Alice Nutter

Alice Nutter was one of the people accused of witchcraft during the Pendle Witch Hunt. Alice was unusual among the accused in that she was comparatively wealthy, the widow of a tenant yeoman farmer. She was accused by a nine-year-old girl of being present at a covenant meeting on Good Friday, 1612. She was also accused of bringing about the death of a man named Henry Milton. Alice protested her innocence, unlike most of the others accused. The trial was held at Lancaster Castle on August 18 but was a farce; the accused were not allowed to have lawyers and were denied the right to call witnesses to their defence. The ordeal was over quickly; Alice was hanged at Gallows Hill just two days later, on August 20, 1612.

The others hanged were Anne Whittle, Ann Redfearn, Elizabeth Device, Alison Device, James Device, Katherine Hewitt, Jane Bulcock, John Bulcock and Isobel Robey.

A statue of Alice Nutter unveiled in Roughlee, in 2012

Sources:

Pendle witches, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, L. Gowing

https://www.roughlee.org.uk/roughlee-commemorates-alice.../