The Faversham Witch Trials

Hannah Perkin talks about 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 Cariden and Elizabeth Harris also confessed. Three of the women, Joan Wallin, were affected by the trial.