08/05/2026
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In 1612, 12 people from the area surrounding Pendle Hill were accused of witchcraft and dragged to Lancaster Castle to stand trial.
Most never came back.
The so-called Pendle Witches were accused of curses, murder by magic, and dealings with the Devil during one of the most paranoid periods in English history. Some of the evidence came from children. Some from neighbours. Much of it from fear.
After months imprisoned in the castle’s dark, filthy dungeons, 10 were hanged in what became one of the most infamous witch trials in British history.
Over 400 years later, Pendle Hill still carries the weight of those stories, a landscape forever tied to folklore, hysteria, and the brutal reality of the witch trials.
And Lancaster Castle still stands as a reminder of where it all ended.
