Friday, 28th February 2025 at 7.30pm. at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace
Speakers: Peter Eliott and Clare Dudman
There were trials and executions of witches in Chester in the seventeenth century and this meeting will explore some aspects of this.
Local historian, Peter Elliott, discusses these on his Chesterwiki site. It inspired one of our members, Clare Dudman, to create a film about the events.
Peter will outline social and legal attitudes to witches in Puritan times and the situation in the North-West and North Wales, especially in Chester. Many myths have sprung up about the Chester Witches’, but the real history is far more fascinating.
After a break Clare will speak about her film, ‘The Three Ravens’. It tells the story of three of the witches brought to trial in Chester, and the Judge John Bradshaw. As President of the High Court of Justice, Bradshaw, a Cheshire man, signed the execution order for Charles I. He was also Chief Justice of the Chester and North Wales Circuit and presided over several witch trials.
‘Three Ravens’ is Clare’s fourth event for the Heritage Festival, filmed mainly in Bishop Lloyd’s Palace in 2023. She received a commission, which allowed her to pay for professional actors
The cost of the evening is £8.
