B. Hughes' Monkey Show, photographed 10 July 1948. This resource is the copyright of the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/) and has been made available with their permission. Some rights reserved (see terms of licence by clicking on the CC licence logo below).

Ellen Proctor, rifle range, photographed 1959. This resource is the copyright of the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/) and has been made available with their permission. Some rights reserved (see terms of licence by clicking on the CC licence logo below).

Joe Gandey, photographed April 1962. This resource is the copyright of the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/) and has been made available with their permission. Some rights reserved (see terms of licence by clicking on the CC licence logo below).

O'Connor's Laughing Clowns Stall, photographed circa 1970. This resource is the copyright of the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/) and has been made available with their permission. Some rights reserved (see terms of licence by clicking on the CC licence logo below).

W. A. Swift's Juvenile, photographed 14 July 1941. This resource is the copyright of the National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield (http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/) and has been made available with their permission. Some rights reserved (see terms of licence by clicking on the CC licence logo below).

This seminar and its sequel explore the rich documentation on witchcraft trials surviving for two English regions: Lancashire and Essex. They have both been subjected to considerable historical analysis already; and acquired a degree of public exposure too. So the aims of this seminar are to test various scholarly assumptions about the origins and process of witchcraft accusations against the regional evidence. Prepared for the special subject module: Ghosts, Witches and Portents in Early Modern Europe.