Thank you to @helainked for her blog which inspired my research into a local Witch who lived close to where I grew up.
@helainked
Mary Pannell was an English herbalist and 'cunning woman'. She was accused of, and executed for Witchcraft in 1603.
She lived in or near the village of Ledston, West Yorkshire. She had a reputation as a 'cunning woman' or Witch. She was accused of Witchcraft following the death of a young boy, William Witham in 1593 to whom she had administered a herbal mixture.
It is said that she mixed a herbal remedy to be rubbed on the boys chest. Apparently the boys mother mistakenly fed it to her child, which led to his death.
It is unclear why it took another 10 years for her to be tried and executed. Records have been lost. She was taken to the city of York and tried in 1603 where she was sentenced to death.
It is likely she was hanged at York and her body taken to her home town to be burned at the top of a hill, now known as Mary Pannell hill. Her Ghost is said to haunt the hill to this day.
There have been many accounts of sighting of her Ghost over the years, some very recent. It is said that those who witness her Ghost will experience a death in the family.
I have driven and walked past the hill on many occasions, I have not seen her Ghost, thankfully!!
