"Witch's Cottage" Found In UK

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Workmen make 'bewitching' discovery


(UK News-Yahoo) Water engineers have unearthed what could prove to be one of the most infamous sites in England's history of witches and warlocks.

United Utilities' workers were "stunned" to discover a 17th century witch's-style cottage, with a mummified cat sealed into the walls, during a routine construction project in Pendle, Lancashire.

The "spellbinding" find occurred near Lower Black Moss reservoir in the village of Barley, which nestles in the shadow of Pendle Hill - the UK's premier witching hotspot.

Speculation is already rife among local historians that the building could be the lost Malkin Tower - the site of a notorious meeting of the Pendle witches on Good Friday, 1612.

Archaeologists brought in by the North West water firm to survey the area found a remarkably well-preserved building from the 1600s, hidden beneath a grass mound.

The building contained a sealed room, with a mummified cat bricked into the wall. It is believed the cat was buried alive to protect the cottage's inhabitants from evil spirits.

Carl Sanders, United Utilities' project manager, said: "It's not often you come across a fairytale cottage complete with witch's cat. The building is in remarkable condition. You can walk through it and get a real sense that you're peering into the past."

Simon Entwistle, an expert on the Pendle witches, said: "In terms of significance, it's like discovering Tutankhamun's tomb. We are just a few months away from the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials, and here we have an incredibly rare find, right in the heart of witching country."

Frank Giecco, from NP Archaeology, led the team who unearthed the Pendle building.

He said: "It's like discovering your own little Pompeii. We rarely get the opportunity to work with something so well preserved. As soon as we started digging, we found the tops of doors, and knew we were onto something special."


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The cottage may have once looked like these nearby homes in Pendle Hill Witch Country.

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17th Century "Witch's Cottage" Unearthed in Britain

(NBC Miami)  A 400-year-old "witch's cottage" complete with a mummified cat was unearthed by British engineers excavating a grass-covered mound.

Archaeologists were called to the construction project in Lancashire after the cottage was discovered, according to the BBC. Experts believe the the well-preserved cottage may have belonged to one of the Pendle witches.

The mummified cat was found embedded in a brick wall, where it may have been buried alive to ward off evil spirits.

Carl Sanders, United Utilities' project manager, said: "It's not often you come across a fairytale cottage complete with witch's cat.

"The building is in remarkable condition," Carl Sanders, manager of the utilities project that necessitated the digging, told the BBC. "You can walk through it and get a real sense that you're peering into the past."

The area around the cottage, Pendle Hill, is known as witch country for a spate of witch trials that took place during the 17th century.

Simon Entwistle, an expert on the Pendle witches compared the discovery to finding the tomb of King Tut.

"We are just a few months away from the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials, and here we have an incredibly rare find, right in the heart of witching country," he said. "This could well be the famous Malkin Tower - which has been a source of speculation and rumor for centuries."

The building also contains a 19th Century kitchen range, Victorian crockery, a tin bath and a bedstead from its later years.

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