The Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612, that saw twelve people accused of witch craft, has throughout the ages continued to fascinate people from all around the world.

Many books have been written about the now infamous, 'Pendle Witches' but none so relevant as the one written by a man called Thomas Potts, the clerk to the court  at the Lancaster Assizes where the trials took place on the 18th and 19th of August 1612.

His book, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster is quite extraordinary in detail as it outlines what took place all those years ago.  It takes into account the complete story of not just the Pendle witches but also those known as the Samlesbury Witches which saw in total, twenty men and women being accused of witchcraft with eleven being found guilty and subsequently hanged and one being sentenced to stand in a pillory (a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands and was used as a form of punishment by public humilation and often physical abuse).  The other seven were eventually acquitted.

But it isn’t the Pendle witches or the Samlesbury witches that have perked our interest for our next story.

Instead, we are going to take a step back into 1705 and to the small village of Woodplumpton that is situated in the City of Preston, Lancashire.

Within the small graveyard of St. Anne's Church, there is a large boulder that can be found alongside a path which seems to be out of character amongst the old headstones and that of the 13th Century church.

And alongside this boulder is a small plaque with an inscribed message that simply reads; "The Witch's Grave.  Beneath this stone lie the remains of Meg Shelton, alleged Witch of Woodplumpton, buried in 1705."

Margery Hilton, or "Meg Shelton" and "The Fylde Witch" as she was and still is known as, was by all accounts a loner who would prefer to be in her own company rather than mix with the locals of the village and was often looked down upon as a figure of fun.

Surviving mainly on haggis (which was in common use at that time in Fylde), made from boiled groats and herbs such as thyme and parsley,  Meg was a poor woman - a beggar by all accounts, and was known for her shape-shifting abilities which, if stories are to be believed, allowed her to change into all manner of things ranging from animals and various kinds of inanimate objects.

It's unclear as to where Meg had lived as many stories will say she had lived in a small cottage in the village of Singleton, whereas others will say she lived in nearby Catforth, less than an hour's walk away from Woodplumpton.

However, one story that we have uncovered is that of Mrs. Margaret Parr who was a native of Catforth and who lived until the age of 91.  The daughter of a farmer, she lived her whole life working on the farm and was a familiar figure often seen with her horse and cart travelling between Catforth and Elswick.  She would tell stories of how the Corn Laws had affected her family, as well stories of the Lancashire Martyrs.  But the one thing that she found hard to deal with during her life in the late 1600s was the difficulty in practicing her religion as a Catholic.

Interestingly, she would on many occasions recall living close to Meg Shelton, which, as already mentioned, was in Catforth.

But no matter where she lived, the stories of Meg all agree on one thing; she was a lady who would cause, it seems, plenty of mischief!