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Click here for more information. rolling unwooded landscape ower !lack Moss "eservoir #on the left$, one of the suggested sites for the location of Malkin Tower Malkin Tower, sometimes called Malking Tower or Mocking Tower, was the home of %li&a'eth (outherns, also known as )emdike, and her granddaughter *li&on )evice, two of the chief protagonists in the ancashire witch trials of +,+-. Perhaps the 'est-known alleged witches. coven in %nglish legal history took place in Malkin Tower on , *pril +,+-. %ight of those attending were su'se/uently arrested and tried for causing harm 'y witchcraft, seven of whom were found guilty and e0ecuted1 the house may have 'een demolished shortly after the trials. The only firm evidence for its location comes from the official account 'y the clerk to the court Thomas Potts, who places it somewhere in the Forest of Pendle. *rchaeological e0cavations in the area have failed to discover any confirmed remains of the 'uilding. (everal e0planations have 'een suggested for the origins of the word Malkin 'ut, despite its name, Malkin Tower is likely to have 'een a simple cottage. Contents 2hide3 + 4istory +.+ Toponymy +.- *ssociation with witches - ocation 5 "eferences 4istory2edit3 Toponymy2edit3 Malkin.s Tower, a little cottage where "eporte makes caitive witches meete to swear Their homage to ye devil.2+3 67 "ichard 8ames c. +,55 The name Malkin has several possi'le derivations9 it was a familiar form of the female names Mary or Maud, and a term for a poor or sha''y woman12-3 the similar mawkin was a word used to descri'e a lower-class woman or .slut..253 Malkin was also used as a term for a cat, particularly an old cat, as in grimalkin or grey malkin,2-3 and was an old northern %nglish name for a hare,2:3 into which witches were said to 'e a'le to transfigure.2;3 <t has also 'een suggested that the name was a com'ination of mal and kin as a slight to the residents of Malkin Tower,2532:3 which local historian *rthur )ouglas considers unlikely owing to the poor education of people in the area at that time.2:3 *nother possi'ility is a corruption of malt kiln,2:32,3 which is supported 'y a claim made 'y *li&on )evice that the family of *nne Whittle, also known as Chatto0, had 'roken into their fire house.2=32a3 *uthors have speculated on a range of 'uildings that could account for the Tower appellation. Malkin Tower may have incorporated a >orman peel tower, 'uilt as a defence against (cottish raiders2+?3 or might have 'een a disused poacher.s lookout, 2,3 'ut it is more likely that despite its name Malkin Tower was a simple cottage.2++3 4istorian W. ". Mitchell suggests that it was originally a small farm 'uilding, perhaps a shelter for fodder or livestock, which was converted into poor-/uality living accommodation.2+-3 Poverty was not uncommon among the residents of the Forest of Pendle, hence the 'uilding may have 'een no more than a hovel,2+53 and tower may have 'een a sarcastic name given 'y local residents.253 <t is almost certain that (outherns and )evice did not own Malkin Tower 'ut were tenants.2+:3 Malkin Tower is sometimes alternatively referred to as Malking Tower,2+;3 or Mocking

Tower.2+,3 *ssociation with witches2edit3 Main article9 Pendle witches @n Aood Friday, , *pril +,+-, Malkin Tower was the venue for perhaps the most wellknown alleged witches. coven in %nglish legal history.2+=3 The house was home to %li&a'eth (outherns, also known as )emdike,2'3 and her granddaughter *li&on )evice,2+B3 two of the alleged Pendle witches.2-?3 *s a conse/uence of a chance encounter *li&on had on -+ March +,+- with 8ohn aw, a pedlar from 4alifa0, she and her grandmother were summoned to the home of local magistrate "oger >owell on suspicion of causing harm 'y witchcraft1 aw had collapsed shortly after refusing to sell *li&on some pins, and his son had accused her of 'eing responsi'le.2-+3 !oth *li&on and her grandmother were arrested and detained in ancaster Aaol, along with two other women.2--3 Friends of the )emdike family met at Malkin Tower on , *pril +,+-, allegedly to