Doreen Valiente Foundation


is considered one of the founders of the modern “Wicca” movement along with Gerald Gardner, the man credited with reviving what has been described as Britain’s only indigenous religion, England being the birthplace of Wicca. She was also an author of great note in the field of magic, folklore, witchcraft and paganism and has been described by Professor Ronald Hutton of the University of Bristol as “.. the greatest single female figure in the modern British history of witchcraft”. Doreen was also one of the founders of the organisation now called the Pagan Federation, which, more than 40 years on, continues to represent modern day pagans in mainstream society in areas such as law, government, hospitals, schools and the wider community. She has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was the author of books, which continue to sell today, and are frequently quoted as standard works in the study of contemporary paganism and modern British witchcraft. Both Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner have Heritage Blue Plaques commemorating the buildings where they lived.

The Doreen Valiente Collection

The Doreen Valiente Collection, owned by the, Registered Charity No. 1178528 in England and Wales, a Registered Charity No. 1178528 in England and Wales, is probably the most significant collection in the world of original artifacts and documents related to the twentieth century rise of modern-day witchcraft which paved the way for the development of awareness and cultural acceptance of modern-day interpretations of paganism into society. The latter part of the millennium saw underground indigenous British religious and spiritual traditions become worldwide phenomena and begin to take their place in mainstream society, the 2011 census showed Paganism as Britain's seventh largest faith group. As the author of some of the religious texts that are used in modern-day Wicca, the Doreen Valiente Collection naturally contains a number of these original manuscripts.
Doreen Valiente was an inveterate collector of material relating to folklore, witchcraft and other allied interests. Nearly all of the witchcraft-related material, which she accumulated, passed to John Belham-Payne upon her death. He passed ownership of the collection through a Deed of Trust to the Doreen Valiente Foundation.