Mysterious pits shed light on forgotten witches of the West

Evidence of pagan rituals involving swans and other birds in the Cornish countryside in the 17th century has been uncovered by archaeologists.

Since 2003, 35 pits at the site in a valley near Truro have been excavated containing swan pelts, dead magpies, unhatched eggs, quartz pebbles, human hair, fingernails and part of an iron cauldron.

The finds have been dated to the 1640s, a period of turmoil in England when Cromwellian Puritans destroyed any links to pre-Christian pagan England. It was also a period when witchcraft attracted the death sentence.

Helen Duncan, from Callander, served nine months in Holloway prison in 1944 after telling a seance a warship had sunk, before the news was made public.

She was convicted under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 for pretending to exercise or use any kind of "witchcraft" or "sorcery" to tell fortunes.

The call to pardon Mrs Duncan was put before Holyrood's petitions committee.