The Faversham Witch Trials
The Alexander Centre, Faversham, ME13 8NZ
Tuesday 23rd March 2027 7:00PM
Hannah Perkin: ‘The Faversham Witch Trials’
Four Faversham women—Elizabeth Harris, Joan Wallingford, Joan Cariden and Jane Hott—were accused of witchcraft in 1645 during the turbulent days of the English civil war. At a time when there was little scientific evidence for bad things happening, such as poor harvests, deaths of animals, plague and war, people searched for a superstitious explanation, picking on older women living on their own who had become a little eccentric. An infamous trial followed when an angry neighbour, Thomas Gardiner, blamed Joan Wallingford after injuring his backside falling from a tree. Interrogated, possibly using torture, Joan confessed and named the others, while Joan Carriden and Elizabeth Harris also confessed.
Three of the women, Joan Wallingford, Joan Cariden and Jane Hott, were hung on Monday 29 September 1645 from a tree near to where the town pump now stands to the continuing shame of our town. Hannah will explore the reasons and remedies that people of the time employed to explain the apparently inexplicable and the dreadful consequences that ensued.
Four Faversham women—Elizabeth Harris, Joan Wallingford, Joan Cariden and Jane Hott—were accused of witchcraft in 1645 during the turbulent days of the English civil war. At a time when there was little scientific evidence for bad things happening, such as poor harvests, deaths of animals, plague and war, people searched for a superstitious explanation, picking on older women living on their own who had become a little eccentric. An infamous trial followed when an angry neighbour, Thomas Gardiner, blamed Joan Wallingford after injuring his backside falling from a tree. Interrogated, possibly using torture, Joan confessed and named the others, while Joan Carriden and Elizabeth Harris also confessed.
Three of the women, Joan Wallingford, Joan Cariden and Jane Hott, were hung on Monday 29 September 1645 from a tree near to where the town pump now stands to the continuing shame of our town. Hannah will explore the reasons and remedies that people of the time employed to explain the apparently inexplicable and the dreadful consequences that ensued.
Event Details
Starts at 7:00PM
