Mercat Tours

If you’re joining us for our Secrets of the Royal Mile tour, then make sure you look out for the Witches’ Well that sits at the base of the Esplanade tucked away. This fountain and plaque honours those who were executed there in the 1500s and 1600s centuries after being accused of witchcraft. Those who were accused were often herbalists, the mentally ill or those at the wrong end of someone’s accusation. In the 1680’s, the last woman was tried by dooking at the shores of the Nor’ Loch and in 1727, the last witch was burned in Scotland (In Sutherland).