Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The last woman believed to have been executed in England for witchcraft may have avoided the gallows, according to new research. Prof Mark Stoyle, a historian at the University of Southampton, believes a spelling error by a court official meant the accused woman was not hanged, but instead lived for several years. Alice Molland was sentenced at Exeter Castle, Devon, in 1685 for ‘bewitching’ three of her neighbours. She was presumed to have been executed in the city’s Heavitree area in the same year, making her England’s last executed witch. Prof Stoyle’s research suggests that the court documents from the time contained a spelling mistake, and Alice Molland might actually have been called Avis Molland.” (10/31/24)