Archaeology & History

Calls mount for UK to pardon women who were hanged for 'bewitchment'

By T.K. Randall
October 14, 2025

Image: Witchcraft at Salem Village
Credit: William A. Crafts (1876) / (PD) Copyright Expired It has been 373 years since seven women - Anne Ashby, Mary Brown, Anne Martyn, Mildred Wright, Susan Pickenden, Anne Wilson and Mary Reade - were executed for the crimes of 'bewitching' three children to death and for bargaining with the devil in exchange for demonic powers.

They were hanged on July 30th, 1652 on Penenden Heath in Maidstone, Kent.

Now, nearly four centuries later, there is a growing movement of people hoping to see these women, along with many others in the country who were also trialled as witches, formally pardoned.

"These historic acts of murder cannot be undone but those women could be granted a general pardon," said Maidstone borough council leader Stuart Jeffrey.

Not everyone, however, agrees with the motion, instead arguing that it's a waste of taxpayer funds."For some people, it's completely pointless and achieves nothing," said local councillor Claire Kehily.

"Yes, those women will never know - though maybe they'll rest a little bit more peacefully. But I think it sends a strong message that injustice will be called out and fought against."

"At the end of the day, they weren't witches, they were just women."

Sadly, the case of these seven women is certainly not a one-off - the same thing happened to countless other 'witches' across Britain who had their lives cut short in a similar manner.

Suspicion of witchcraft could arise from anything - even diseases could be blamed on witches.

"People were primed to think witches existed because the church told them so," said Prof Marion Gibson. "And it was really easy for them to think not just that witches existed generally, but actually maybe the old woman they didn't like down the road was a witch."

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Witches, Witchcraft