In the spring of 1612, in the wild country around Pendle Hill, two feuding families — led by the elderly matriarchs known as Demdike and Chattox — found themselves at the centre of the most famous witch trials in English history. It began when young Alizon Device cursed a pedlar on the road to Colne; within weeks accusation had followed accusation, and a Good Friday gathering at Malkin Tower had been transformed by rumour into a witches' sabbat.

That August, men and women from the Pendle district were tried for witchcraft at the Lancaster Assizes. Much of the evidence came from a nine-year-old girl — Jennet Device — whose testimony sent her own mother, brother and sister to the gallows. The clerk of the court, Thomas Potts, set the whole strange story down in his 1613 account, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, and the legend has haunted these hills ever since.

Four centuries on, Pendle Hill still broods over our village, the waymarked Witch Way still winds through the valley, and the names of Demdike, Chattox, Alice Nutter and the Devices are still spoken here. It is a tale of superstition and injustice — real people, whose names we remember — and it is the story our little shop keeps alive today.

Every witch in our famous figurine collection carries a real name from the 1612 trials — Demdike and Chattox, Alice Nutter of Roughlee, Alizon and Jennet Device, Anne Redfearn. Each one is hand-made for the shop, and no two are quite alike.

They have found homes with collectors all over the world — and every one of them begins its journey here, in the village where the story happened.

You will find us in the heart of the old village, at the foot of Pendle Hill: Newchurch-in-Pendle, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 9JR. Call us on 01282 613111.

Come along and see what all the fuss is about — we cannot wait to see you. You never know, you may even run into a friendly witch!