(Witchfinder General)
During the Chelmsford trials Hopkins gained a great deal of glory and publicity, and was even expanding his operations into Suffolk. After the success of the Chelmsford trials, Hopkins quickly became the sought after expert and charged extortionately for his services. He declared himself the �Witch-Finder General� with an alleged special commission from Parliament to rid the country of witches. Advertising openly he exploited the Puritans hatred of Devil worship and the villager�s fear of witchcraft, and what with the political turmoil of the Civil War, he had no shortage of business.
Records show that he died in the nearby village of Mistley, where according to the �Church Registers� he was buried on the 12th August 1647. Today according to local legend, Hopkins� ghost is said to haunt Mistley Pond. An apparition wearing 17th-century attire is reportedly seen roaming the vicinity, particularly on Friday nights near to the Witches Sabbats.
Acknowledgements to George Knowles
I arrived here around 8.30 and did a preliminary walk round.
Two video cameras with infra-red were placed at different locations throughout the night (a few light anomalies were captured)
I took a lot of still digital photographs and several orbs were seen.
At 2.30am Sunday 5th March I heard a couple of footsteps on the bridge near where I was based, but nothing untoward was seen. However this was a Saturday night and perhaps a Friday night as detailed above would have been a better choice. Also a lot of other reports do stipulate that in fact Matthew Hopkins is buried at Mistley Heath at the ruins of the old church. So the team will be investigating this very shortly and will report on here soon.
