The Bideford witch trial resulted in hangings for witchcraft in England. Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards from the town of Bideford in Devon were tried in 1682 at the Exeter Assizes at Rougemont Castle. Much of the evidence against them was hearsay, although there was a confession by Lloyd, which she did not fully recant even with her execution imminent. These women have been labelled as the last witches to be hanged in England, but there are subsequent cases which are not as well documented.
A plaque commemorating the executions on the wall of Rougemont Castle in Exeter.
Jurist Sir John Holt by Richard van Bleeck, c. 1700. Holt greatly helped eliminate prosecutions for witchcraft in England after the Bideford witch trial. National Portrait Gallery, London.
Bideford is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
Bideford viewed looking westward across the River Torridge. Bideford Long Bridge visible on left
1860 imaginary depiction of Robert FitzHamon (died 1107) (left) and his younger brother Richard I de Grenville (d.post 1142) (right), Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall
A portrait of Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591) heroic captain of the Revenge
The Pannier Market opened in 1884
