Essex has a fascinating history, and much to be proud of, but a sorry episode in our past is the witch trials that went on from 1560 to 1700. During this period, more people were executed for witchcraft in Essex than in any other county. Many Essex villages have some connection with the persecution of witches, and some 299 were indicted of witchcraft, 82 of them being executed. By contrast, Kent lost sixteen people in this period, Hertford eight and Surrey five.

Whereas in Catholic times the greatest danger posed by religion was the burning of dissenters for heresy, in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I the focus fell on people who were suspected of consorting with Satan or his demons.

The feverish climate of religious reform led to paranoia about individuals who nowadays we would regard as totally harmless. People who were isolated, eccentric or in any way "different" were prime targets for blame when mishaps occurred – child mortality, sickness of farm animals, crop failures. 90% of those targeted were women, and James I's obsession with witchcraft (he even wrote a book on it in 1597) coupled with his dislike of women didn't help this.

It's not clear why so many trials happened in Essex: certainly, Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General, oversaw over a hundred executions, but he only operated between 1644 and 1646, and not just in Essex. Once started, witchcraft hunts developed a life of their own. Accusations could come from neighbours seeking to settle old scores, and family members who had fallen out.

Widespread use of confessions extracted under torture meant that a victim might swiftly incriminate innocent people known to them – hence the clusters of family and friendship groups in the trial lists.

Colchester held more accused witches than any other location in the U.K., and in 2018, film director John Worland unveiled a memorial to them in the Castle Park. The Essex Witch Trials website has collated names, villages and dates of all those known to have been tried (but not necessarily convicted) during this period. They are listed for our area below:

Bradwell-on-Sea

Margaret Lyttelberie, 1584

Burnham

Joan Thorock, 1584

Anne Bonner, 1585 (died in Colchester Castle 'by divine visitation' after being imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft)

Agnes Thurrock, 1585

Creeksea

William Harris, 1566

Reverend Lone, 1566

A "Richmaond", 1566

Goldhanger

Edmund Crosse, 1599

Great Totham

William Rande, 1564

John Plummer, 1576

Joan Tomson, 1576

Mary Tomson, 1576

Mary Symons, 1657

Hatfield Peverel

25 people between 1566 and 1589.

Little Totham

Anne Pennyfather, 1610 (found not guilty after being accused of bewitching Robert Thorocke so that his body was wasted and mutilated)

Maldon

A "Nethersall", 1566

Alice Chaundeler, 1572 and 1574 (tried in Maldon's Moot Hall accused of bewitching an eight-year old girl who had died - hanged)

Ellen or Ellein Smyth, 1579 ("Bewitched a person to death". Guilty – hanged)

Humfrey Poles, 1580

Thomas Colleyne, Edmund Hunt and George Oder, 1591 (All three men were accused of using magical powers to do a treasure-hunt at Beeleigh Abbey)

Margaret Wiseman, 1592

Purleigh

Thomas Ward, 1599

Isabella Whyte, 1600 (accused of bewitching cattle)

Southminster

Ralph Spacey, 1580

Steeple

Mr Hawes, 1566 (forediviner or soothsayer)

Stow Maries

Grace Tabour, 1615

Tollesbury

Katherine Pullen, 1572 (found guilty of bewitching a man's wife so that she died)

Christian Hunt, 1598 and 1599

Tolleshunt Knights

Widow Howe, 1594

John Manning, 1597

Goodwife Manning, 1597

Woodham Ferrers

Margaret Mynnet, 1593

Robert Copping, 1664

The sad story of Ellen Smyth of Maldon mentioned above perhaps illustrates the pitiful stories that lie behind many of these names. Her mother Alice Chaundeler was hanged for witchcraft and Ellen resorted to begging to survive. Her mother had left her a little money which was the subject of a dispute with her step-father. After an argument he became fatally ill, and died claiming Ellen had bewitched him. Ellen's son tried begging from a neighbour, who chased him off. The neighbour in turn became ill. A child also died after an argument with Ellen. Neighbours claimed the involvement of familiar spirits in the shape of a cat, a toad and a black dog. Ellen confessed to bewitching the child and was hanged.

In many ways we have moved on since those appalling times. On the other hand, modern social media often illustrates how quickly a feverish atmosphere of suspicion and hostility can develop to those who are 'different'!