This holiday weekend, Derek, Yvette and the rest of the Most Haunted team will be following the story of “The Witchfinder General” and that of the Essex witch trials to tap into the past and reveal some of England’s darkest secrets!
Matthew Hopkins (ca. 1620 – 1647) was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. He held, or claimed to hold, the office of Witch-Finder General, although this was not a title ever bestowed by Parliament, and conducted witch-hunts mainly in the counties of Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and occasionally in other eastern counties of England. The one surviving example of his signature shows he spelt his name Mathew Hopkins.
It has been estimated that in all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries, fewer than 500 witches were executed. The work of Hopkins and Stearne would at the lower estimate of numbers of witches “found” and hanged account for 40% of that total. Their actions during these years became solely responsible for the increase in witch trials.
Day 1 Graveyard Of St. Nicholas Church, Crossroads
Day 2 Seafield Bay, The White Hart, Mannigtree Green
Day 3 Mistley Towers, Thorn Hotel, Mistley Pnd & Hpoong Bridge, Church Ruins
First Broadcast: 9th April 2004