Reblogged from Walking with a Smacked Pentax:

Timble is a tiny little village (or hamlet) about 6 miles from where I live – and it is famous for it’s witches (& the Timble Inn – an old friend but sadly now a B&B and restaurant). Not too many people know the story of the ‘Timble Witches’, so for those who are interested – here it is.

The story of the Timble Witches begins in the years leading up to 1621, which marked the publication of a most amazing book entitled ‘Daemonologia – A Discourse on Witchcraft, as it was acted out in Family of Mr. Edward Fairfax, at Fuystone, in the County of York in the year 1621’.

The Fairfaxes were a very distinguished and powerful family. Edwards two elder brothers, Thomas and Charles, were both soldiers who fought at Flanders and in the Continental wars. Edward Fairfax also had two sisters, Ursula and Christiana, married respectively to Sir Henry Bellasis and John Aske of Aughton.

It is generally believed that Edward came to live at Newhall in Washburndale, (a house long submerged beneath Swinsty Reservoir) some time around 1600.  It seems that he was newly married, having taken as his wife a Miss Laycock of Copmanthorpe near York, and according to the parish records his daughter Elizabeth was baptised at Fewston in 1606.

Continue reading at Walking with a Smacked Pentax