Witch 400 – Jennet Preston – The Yorkshire Witch Traditional Cache
Hidden : 1/16/2012
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Witch 400 – Jennet Preston – The Yorkshire Witch

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)

As Jennet Preston lived at Newfield Edge in Yorkshire she was sent to York Assizes for trial. She was accused by James Device of murdering Thomas Lister by witchcraft. She had been charged a year earlier with murdering a child by witchcraft, but had been found not guilty. James also claimed that she had attended the Malkin Tower meeting to seek help murdering Lister. Found guilty she was the first to be tried and hung. The only thing that can be said is that at least it shows that the judges in Lancaster weren’t the only hanging judges eager to please the King.

Newfield Edge Farm is the building you see half left ahead when you have crossed the stiles. I suspect that it was here that she lived as the next building is Newfield Edge Hall which sounds a bit too grand. Be warned navigation between the two is hard!

The cache is not in the dry stone wall and no stones in the wall need to be moved to retrieve the cache. With a good map (OL21) you can drive right up to the cache and whilst you are turning the car round (its the end of the road and theres no parking) your passenger will have found the cache! Most people will walk (or cycle) as its on the Pennine Bridleway.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

haqre fgbar ng jnyy pbeare bire oevqtr

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)


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