Pendle witches petition hits 10,000 signatures

The sign for the village of Barley at the foot of Pendle gives a nod to the witch trials

A petition to pardon people convicted of witchcraft including those hanged in a series of infamous trials in 1612 has hit more than 10,000 signatures.

The Pendle witch trials led to 10 people being executed at Gallows Hill in Lancaster after they were found guilty of the maligned practice.

Emma Swinton, of the Justice for Witches group, said it was "shameful" they had not been pardoned.

The government said it was preparing a response.

Charlotte Meredith, who set up the petition, said The Witchcraft Act of 1735 repealed legislation creating offences for witchcraft and recognised that the belief that people could use demonic magic to harm and murder was not a reality.

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But she added: "Even though this meant the people convicted and executed under former acts had been innocent, they were never pardoned."

A House of Commons spokesman said a debate would be considered by the Petitions Committee if it reaches 100,000 signatures.

One of those hanged Alice Nutter was immortalised in her home village of Roughlee in 2012

Ms Swinton, from Barrowford, who has made a short film about the Pendle witch trials called The Witch's Daughter, told BBC Radio Lancashire those hanged "deserve justice".

She said the saga had been "brushed under the carpet" and urged the government to "set a precedent" by saying sorry.

"By acknowledging what happened in the past it helps us heal in the present," she said.

The story of the Pendle witch trials has become part of Lancashire legend.

They came about after a woman named Alizon Device was said to have cursed a pedlar who had refused to give her any pins.

A sign on a house in Roughlee village also features a reference to the witch trials

The pedlar collapsed and his son reported it to local magistrate Roger Nowell.

He interviewed Ms Device, who confessed to bewitching the pedlar and also accused her neighbours, who the family were having a feud with, of bewitching and killing four people.

The neighbours are said to have pointed the finger straight back at Alizon's grandmother, accusing her of witchcraft.

It resulted in the execution of 10 people who were given no counsel or legal advice, and the central prosecution witness was nine years old.

They were hanged in August that year in front of large crowds on the moors close to Williamson Park.

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