plot the escape of the four gaoled women 'y 'lowing up ancaster Castle. >owell learned of the meeting and concluded after interrogating *li&on )evice.s Cmentally su'-normalC 'rother, 8ames, that Malkin Tower had 'een the scene of a witches. coven, and that all who had attended were witches.2-53 %ight were su'se/uently accused of causing harm 'y witchcraft and committed for trial, seven at ancaster *ssi&es and one at Dork.2+=3 ocation2edit3 The location of Malkin Tower is uncertain.2-3 <t may have 'een demolished shortly after the +,+- trials, as it was common at the time to dismantle empty 'uildings and recycle the materials.2c3 The 'uilding may also have 'een destroyed to eradicate the Cmelancholy associationsC of the place.2-:3 The official account of the trials written 'y Thomas Potts, clerk to the court, in his The Wonderfull )iscoverie of Witches in the Countie of ancaster mentions Malking Tower many times, 'ut only descri'es it as 'eing in the Forest of Pendle, a former royal forest2d3 that covered a considera'le area south and east of Pendle 4ill, e0tending almost to the towns of !urnley, Colne and Padiham. Prominent structure on a hill (tansfield Tower, !lacko, a Eictorian folly often confused with Malkin Tower2-=3 @ne contender is in the civil parish of !lacko, on the site of present-day Malkin Tower Farm12-F3 since the +F:?s claims have 'een made that old masonry found in a field wall is from the remains of the 'uilding.2532-B3 <n The ancashire Witch-Cra&e, 8onathan um'y conGectures that the 'uilding was situated on the moors surrounding !lacko 4ill, near to an old road 'etween Colne and Ais'urn.25?3 ocal folklore in the parish holds that the remains of Malkin Tower are 'uried in a field 'ehind the near'y Cross Aaits <nn pu'lic house1 the tower used to 'e featured on the inn.s sign.25+3 The primary evidence supporting this location seems to 'e that a hollow in the hillside east of the farm is known as Mawkin 4ole.25-3 <t has 'een suggested that this is the same place mentioned in the +,th-century halmote court records for the manor of Colne as Mawkin Darde,2e3 descri'ed as 'eing Cin the north of ColneC,2-F3 'ut anywhere inside the manor of Colne would have 'een outside the Forest of Pendle, and the first @rdnance (urvey map of the area, created in the +F:?s, identifies the farm as !lacko Tower.25:3 The site is also several miles from any of the tracea'le locations mentioned at the trial.2:3 <n +FB+, local grocer 8onathan (tansfield constructed a solitary tower on the near'y summit of !lacko 4ill.25;3 Today this is also commonly known as !lacko Tower, and is often confused with Malkin Tower. *lthough he claimed at the time that he wished to see into neigh'ouring valleys, historian 8ohn Clayton suggests that, aware of the story, he may have wished to provide the area with his own version.25,3 *nother possi'le location is somewhere near the village of >ewchurch in Pendle.2+?3 )ouglas claims there is CpersuasiveC evidence that an area near (adler.s Farm #now

known as (hekinah Christian Centre$ was the site of Malkin Tower1 there were numerous reports of alleged witchcraft in the area, and it was in the vicinity of other locations named during the trial such as Areenhead,2f3 !arley and "oughlee.2:3 @thers involved in the trials were known to have lived in the area1 alleged witches 8ane and 8ohn !ulcock resided at Moss %nd Farm in >ewchurch, and 8ohn >utter, whose cows were claimed to have 'een 'ewitched, lived at the neigh'ouring !ull 4ole Farm. (outherns. son Christopher 4olgate also lived near'y. !ut neither the deeds of (adler.s Farm, which date 'ack to the +=th century, nor contemporary maps of the region mention Malkin Tower or any fields in which it may have stood.2+:3 *rchaeological e0cavations have 'een undertaken in several locations in the Pendle Forest area, including >ewchurch, 'ut nothing has 'een found.2+-3 * potential candidate for the lost Malkin Tower was announced in )ecem'er -?++, after water engineers unearthed a +=th-century cottage with a mummified cat sealed in the walls,2g3 close to ower !lack Moss reservoir near !arley.2:+3