GC3AYFV Witch 400 – Isabel Robey – Bull Hole Farm (Traditional Cache) in North West England, United Kingdom created by belbincolne

This cache has been archived.

belbincolne: Suspect it's gone and anyway has run it's course.

GC3AYFV ▼

A cache by belbincolne Message this owner

Hidden : 1/15/2012

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

Witch 400 – Isabel Robey – Bull Hole Farm

2012 is the 400th anniversary of the execution of the Pendle Witches so I thought it appropriate to place a series of caches as close as possible to the places with which they are associated. You would need to be a very hard walker (and driver) to do them all in one trip! Many can be done as near drive-bys but you will need to study the footpaths on the South Pennines map OL21 very carefully.

The full facts are related over thousands of pages in a dozen books so you’ll appreciate that what appears here is incredibly abbreviated. Possibly witches were basically the herbal practioners, midwives and abortionists of their day who found it convenient to cast spells and claim results to enhance their reputation. We know little about most witches but the Pendle ones have become particularly famous because the clerk to the court wrote a book factually setting out the details of the case. A tiny bit of potted history is put in for each cache. On occasion it is not entirely reverent I’m afraid!

The witches (and their victims) all seem to have lived on farms most of which remain although in nothing like the form they were in 1612. Mostly they have changed out of all recognition and none have been kept as a tourist haven such as, say, the Bronte Parsonage. What little I know is recorded here.

By today’s standards the trial was a farce. Uncorroborated evidence from a child of 9 and a boy of weak intellect was accepted but the witches were their own worst enemy condemning themselves and the others with abandon so it is hardly surprising that they were found guilty in the climate of that particular time in history. For more details I can recommend the website (visit link)

Bull Hole Farm is where John Nutter claimed two cows had died having been be-witched – one by Chattox and one by Demdike. Why am I crediting this to Isabel – simply because I haven’t been able to find anything else! She had nothing to do with Pendle. She lived miles away near St Helens – a bungalow stands on the site of her cottage opposite the cemetery. She was in her 70s and was hated locally and neighbours claimed she was a witch just to get rid of her. She had the misfortune to be tried with the others (perhaps on her own a judge would have realised just how stupid the accusations were) so was hanged and is now a Pendle Witch forever!

The path from Well Head can be very muddy and overgrown you go straight on at the signpost. Bull Hole is the farm straight on from the cache. Go past it and turn left on the Pendle Way for Moss End.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Oruvaq 3eq srapr cbfg hc

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)