From the SelectedWorks of Dr Philip Stone

2012

Dark Tourism in Philip R. Stone

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/philip_stone/68/ Main Title:

Dark Tourism in Lancashire

Subtitle: From the Pendle Hill Witches to Sambo’s Grave, Dr Philip Stone from the University of Central Lancashire explores the darker side of Lancashire

Article:

There is a ‘dark side’ to Lancashire that offers visitors a fascinating glimpse into the ghoulish past. Known as ‘dark tourism’, the region boasts an increasing number of enticing, yet provocative, tourist sites, attractions and exhibitions that represent death or the seemingly macabre.

Probably the most (in)famous of Lancashire’s dark tourism attractions is Pendle Hill – an area of outstanding natural beauty - and its association with 17th century witchcraft. In 1612, against a backdrop of social superstition, political unrest and religious bigotry, a dozen people, mainly women, who lived in the shadow of Pendle Hill, were accused of serial murder by the use of witchcraft. What followed was one of the most important witchcraft trials in English history. Known as the Lancashire Witch Trials, the ‘witches’ were tried and found ‘guilty’ at the Lancaster Assizes (now Lancaster Castle) and, subsequently, executed by hanging. What made this witch trial notable, apart from ten of the defendants being hung together on the same day, was the official publication of proceedings by the then clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, in his ‘The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster’. In 2012, during the 400th anniversary of the Lancashire Witch Trials, visitors can still discover the ‘wonderful witches of Lancashire’. Indeed, visitors can enjoy the ecological splendour of Pendle Hill, but also explore the eerie goings-on from a bygone age. It is here that the Lancashire landscape is fused with the natural and the supernatural, as visitors intermingle with memories of the Pendle Hill Witches, who have become, to some at least, ‘guardian spirits’ of the area.

Lancashire is also home to other tourist sites that have a dark heritage. In particular, slavery merchants in Lancaster, once the fourth largest slave trading port in between 1750 and 1790 – after , Bristol and nearby Liverpool – traded people in exchange for goods. Visitors can now explore this provoking period of history through exhibitions at Lancaster City Museum or at Lancaster’s permanent memorial – ‘Captured Africans’ – located on the quay side where slaves once disembarked. At nearby , a small village among the marshes at the estuary of the , is the grave of a young slave named Sambo, who died in 1736. Despite its remote, if not romantic location next to the shoreline of Bay, many visitors attend Sambo’s Grave, and contemplate the sad story of an African boy taken so far from home. Today, Sambo’s Grave is adorned with flowers and pebbles painted by schoolchildren, as his burial site provides visitors with a memorial touchstone to Lancashire’s slavery-heritage.

Lancashire also boasts a number of ‘lighter’ dark tourism attractions that focus on entertainment. From the Dungeons, to the Pasaje del Terror at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, or even the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussauds in Blackpool, visitors can indulge in the macabre. At Halloween, the region has a number of ‘scare attractions’, including the Farm of Terror in Bacup, Scare Kingdom Scream Park, near , and Farmaggedon at . Ultimately, however, dark tourism in Lancashire provides visitors a unique opportunity to experience macabre fun as well as learning from the region’s dark heritage.

Dr Philip Stone is Executive Director of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR) at the University of Central Lancashire

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