyard was only used for burial of outcasts and suicides. This ruling included the unbaptised, excommunicated, strangers and vagabonds, and also executed criminals and those accused of witchcraft. This was often referred to as burial without the sanctuary or to lie out of the sanctuary. An old saying is that the devil walks in dark places; originally a reference to shadowy areas of a churchyard, especially on the north side of a church.
Non outcast burials were prohibited by the council from taking place on the north side of St. Nicholas’ church until 1648, when the growth of the town’s population was causing a lack of burial space. In 1799, the churchyard was enlarged when the town wall and a gate east of the church were demolished.
The famous witchcraft trials at Salem in Massachusetts in 1692 also had a Great Yarmouth connection. Among those executed were two elderly sisters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty. They had been born in Great Yarmouth and were the daughters of William Towne, who emigrated to America with his family.