The Witches’ Well of Edinburgh: Real Witch Trials & Samhain Reflections
Edinburgh is a city bursting with history that hints at ancient magic. Cobblestone streets, mist-shrouded closes, and centuries-old stories cling to every shadow. But among its many secrets, one site near the gates of Edinburgh Castle holds a particularly haunting energy: The Witches’ Well.
This modest bronze fountain, sculpted by Celtic Revival artist John Duncan in 1894, sits quietly at the corner of Castlehill. You might miss it if you’re hurrying toward the castle gates…like I did. Seriously, it took three tries to find the thing! It’s a small basin framed with foxglove and serpent motifs, now softened by flowers. But this spot marks something far darker: the execution ground where hundreds of people (mostly women) were strangled and burned for witchcraft between the 1500s and 1600s.
I visited this site during my research for my newest historical novel, To Condemn a Witch. My daughter and I took a virtual walking witch tour, which was fun and interesting. But then I also took a moment, standing in the chilly street as wind brushed against my cheeks.
You could almost hear the echo of whispered prayers. The final words of women accused of consorting with the Devil.
The Duality of the Witch
Did you ever see the movie The Wizard of Oz? Do you remember when Dorothy lands in Munchkin Land and Glinda asks her, “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” This idea is based in actual history. Witches were seen as both healers and heretics, wise women and scapegoats.
The plaque above the fountain captures the paradox of witchcraft through history:
“The wicked head and serene head signify that some used their exceptional knowledge for evil purposes while others were misunderstood and wished their kind nothing but good.”
The serpent, symbolic of both wisdom and temptation, slithers through the design, and the foxglove plant, known for its power to heal and poison, represents the duality of all creation.
It’s a message that feels deeply relevant, especially as Samhain (Halloween) approaches — the season when ancients believed the veil between worlds thinned and spirits could wander the earth.
When Research Feels Like Time Travel
Writing To Condemn a Witch meant immersing myself in the fear and superstition that once ruled Scotland.
As the evening mist rolled down from the Castle Esplanade, I stood in the very place where women once begged for mercy and found none. Many were midwives, healers, or simply inconvenient. Their “crimes” were often nothing more than being different: too outspoken, too independent, too female.
In that moment, I felt their presence, not as ghosts of the past, but as a chorus of resilience whispering through time: Tell our story.
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