Open-air museum seeks ‘witch posts’ across Bolton

Folklore experts are asking residents to help locate carved wooden posts, known today as ‘witch posts’, in homes across the town.

The posts were used by our ancestors to protect their homes and buildings through magical means,” explained Jennifer Smith, director of Ryedale Folk Museum, which is planning a new exhibition.

“They were always located next to a fireplace within 17th century homes.

They had practical purposes supporting the bressummer, but it’s the carved design that we’re very interested in. What makes ‘witch posts’ different is that they are marked with an X, a known protective mark.Ian Trumble iHall i'th'Wood

For years, it was thought that surviving witch posts were so rare that there were fewer than 20 still in existence, with most of them clustered around the North York Moors.

But staff at the museum now have reason to believe there might be others across the UK, and they are asking Bolton News readers to help them in their search.

Museum staff have been working with author Brian Hoggard, a protective or ‘apotropaic’ mark specialist.

READ MORE: Hall 'th' Wood shut as it awaits “specialist support and funding”

Bolton's Toby Carvery pub and what lies behind the grand façade

REVEALED: The witch markings that protected Bolton’s historic homes from evil spirits

He said: “The fear people had of the supernatural was, by today’s standards, all pervasive. They used object and marking as a means of protection. There were old shoes concealed for use as decoys, herbal charms and written incantations used for myriad purposes, and, of course, apotropaic marks for keeping evil at bay.

“The witch posts were part of the range of steps taken by people in their attempts to feel safe, be that from intruders or fire, or from more supernatural elements.

“For the people of the past, there was a perception that supernatural forces existed all around us and that it was only positive action that could keep us safe. Letting one’s guard down was believed to result in illness, misfortune, bewitchment and, ultimately, even death.”

“For years, it has been accepted that the posts were almost all from the North York Moors region, but there are certainly two other examples in cottages in Lancashire.”

The likelihood of finding witch posts in Bolton may be increased by the survival of a number of witch marks in two of the town’s most notable buildings.

The strange marks which, like witch posts, were made to provide protection from evil spirits, can be found in Smithills Hall and Hall i’th’ Wood.

As well as the carved marks, taper burns, daisy wheels and “VV” – symbolizing virgins – can be found in the two buildings.

The markings ensured Bolton’s old halls were protected from evil spirits on Halloween night and date from a time when belief in witchcraft and the supernatural was widespread.

The symbols were carved on to stone or woodwork near entrances such as doorways, windows and fireplaces to protect inhabitants and visitors from witches and evil spirits as well as danger.

Markings ranged from a “daisy wheel”, the most common type of mark which looks like a flower drawn with a compass, in a single endless line that was supposed to confuse and entrap evil spirits, to “Solomon’s knots” and pentangles.

The markings are thought to have been etched in churches, halls, houses and barns between the 1500s and 1700s, during The Reformation. The religious upheaval saw a period of great confusion in society, with people not knowing what to believe in.

Superstition, however, was something they could understand, and as there was no real scientific understanding, a draught from a window or a creak was often thought to be an evil spirit.

If you have information about witch posts, please email info@ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk