Download - Pendle Witches Trail
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Walking With Witches TrailSuitable footwear and clothing is recommended for this walk.Please take care on the road sections of this trail.
The Western Loop (4 miles) starting at Barley Car Park.
From the entrance to the car park at Barley turn right and cross the roadand follow the sign to Barley Green.
Cross the stream via a footbridge on the left and follow the footpathuphill. Cross the wall at the stile and continue across the fields diagonallybelow the house. Continue uphill to the Pendle Way sign. Turn left followingthe Pendle Way down to Newchurch in Pendle, heading to the right of thestone pump house.
On reaching the road, turn right and continue past St Mary’s church. Turnright into Well Head Road signposted Sabden Fold. After 400 metres there isFaugh’s Quarry.
Continue along the road passing Moss End and Bull Hole Farms seen inthe valley below. Follow the road past Saddlers Farm (now ShekinahChristian Centre).
On reaching Drivers Height Farm pass the driveways to the house andtake the stile on your right and follow the dry stone wall ascending steeplyto the crest (frequent pauses to admire the view are recommended).Descend to the Upper Ogden Reservoir and follow the reservoir track alongthe valley back to Barley. Marvel at the terrific views of Pendle Hill.
The Eastern Loop (31⁄2 miles) starting at Barley Car Park.
From the bottom corner of the car park follow the Pendle Way footpathalongside the river to Whitehough.
At the waymarked post turn left following the road towards WhitehoughOutdoor Education Centre. Immediately after a small red brick building turnright and follow the footpath through the wood keeping the OutdoorCentre on your left over a number of small foot bridges.
Following the detour above the house, crossing three stiles, will bring youto the lane beyond the house. Turn left down the lane and left at the PendleWay sign.
Follow the road uphill and turn right along a track. After 100 metres turnright over a stile and descend to Croft House Farm. Continue through thefields, crossing stiles and footbridge along the clearly marked Pendle Way toRoughlee. Turn right on joining the road, Roughlee Hall is on your right.
Follow the road through the village passing Crowtrees. Turn right on thewaymarked footpath immediately after the bridge. Continue along the lefthand bank of Pendle Water. On approaching Whitehough, again turn left upthe road. When you meet the main road, cross over and take the stile aheadof you, which leads uphill to meet Heys Lane. Follow this route until it leadsyou back to the car park.
NewchurchThe village is named after the "new" church of St Mary’s, consecrated in1544. If you look up at the church’s tower, you will find the "Eye of God",painted on its side to ward off evil. There is a "witches grave" inscribed withthe name "Nutter" to the right of the porch, but the date is much too late tobe Alice Nutter’s grave. On Maundy Thursday 1610 Demdike is said to havesent her grandson James to the church to bring her back some communionbread. On his return journey he is supposed to have met "a thing in the shapeof a hare" which threatened to pull him to pieces for failing to deliver thebread. James testified at the trial that Chattox had stolen teeth from skullsdug out of the church’s graveyard. Should you like a souvenir too, please useNewchurch’s own "Witches Galore" shop!
Faugh’s QuarryIt is here that Demdike claimed to have met the devil…. "about twenty yearsago she met near the stone pit in Goldshaw Booth the devil in the shape of aboy wearing a coat half black, half brown who said his name was Tibb". Inreturn for her soul he promised she would have anything that she desired.A careful examination of the right-hand side of the quarry will rewardtoday’s visitor with a wonderful piece of quarryman’s humour "the wizard ofthe stone pit".
Moss End, Bull Hole and Saddlers farmsMoss End Farm was home to John and Jane Bullcock. James testified at thewitches trial that they had been responsible for the death of Jane Deyne.Bull Hole Farm was the home of John Nutter. Two of his cows died; one itwas said was bewitched by Demdike, the other by Chattox. Saddlers Farm isa possible site for Demdike’s home, Malkin Tower. Another, possibly morelikely site, is situated east of Blacko, at Malkin Tower Farm – where part of thewall of her home still exists.
RoughleeAlice Nutter was the widow of a yeoman farmer who lived at CrowtreesFarm. In fiction she is always placed at Roughlee Old Hall. However in 1612,at the time of the trial, the daughters of a man called John Smith lived there.Accused of witchcraft and attending a witches Sabbath, Alice remainedsilent throughout the trial, perhaps she was a Catholic wishing to hideattending a Catholic mass.
Pendle HillThis mysterious brooding landmark will forever be associated with thePendle Witches, but the hill was also the subject of religious inspiration. In1652 George Fox climbed Pendle Hill and had a vision on the hill whichinspired him to found the Quaker movement. Its summit, known as "The BigEnd," is the site of a Bronze Age burial mound.
For Reporting footpath problems call,Pendle’s Countryside Access Team -01282 661059.
