Witches' Well (Edinburgh)

Brief Information

The small bronze fountain on the wall evokes not water but fires: the “Witches’ Well” was placed near the spot where, from 1479 to 1722, more than 300 women accused of witchcraft were burned. It is located on Castle Rock, at the lower end of the esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle, and looks more like a small wall relief than a monumental sculpture.

The name is more apt than it may seem. The memorial is attached to an 1851 building that until 1992 was Edinburgh’s main reservoir and collected drinking water from the Comiston Springs. So the form of a drinking fountain here is not a decorative accident: the memory of the executions is joined to the real water history of this place.

What to Notice First

In the relief, it is worth comparing the pairs and double meanings. The two heads, one fierce and one serene, are explained on the plaque as a symbol of different ideas about women accused of witchcraft: some were considered harmful, while others suffered innocently. The snake is also presented ambiguously: it signifies both evil and wisdom.

The foxglove beside the heads is important not as a floral ornament. In the original description it is named as a substance that, depending on the dose, can be either medicine or poison, thereby echoing the monument’s main idea about the double interpretation of knowledge. Lower down, it is worth noticing the opening of the non-functioning drinking fountain and the bronze plant box: on its sides are trees, healing hands with a bowl of medicine, and a pair of eyes alluding to beliefs about the evil eye.