Malkin Tower

Malkin Tower (or the Malking Tower or Mocking Tower) was the home of Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Demdike, and her granddaughter Alizon Device, two of the chief protagonists in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612.

Perhaps the best-known alleged witches' coven in English legal history took place in Malkin Tower on 10 April 1612. Eight of those attending were subsequently arrested and tried for causing harm by witchcraft, seven of whom were found guilty and executed. The house may have been demolished shortly after the trials. The only firm evidence for its location comes from the official account by the clerk of the court, Thomas Potts, who places it somewhere in the Forest of Pendle. Archaeological excavations in the area have failed to discover any confirmed remains of the building.

Several explanations have been suggested for the origins of the word Malkin. Despite its name, Malkin Tower is likely to have been a simple cottage.

Richard James c. 1633

The name Malkin has several possible derivations: it was a familiar form of the female names Mary or Maud, and a term for a poor or shabby woman; the similar mawkin was a word used to describe a lower-class woman or slut.Malkin was also used as a term for a cat, particularly an old cat, as in grimalkin or grey malkin, and was an old northern English name for a hare, into which witches were said to be able to transfigure. It has also been suggested that the name was a combination of mal and kin as a slight to the residents of Malkin Tower, which local historian Arthur Douglas considers unlikely owing to the poor education of people in the area at that time. Another possibility is a corruption of malt kiln, which is supported by a claim made by Alizon Device that the family of Anne Whittle, also known as Chattox, had broken into their fire house.

Authors have speculated on a range of buildings that could account for the Tower appellation. Malkin Tower may have incorporated a Norman peel tower, built as a defence against Scottish raiders or might have been a disused poacher's lookout, but it is more likely that despite its name Malkin Tower was a simple cottage. Historian W. R. Mitchell suggests that it was originally a small farm building, perhaps a shelter for fodder or livestock, which was converted into poor-quality living accommodation. Poverty was not uncommon among the residents of the Forest of Pendle, hence the building may have been no more than a hovel, and tower may have been a sarcastic name given by local residents. It is almost certain that Southerns and Device did not own Malkin Tower but were tenants.

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