England's Witchcraft Trials

England’s Witchcraft Trials examines the history of witchcraft prosecutions in England through the records left by courts, parishes and local authorities. Willow Winsham uses trial transcripts alongside contemporary pamphlets, recognising that these published accounts could be sensational and deeply prejudicial.

The book places individual cases within the beliefs and social fears of their time, showing how accusations and testimonies reflected the lives of ordinary people. It includes the 1566 Chelmsford case, associated with England’s first execution for witchcraft after the new Witchcraft Act, and considers what surviving evidence reveals about the people accused, their communities and the legal processes brought against them.