The Witch of Walkern

1712 Hertford trial: In what was probably the last witchcraft trial in England in which a conviction was recorded, Jane Wenham, 'the Witch of Walkern', was tried for talking to her cat and for flying – in other words, for being a 'wise woman' as witches were sometimes called in that country.

Wenham was accused of bewitching Matthew Gilston and Anne Thorne of Walcorne, in the county of Hereford, was declared guilty and sentenced to death.

According to the mandatory penalty at the time, Judge Powell had no choice but to condemn her to death, but through his influence she was later given a Royal Pardon, provoking a brief pamphlet war ...

Categories: witchcraft, law, legal, wicca, pagan, uk, history