AcknowledgementsThanks to LCC rangers Dave Oyston and MarilynPilkington for checking the route and Blue BadgeGuide, John Doughty for historical research.
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Pendle Hill
St Mary’s Church (Newchurch) Witch outside Witches Galore (Newchurch)
The mysterious ‘eye of god’ inSt Mary’s Church, Newchurch
‘Witches Grave’ at NewchurchRoughlee Hall
Ordenance Survey Licence Number: 1000018628
Bu
s service to B
arley call Traveline 0870 608 2 608.
Mo
re info
rmatio
n is availab
le abo
ut Pen
dle in
the th
e gu
ides
we p
rod
uce,in
clud
ing
a Visito
r and
Acco
mm
od
ation
Gu
ide to
the area.A
lso availab
le are three ro
ad trails coverin
g th
e story
of th
e witch
es.For free co
pies o
f these g
uid
es and
for
info
rmatio
n o
n o
ther w
alking
rou
tes in Pen
dle,co
ntact
(01282) 661981,or em
ail:tou
rism@
pen
dle.g
ov.uk
Witch
Way to
Pen
dle...
Ten A
mazin
g W
itch Facts
The w
ord
witch
com
es from
the A
ng
lo-
Saxon
"Wicca" o
r "Wise o
ne".
Wicca u
sed th
eir "mag
ic" in p
agan
rites tob
ring
go
od
harvests.
By th
e 14th C
entu
ry peo
ple saw
a sinister
side to
witch
craft.
Un
married
or w
ido
wed
wo
men
wo
uld
use th
eir repu
tation
as healers to
earn a
living.
In th
e 15th C
entu
ry witch
es were
po
rtrayed flyin
g,astride w
olves,g
oats
and
even a sh
ovel,befo
re the
bro
om
stick becam
e a com
mo
n im
age.
It was th
ou
gh
t that th
e sou
nd
of ch
urch
bells co
uld
brin
g d
ow
n flyin
g w
itches.
On
e techn
iqu
e,to p
rove wh
ether a
perso
n w
as a witch
,"swim
min
g" o
r"d
uckin
g",w
as explain
ed in
a bo
ok
written
by Jam
es I.
James I also
recom
men
ded
loo
king
for th
e devil’s m
arks on
susp
ectedw
itches.M
arks such
as birth
marks co
uld
be
seen as th
e devil sealin
g h
is covenan
t or
com
pact w
ith th
e susp
ect.
The W
itch’s hat w
as an exag
geratio
n o
f 17thC
entu
ry Puritan
hats.Po
ints w
ere associated
with
the h
orn
s of th
e devil.
Matth
ew H
op
kins w
as du
bb
ed th
e Eng
lish"W
itchfin
der G
eneral" after startin
g h
is wo
rkin
1645.He w
as respo
nsib
le for th
e han
gin
go
f 68 witch
es.
Pen
dle
Hill
ris
es m
ajes
tica
lly a
bov
e an
an
cien
t h
un
tin
g g
rou
nd,
on
ce t
he
ho
me
of w
olv
es a
nd
wild
bo
ar,a
wild
an
d m
yste
rio
us
pla
ce.B
enea
th t
he
hill
lie
pre
tty
villa
ges
wh
ich
tel
l a s
tory
of
intr
igu
e an
d w
itch
craf
t n
earl
y 40
0 ye
ars
old
.
Man
y n
ovel
s h
ave
bee
n w
ritt
en a
bo
ut
the
wo
rld
fam
ou
s Pe
nd
leW
itch
es b
ut
real
ity
in t
his
cas
e tu
rns
ou
t to
be
stra
ng
er t
han
ficti
on
.
The
Pen
dle
Wit
ches
live
d in
th
e ea
rly
1600
s at
a t
ime
of r
elig
iou
sp
erse
cuti
on
an
d s
up
erst
itio
n.T
he
pro
test
ant
kin
g,Ja
mes
I,h
adju
st s
urv
ived
th
e C
ath
olic
gu
np
ow
der
plo
t.C
ath
olic
s an
d t
ho
sesu
spec
ted
of w
itch
craf
t (s
om
etim
es t
ho
ug
ht
to b
e o
ne
and
th
esa
me)
cam
e u
nd
er m
ore
scr
uti
ny
than
eve
r,an
d t
he
kin
gb
rou
gh
t in
th
e d
eath
pen
alty
for
tho
se fo
un
d g
uilt
y o
fw
itch
craf
t.
It w
as a
dan
ger
ou
s ti
me
for
two
Pen
dle
fam
ilies
,led
by
two
wily
old
mat
riar
chs,
Dem
dik
e an
d C
hat
tox.
Lon
g s
ince
wid
ow
ed,t
hei
rex
iste
nce
dep
end
ed o
n e
xag
ger
atin
g t
he
cure
s th
ey o
ffer
ed t
olo
cal v
illag
ers.
