# Essex's Darkest Witch Hunt

An episode of [After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1705694900), 29 Jan 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64e89a796854bf00115a70e0/e/697923ab829604514e6e1af6/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=NOWZvcpISakC3bb4ofN1TTAQGTsh--pBysbFjAf3LwM

This is the story of a 16th century cunning woman, a folk healer, who was found guilty of being a witch. Accusations spiralled until more than a dozen women faced the threat of death. The St Osyth witch hunt became a landmark case, setting a dark precedent for the witch hunts that would explode across the country in the century that followed. Our guest today is Marion Gibson, author of 'Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials'. This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick. You can now watch After Dark on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@afterdarkhistoryhit Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here. All music from Epidemic Sounds. After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast. Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards. Click to place your vote on the Spotify mobile app: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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