A witch hunt – or at least evidence of supernatural beliefs – is on in 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.
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