It w
ou
ld p
rove
to
be
thei
r u
nd
oin
g.
On
a c
old
lon
ely
road
to
Co
lne
on
a M
arch
day
in 1
612
a m
anco
llap
ses
to t
he
gro
un
d p
aral
ysed
.His
nam
e is
Jo
hn
Law
,ap
edla
r fr
om
Hal
ifax.
Just
mo
men
ts b
efo
re D
emd
ike’
s g
ran
d-
dau
gh
ter,
Alis
on
Dev
ice,
had
cu
rsed
him
.He
wo
uld
no
t g
ive
her
the
pin
s th
at h
er g
ran
dm
oth
er w
ante
d fo
r a
spel
l.
Ab
rah
am L
aw,t
he
ped
lar’s
so
n,h
aule
d A
liso
n in
fro
nt
of l
oca
lm
agis
trat
e,R
og
er N
ow
ell.
Alis
on
,ove
raw
ed b
y th
e si
tuat
ion
,co
nfe
sses
an
d in
crim
inat
es b
oth
her
gra
nd
mo
ther
,Dem
dik
e,an
d h
er lo
cal r
ival
,Ch
atto
x.
The
two
are
inte
rro
gat
ed a
t A
shla
r H
ou
se,a
nd,
per
hap
s w
ish
ing
to e
nh
ance
th
eir
loca
l rep
uta
tio
n,t
ry t
o o
utd
o e
ach
oth
er w
ith
thei
r st
ori
es,i
ncl
ud
ing
th
e st
ory
of m
eeti
ng
th
e d
evil
in t
he
qu
arry
.On
Ap
ril 3
rd 1
612
Dem
dik
e,C
hat
tox,
Dev
ice,
and
Red
fear
n a
re c
om
mit
ted
for
tria
l fo
r w
itch
craf
t at
Lan
cast
erC
astl
e.
On
Go
od
Fri
day
th
e D
emd
ike
and
Dev
ice
fam
ilies
mee
t at
Mal
kin
To
wer
an
d fe
ast
on
sto
len
mu
tto
n.L
ater
wh
en N
ow
ell
hea
rs o
f th
is m
eeti
ng
he
sen
ds
a lo
cal c
on
stab
le,H
enry
Har
gre
aves
to
Mal
kin
To
wer
.Th
ere
are
accu
sati
on
s th
at t
hey
wer
e p
lott
ing
to
free
th
e im
pri
son
ed w
om
en a
nd
blo
w u
p t
he
cast
le.
The
con
stab
le fi
nd
s h
um
an b
on
es a
nd
tee
th s
tole
n fr
om
ag
rave
yard
at
St M
ary’
s an
d a
cla
y im
age.
Jam
es D
emd
ike
con
fess
es t
o u
sin
g t
he
imag
e to
cau
se t
he
dea
th o
f An
ne
Tow
nle
y.Th
e o
ther
s at
th
e al
leg
ed “W
itch
es S
abb
ath”
mee
tin
gar
e al
l ro
un
ded
up
an
d im
pri
son
ed in
Lan
cast
er C
astl
e.
On
Au
gu
st 1
7th
th
e tr
ial b
egan
.Th
e p
rose
cuti
on’
s st
ar w
itn
ess
was
nin
e ye
ar o
ld J
enn
et D
evic
e w
ho
in c
ou
rt id
enti
fies
tho
sew
ho
att
end
ed t
he
Go
od
Fri
day
mee
tin
g,in
clu
din
g h
er m
oth
erEl
izab
eth
an
d A
lice
Nu
tter
.Th
is e
vid
ence
,th
e co
nfe
ssio
ns
alre
ady
giv
en,a
nd
th
e vi
go
ur
of t
he
pro
secu
tors
,kee
n t
oin
gra
tiat
e th
emse
lves
to
Jam
es I,
mea
nt
that
th
e tr
ial w
as o
ver
afte
r ju
st t
hre
e d
ays.
All
the
accu
sed
sw
un
g fr
om
th
e g
allo
ws,
exce
pt
for
Dem
dik
e,w
ho
die
d a
s a
pri
son
er b
efo
re t
he
tria
l.
The
Pen
dle
Wit
ches
Sto
ry
Desig
ned b
y the Co
mm
unications Team
, Pend
le Bo
roug
h Co
uncil. iJb_1685 02/05
J12
Barley
New
chu
rch
J13
J14
Co
lne
Barro
wfo
rd
Nelso
n
Pasture Lane
Blacko Bar Road
Jinny Lane
Barley Road
Cross LaneHeights Lane
Barrowford Road
Noggarth Road
Wheatley Lane Road
Ridge Lane
Heritage
CentreW
hite Bear Pub
A6068
M65
M65
Start of Trail
Fence
Harpers Lane
St Annes W
ay