Calls for UK government to pardon women executed for witchcraft

Council leader writes to home secretary asking for general pardon for ‘witches’ convicted in 16th and 17th centuries

On 30 July 1652, seven women were hanged on Penenden Heath in Maidstone, Kent. Witch trials and executions were far from unusual at the time, in the town or elsewhere, but rarely were so many convicted at once.

The women – Anne Ashby, Mary Brown, Anne Martyn, Mildred Wright, Susan Pickenden, Anne Wilson and Mary Reade – had been accused by their neighbours of terrible acts including “bewitching to death” a 10-day-old baby, the child’s mother, and a three-year-old. Several were claimed to have “carnally known” the devil in exchange for their monstrous powers.