Alice Nutter | |
---|---|
Born | Alice Whitaker 1560s |
Died | 20 August 1612 Gallows Hill, Lancaster, Kingdom of England |
Cause of death | Hanged |
Nationality | English |
Other names | Alice Whitaker |
Known for | Accused as a Pendle witch |
Spouse | Richard Nutter |
Children | Elizabeth Nutter |
Parent(s) | Gyles Whitaker (father) Elizabeth Nowell (mother) |
Alice Nutter (died 20 August 1612) was an English woman accused and hanged as a result of the Pendle witch hunt. Her life and death are commemorated by a statue in the village of Roughlee in the Pendle district of Lancashire.
Unlike many accused of witchcraft, Alice was a member of a wealthy family who owned land in Pendle. [1]
She was accused of being present at a witch meeting on Good Friday in 1612 and of later causing the death of Henry Milton. Her principal accuser was a nine-year-old girl. Nutter protested her innocence [2] although others pleaded guilty.
Nutter's trial began at Lancaster Castle on 18 August where the accused were denied access to lawyers or the right to call witnesses. She was subsequently hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster on 20 August 1612. The others hanged were Anne Whittle ("Old Chattox"), Ann Redfearn, Elizabeth Device ("Squinting Lizzie"), Alison Device, James Device, Katherine Hewitt, Jane Bulcock, John Bulcock and Isobel Robey.
In 1982, one of the members of the music group Chumbawamba changed her name to Alice Nutter by deed poll, feeling "an affinity" to the historical figure. Since the band's breakup, one of her writing projects is a play based on the same Pendle Witch Trials. [3] [4]
The 1990 novel Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (later adapted for television) features several witch characters named after the original Pendle witches, including Agnes Nutter, a prophet burned at the stake, and her descendant Anathema Device. Gaiman confirmed the homage in a 2016 tweet. [5] [6]
In 2012 a statue of Nutter was unveiled in Roughlee by local celebrity Bobby Elliott. The statue was commissioned following a campaign led by a local councillor. Local artist David Palmer researched local history and the fashion of Nutter's times to create the statue, which is made from steel and brass. [7]
In the same year, Jeanette Winterson published her novella The Daylight Gate whose main character is Alice Nutter. The book is about the events, but Winterson is keen to point out that her character is not the Alice Nutter of history. [8]
Alice Nutter is one of the main characters in William Harrison Ainsworth's Victorian Gothic novel The Lancashire Witches .
English author Joseph Delaney in his books series Spook's , incorporated a character named Alice Deane, who is a witch. [9]
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, who in turn were dubbed "Double Trouble" by the British press.
Jeanette Winterson is an English author.
Esmerelda "Esme" Weatherwax is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven. She is the self-appointed guardian of her small country, and frequently defends it against supernatural powers. She is one of the Discworld series's main protagonists, having major roles in seven novels.
Higham is a village in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, south of Pendle Hill. The civil parish is named Higham with West Close Booth. The village is 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Padiham and about 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Nelson along the A6068 road.
Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is 557 metres (1,827 ft) above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the Pennines, separated from the South Pennines to the east, the Bowland Fells to the northwest, and the West Pennine Moors to the south. It is included in a detached part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Spook's Apprentice is a 2004 children's dark fantasy novel by Joseph Delaney. It was published by The Bodley Head and Red Fox in the United Kingdom, and Greenwillow Books in the United States. It is the first story in The Wardstone Chronicles arc of the Spook's series. The book has sold over 3 million copies and was the winner of the Sefton Book Award, Hampshire Book Award and Prix Plaisirs de Lire. It has been adapted into various mediums, including a play script, feature film titled Seventh Son, and a French graphic novel.
Spook's, published as The Last Apprentice in the United States, is a children's dark fantasy series by English author Joseph Delaney. It is published by imprints of Penguin Random House in the United Kingdom, and HarperCollins in the United States. The series has been published in 30 countries, with sales exceeding 4.5 million copies. It originated in 2004 with The Spook's Apprentice, which has been adapted into a play script, a feature film titled Seventh Son, and a French graphic novel.
Joseph Henry Delaney was an English author best known for his children's dark fantasy series, Spook's, inspired by the folklore, history and geography of Lancashire. The series has been published in 30 countries, achieving sales of over 4.5 million copies.
Alice Nutter may refer to:
Newchurch in Pendle is a village in the civil parish of Goldshaw Booth, Pendle, Lancashire, England, adjacent to Barley, to the south of Pendle Hill. It was formerly part of Roughlee Booth until its transferral in 1935.
Wheatley Lane is a village in Pendle, Lancashire, England. It is close to Nelson, Barrowford and Burnley. It lies to the north of the A6068 road, known locally as the Padiham bypass, or "The New Road".
Roughlee is a village in the civil parish of Roughlee Booth, in the Pendle district, in the county of Lancashire, England. It is close to Nelson, Barrowford and Blacko. The village lies at the foot of Pendle Hill, well known for the Pendle Witches, and includes the hamlet of Crowtrees.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Newchurch in Pendle, Lancashire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Blackburn, the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the deanery of Pendle. Its benefice is combined with that of St Thomas', Barrowford.
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.
Alice Nutter is an English musician, best known as part of the anarchist music group Chumbawamba, and writer for theatre, radio and television.
The Samlesbury witches were three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury – Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley, and Ellen Bierley – accused by a 14-year-old girl, Grace Sowerbutts, of practising witchcraft. Their trial at Lancaster Assizes in England on 19 August 1612 was one in a series of witch trials held there over two days, among the most infamous in English history. The trials were unusual for England at that time in two respects: Thomas Potts, the clerk to the court, published the proceedings in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster; and the number of the accused found guilty and hanged was unusually high, ten at Lancaster and another at York. All three of the Samlesbury women were acquitted.
The Lancashire Witches is the only one of William Harrison Ainsworth's forty novels that has remained continuously in print since its first publication. It was serialised in the Sunday Times newspaper in 1848; a book edition appeared the following year, published by Henry Colburn. The novel is based on the true story of the Pendle witches, who were executed in 1612 for causing harm by witchcraft. Modern critics such as David Punter consider the book to be Ainsworth's best work. E. F. Bleiler rated the novel as "one of the major English novels about witchcraft".
Malkin Tower was the home of Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Demdike, and her granddaughter Alizon Device, two of the chief protagonists in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612.
The Lancashire Witches Walk is a 51-mile (82 km) long-distance footpath opened in 2012, between Barrowford and Lancaster, all in Lancashire, England. It starts at Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford before passing through the Forest of Pendle, the town of Clitheroe and the Forest of Bowland to finish at Lancaster Castle.
Good Omens is a British fantasy comedy television series created by Neil Gaiman based on his and Terry Pratchett's 1990 novel. A co-production between Amazon MGM Studios and BBC Studios, the series was directed by Douglas Mackinnon, with Gaiman also serving as showrunner. Michael Sheen and David Tennant lead a large ensemble cast that also includes Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Derek Jacobi, Brian Cox, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Frances McDormand as the voice of God, who narrates the series.