The Maidstone Witch Trials

So you've probably heard me mention the Maidstone Witches of late, and I thought as the anniversary of the trial is today,  now would be the time to tell you a little more about them. On 30th July 1652 six women, Anne Ashby, Anne Martin, Anne Wilson, Mary Browne and Mildred Wright from Cranbrook and Mary Reade from Lenham were all on trial at The Summer Assizes here in Maidstone, charged with murder and witchcraft. 

Not a position anyone would want to find themselves in, during this Puritan era of history. According to the records there was usually one or two witchcraft cases a year at the assizes, in 1652 there were an astonishing 18. I've been to the National Archives at Kew to see the Assizes records, and it makes very stark reading.

                                                       

                                                         The Assize Records

Their alleged crimes ranged from nearly 4 years previously, when a Lenham Farmer died, and Mary was accused of bewitching and killing him, whilst the other women from Cranbrook faced a mixture of 3 allegations, two involving children or babies that had 'withered and died', and another of a woman who had 'languished and died' all due to witchcraft. This was at a time when the infant mortality rate was 1 in 5 children  would die before their first birthday* and of those who made it to adulthood could expect an average life expectancy of around  35, precarious times for anyone who was a healer or midwife, or if you had a family with a grudge or who bore you ill will.

                                                The Old Gaol Cell, Maidstone

Details are scant, but we know that they were taken for trial at the Lower Court House in Maidstone, and held in the small wooden cell below it, the actual cell shown above was rebuilt in the new Town Hall in the roof, using the very same wooden walls. We also know from the records that they had been examined for Devil's marks and pricked, as was the advice of the leading authorities of the time, detailed in a book written by King James I titled Daemonologie published just over 50 years before. Pricking for those of you who have never heard of it, was when an instrument with a needle or a pin would be used to determine if the accused felt pain or even bled, the problem being that these pins often retracted deliberately on witch marks such as moles, scars and birthmarks, so you were stuffed either way.

                             Photo Courtesy of The Museum of Witchcraft

Some of the women confessed "that the Divell had known them carnally, and that they had no hurt by it", and several declared themselves to be pregnant by him too, maybe hoping that repenting their guilt would result in a more merciful sentence, or prevent them from hanging. It was just as likely that they were struggling psychologically after being detained and being submitted to what was effectively psycho-sexual torture or weren't well in the first place, let's face it no one at that time had heard of mental health conditions or learning disabilities. 

The Old Court House, Maidstone

These women, possibly healers and midwives, were persecuted for being odd, or different, for being troublesome or argumentative, or deemed a nuisance or a burden on their community, or maybe they were just on the wrong side of the religious and political thinking of the then climate of the Commonwealth, overseen by Oliver Cromwell. 18 people were on trial that day for witchcraft, which was a huge and unprecedented number for the Town and yes, they were a mixture of men and women, married, single or widowed, but guess who were found guilty and sentenced to hang - the single or widowed women - to a woman. 

The sentence was carried out almost immediately.

Contemporary Woodcut 17th Century

So that, in a very small nutshell is why we have been campaigning to have a small memorial for them put in place, to remember them and vindicate them, somewhere in the town so that their story is told and their voices heard even if somewhat belatedly. We created a petition that we presented to the Full Council the week before last and are looking forward to discussing taking it forward with them, and we are of course, keeping it very much in the public eye.

Despite these events happening 373 years ago, it feels that in today's current climate of tension and misinformation and of rising hatred and bigotry, where there is a worryingly similar hysteria around events and stories, this time on social media, I feel it's as pertinent as ever, and a timely warning against the power and the injustice of the Witch Hunt.

 Have A Blessed Week x x

* https://www.peterrazzell.co.uk/Papers/The_History_of_Infant_Child_and_Adult_Mo.pdf