New QR code plaque tells the story of Renfrewshire Witch Hunt

Now adorning the wall at the entrance to the Witches’ Well at Gallows Green, the stainless steel plaque features a QR code which directs mobile phone users to a series of videos telling the gruesome story of Christian Shaw who had seven Renfrewshire citizens executed for witchcraft in 1697 before going on to play a pivotal role in Paisley’s thread industry.

Unveiling the plaque at a ceremony today, Provost Lorraine Cameron said: “The witch hunt story is very well known across Renfrewshire and we’re here today to make sure that we do our part to keep it alive so that it can be passed on to the younger population.

“The new plaque which carries a QR code means that the information will be here forever.

“It’s very important for us locally but will resonate with people across the world.”

The plaque was made possible thanks to Bridging Digital – an Erasmus+ funded collaboration. Together with Glasgow Airport’s Flightpath and funding from Renfrewshire’s area partnerships, the Renfrewshire Witch Hunt 1697 (RWH1697) charity was able to work with Fablevision, StudioFV, artist Trent Kim, and UWS students to transfer the story of the witch hunt online to be accessed through the new QR code plaque.

The effort to commemorate lives lost during the witch hunt holds extra significance this year after former first minister Nicola Sturgeon famously issued an apology to the thousands of women who had been executed across Scotland as a result of the Witchcraft Act of 1563.

Speaking in Holyrood on International Women’s Day last year she said: “As First Minister on behalf of the Scottish Government, I am choosing to acknowledge that egregious, historic injustice and extend a formal posthumous apology to all those accused, convicted, vilified or executed under the Witchcraft Act 1563.

“Those who met this fate were not witches, they were people, and they were overwhelmingly women.

“Some will ask why this generation should say sorry for something that happened centuries ago, it might actually be pertinent to ask why it has taken so long.”

Acknowledging Ms Sturgeon's comments today at Gallows Green, the site where the seven innocent people were killed and set on fire, Provost Cameron continued: “A lot of planning has gone into today’s event which feels very timely following the apology from Nicola Sturgeon last year.

“It was very moving to hear and was, in my opinion, the right thing to do.

“I think it’s given us the motivation to get up off our backsides and do something to remember the story of the witch hunt which is exactly what we’re doing today.

“This is only the beginning.”