Case file · Witch trials
The Bideford witches
Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards of Bideford, Devon, were hanged at Exeter in August 1682, among the last people executed for witchcraft in England.
1682 CE · 51.02, -4.21 · status: official
The account
The three were poor, elderly women. The judges themselves later expressed doubts, and the trial helped turn educated opinion against such prosecutions. A campaign for a pardon continues.
The sceptical view
Confessions came from frightened, confused women under questioning.