North East Witch Trials Research Session 08/04/26 10:00am-12:30pm

Written as Witches: Research Workshop Series

As part of our National Lottery Heritage Fund project exploring North East witchcraft, this series of research workshops invites participants to engage with the complex and often unsettling histories behind the region’s witch trials.

Centred around the theme Written as Witches, these sessions explore a key historical challenge: those accused of witchcraft were rarely able to tell their own stories. Instead, the evidence that survives comes from court records, pamphlets and accounts written by those in positions of power, often shaped by fear, social tensions and personal agendas rather than objective truth.

Through guided discussion and close reading, participants will work with original seventeenth century sources connected to the Newcastle witch trials and wider North East contexts. Together, we will begin to unpack the emotions, motivations and social dynamics that underpin these documents.

The workshops will explore questions such as:

• What can these sources…