Page "Gardnerian Wicca" Paragraph 16

The group into which Gardner claimed to be initiated, known as the New Forest coven, was small and utterly secret as claiming to be a witch was illegal in Britain since the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made claiming to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells a crime, and likewise made an accusation of witchcraft a criminal offense ).

When the Witchcraft Laws were replaced, in 1951, by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, initially somewhat cautiously.

However, during the late 1950s and until his death in 1964, Gardner even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some more conservative members of the tradition.