'Astonishing' 'Staggering Array' of Witches' Marks Meant for Curses and Protection Found on Walls in England

Recent spottings on a Tudor property, have ringed in the spirit of Halloween in the U.K., just in time for the festival. Researchers have located, what they believe to be, a large number of witches' markings in the walls of Gainsborough Old Hall in England, CNN reported. The information as well as pictures of the markings were released by English Heritage, a charitable organization that looks after historical buildings and sites, around Halloween in 2024. 

A certain number of carvings in the collections have been categorized as apotropaic marks, which back in the day were believed to provide ritualistic protection against evil, CNN reported. The house is located in the eastern county of Lincolnshire and was once visited by Henry VIII and his then Queen, Catherine Howard, as per English Heritage.

Not all of the markings were meant for protection, some are also speculated to have been made as a form of curse, PEOPLE reported. "Among the marks, are rare 'curse' inscriptions, which were probably made around the time that William Hickman owned the property (from 1596). In one inscription, Hickman’s name is written upside down. This was believed to curse the named person," English Heritage stated. 

The organization has found a marking that looks like six-petaled flowers in a circle, which after research was found to be used for trapping demons and also a pentangle, that they believe was aimed at protecting against evil, back in the day. There were around 100 burn marks on the walls, as per the charity, which experts think could have been put in place to save the building against fire. 

Rick Berry, a volunteer with English Heritage, discovered many markings on the property, CNN reported. "I have been working as an English Heritage volunteer at Gainsborough for nearly 20 years and I know this property extremely well. So I was astonished when I noticed a previously undocumented protection mark a couple of years ago," he said.

After this sighting, he continued looking for similar carvings and ended up finding many, with the latest being a small pentagram. He believes that experts should continue their work inside the property, as he estimates there are many more witch markings still left to be found. 

The organization looks after 400 sites all across the U.K. and they have never recorded such a diverse number of witch markings in any other place, PEOPLE reported. Experts are yet to understand why such a large number of markings, so different from each other were made on the property.

"The Old Hall has undoubtedly had a tumultuous past, not least under the ownership of the apparently unpopular William Hickman, but why it’s the scene of quite such a high concentration of protective carvings remains a mystery," Kevin Booth, the organization's head of collection stated.

The organization believes that the finding implies, that these old buildings need to be explored in more depth, as even after centuries they continue to make revelations about the past. "It is astonishing that centuries on, the amazing old buildings in our care still have secrets waiting to be discovered," Booth said.