Meg Shelton (died 1705) known as the "Fylde Hag" was an English woman accused of witchcraft. Her grave can be seen at St. Anne's Church in Woodplumpton, now part of the City of Preston district of Lancashire.
Meg Shelton's real name is recorded by St Anne's Church as Margary Hilton. She was found dead in her cottage, crushed between a wall and a large barrel. According to local rumour, she was able to use her magic to make crops fail, turn milk sour and to cause illness in cattle. After her death, it was said that whenever they buried her in the graveyard, every so often her corpse would keep digging up to the surface. To prevent her from rising again, they buried her face down and had a large boulder placed on top of it. [1] An alternative telling suggests that she was buried head down in a narrow shaft, accounting for the relatively small size of the boulder. [2]
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Blackpool, and Preston is the administrative centre.
Kirkham aka Kirkam-in-Amounderness is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston and adjacent to the town of Wesham. It owes its existence to Carr Hill upon which it was built and which was the location of a Roman fort. At the census of 2011, it had a population 3,304 plus 3,890, giving a total of 7,194. By the census of 2021 the total had risen to 3,217 plus 4,666, giving a total of 7,883.
Lytham St Annes is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 census was 42,695. The town is made up of the four areas of Lytham, Ansdell, Fairhaven and St Annes-on-the-Sea.
The Borough of Fylde is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It covers part of the Fylde plain, after which it is named. The council's headquarters are in St Annes. The borough also contains the towns of Kirkham, Lytham and Wesham and surrounding villages and rural areas.
Warton is a village in the civil parish of Bryning-with-Warton, on the Fylde, in the Fylde district, in the county of Lancashire, England.
Margaret Anne Lake, best known by her stage name Mystic Meg, was an English astrologer who had a regular astrology column in The Sun and the News of the World.
Catforth is a village in the English civil parish of Woodplumpton and the City of Preston district, in Lancashire, England. There is a village hall and the last remaining of Catforth's pubs, The Running Pump, is situated on Catforth Road, which is the village's main road. There is a Roman Catholic church and a primary school.
Wrea Green is a village in the Fylde borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about 2 miles west of Kirkham. Along with the village of Ribby, it forms the civil parish Ribby-with-Wrea.
Wyre and Preston North is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in the most recent fifth periodic review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
Fylde Borough Council elections are held every four years to elect councillors to Fylde Borough Council in Lancashire, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 37 councillors, representing 17 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors.
Woodplumpton is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England, located 5 miles (8 km) north of Preston.
The Fylde is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile-long (21-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to the east which approximates to a section of the M6 motorway and West Coast Main Line.
St Michael's on Wyre is a village on the Fylde, in the Borough of Wyre, in Lancashire, England; it lies on the River Wyre. The village is centred on the church of St Michael's, which was founded before 640 AD. It is in the civil parish of Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre, which had a population in 2001 of 604.
Medlar-with-Wesham is a civil parish and an electoral ward on the Fylde in Lancashire, England, which contains the town of Wesham. It lies within the Borough of Fylde, and had a population of 3,245 in 1,294 households recorded in the 2001 census rising to 3,584 in 1,511 households, at the 2021 census.
Blackpool and the Fylde coast have become a ship graveyard for a number of vessels over the years. Most of the shipwrecks occurred at or near Blackpool, whilst a few happened a little further afield but have strong connections with the Blackpool area. For this article, Blackpool means the stretch of coast from Fleetwood to Lytham St Annes.
Westby-with-Plumptons is a civil parish in Lancashire, England. The parish is in Fylde district and contains the hamlets of Great Plumpton, Little Plumpton, Lower Ballam, Higher Ballam, Moss Side, Peel, and Westby. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1,205. Westby and Plumpton are mentioned in the Domesday Book, as "Westbi" and "Pluntun".
The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.
The City of Preston, or simply Preston, is a local government district with city status in Lancashire, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Ribble and has a population of 147,617 (2021). The neighbouring districts are Ribble Valley, South Ribble, Fylde and Wyre.
St Anne's is a church in the village of Woodplumpton in Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn, and the archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the deanery of Garstang. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The churchyard at St Anne's is the supposed burial place of a 17th-century alleged witch named Meg Shelton.
Public transport in the Fylde is available for three modes of transport—bus, rail and tram—assisting residents of and visitors to the Fylde, a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England, without their own vehicle, to travel around much of the area's 64 square miles (170 km2).