In the years before the Reformation, a small chapel in a church on the outskirts of Aberdeen had provided a quiet place for Catholic women to pray in peace.
But within 30 years of the switch from Catholicism to the Protestant faith, St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen took on a far darker and sinister role.
Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, served as a prison for suspected witches while they faced trial and before they were led away to their deaths....
Witch prison found in 15th century Scottish church: Medieval chapel was used to hold suspects before they were killed and burned
St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas was first built in the 1400s
A metal ring was put into its wall in 1597 to chain up suspected witches
Twenty three women and one man were held there before being executed
They were led out to be strangled and then their bodies were burned
By Richard Gray for MailOnline
22 July 2016
In the years before the Reformation, a small chapel in a church on the outskirts of Aberdeen had provided a quiet place for Catholic women to pray in peace.
But within 30 years of the switch from Catholicism to the Protestant faith, St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen took on a far darker and sinister role.
Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, served as a prison for suspected witches while they faced trial and before they were led away to their deaths.
St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen was used as a witch prison towards the end of the 16th Century, it has been discovered. Twenty three women and one man were tried and executed after being chained to a wall in the chapel (1886 drawing of St Mary's Chapel after being restored)
An almost innocuous iron ring embedded into the north wall of the chapel is now all that remains of this gruesome past.
But records unearthed from Aberdeen's city archives have revealed this two inch wide ring was installed to chain the witches up while they were being held in the prison.
They reveal that 23 women and one man were tried and executed for witchcraft in the city during the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.
Dr Arthur Winfield, who is leading a project to restore and preserve the 'Mither Kirk', as St Nicholas's is known locally, said it was hard to imagine the chapels dark past when standing in it now.
He told MailOnline: 'I was quite sceptical that the ring was anything more than a piece of metal in the wall. It looks so insignificant.
But the city archives show in quite some detail that this ring was installed specially to hold those who had been accused of committing witchcraft.
'This was the last place these people saw before they were taken off to be killed and their bodies burned.'
There is thought to have been a church on the site of the Mither Kirk since before 1100 and it was built on a hill outside the city walls.
The is later mentioned in a Papal document dated in 1157.
The bodies of 22 babies have been unearthed in excavations, apparently buried in an arc along the outside of the original church walls.
A two inch wide metal ring was embedded into the north wall of St Mary's Chapel in the church and was used to chain the suspected witches to the wall. The ring remains there to this day (pictured)
Over the years St Mary's Chapel in Aberdeen has had many uses. Built in the 1400s it was initially used as a place for Catholic women to pray but after the reformation was used as a prison for witches. It later got used to store the city's gallows and as a soup kitchen for feeding the poor (St Mary's Chapel as it is today pictured)
The Kirk of St Nicholas (pictured left) is known locally as the Mither Kirk. Conservationists are attempting to build a heritage centre there. City records show how witches were convicted, with each record signed by the provost of the time Alexander Rutherford (plaque bearing his name in the church pictured)
But in the 1400s the church was enlarged and improved, resulting in the construction of St Mary's Chapel as part of the building.
The chapel was originally used as a place where women would got to pray but following the Reformation in 1560, the use of the church changed.
While it escaped largely undamaged from the unrest that occurred during the often blood Reformation in Scotland, it was divided into two sanctuaries – the East and West Kirk.
In 1597, however, Scotland was gripped by the Great Scottish Witch Hunt under the order of King James VI of Scotland.
It was one of a wave of witch hunts that swept across Europe in the 15th Century.
The witch hunt, however, was meticulously recorded by officials working under the Royal Commission set up to sniff out the witches.
After the reformation the church was divided into two churches, the East and the West. St Mary's Chapel sits within the East Church and was used as a prison for witches
Experts are now attempting to preserve the Chapel as part of a heritage centre. A wooden civic pew is pictured in the chapel
They contain macabre details for the equipment needed for witchhunting – peat for burning, tar barrels, rope and stakes.
While most of those accused were women, there was one man who also stood trial and was convicted of witchcraft.
Andrew Mann was accused of healing someone's entire herd of cattle, of leading dances in the countryside and kissing the devils backside.
He was also said to have claimed to have had a long standing affair with the queen of the elves and to be able to summon Satan with just two words.
'It is possible he had some sort of mental illness and found himself accused of witchcraft as a result,' said Dr Winfield.
Among the other names to appear in the city records are a Jane Wishart, who was convicted of 18 counts of witchcraft including casting spells that caused an illness in her neighbours.
She was also said to have induced a brown dog to attack her son-in-law after an argument and dismembering a corpse that hung on a gallows.
Witches were often accused of 'kissing the devil's anus' in trials during the witch hunts that swept across Europe during the 16th Century (drawing of the Obscene Kiss from Francesco Maria Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum)
Like many accusations of witchcraft, they were often leveled by others in the community who perhaps had a motive to see the person they accused being convicted.
The names and crimes of each ‘witch’ are meticulously recorded in the city’s records and signed off by the provost of the time Alexander Rutherford. A plaque bearing his name still resides in the church.
Each of those found guilty of witchcraft were taken from St Mary’s chapel, strangled and then their bodies were burned.
No remains of the accused witches have been found at the site but excavations at the church have found the remains of more than 2,000 individuals were found buried at the site.
The OpenSpace Trust is now working to develop a heritage centre at the Kirk of St Nicholas that will tell the story of the history of the church and Aberdeen more widely.
Since its time as a witches’ prison, St Mary’s Chapel has served as a place to store the city’s gallows and even a soup kitchen for the city’s poor.
Dr Winfield said: ‘It is an astonishing place with quite a vivid history. In many ways the history of the church helps to tell the story of the city.’
THE GREAT SCOTTISH WITCH HUNT
Witchcraft laws passed by James IV of Scotland led to a nationwide search for witches that became known as the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.
It was in fact the second of five national witch hunts in Scottish history. Like the others it was conducted under the supervision of Royal Commissions.
But it is one of the most poorly documented of the Great Scottish Witch hunts as it was not documented centrally.
Instead local authorities were left to record the accusations and outcomes of trials. Around 200 ‘witches’ are believed to have been killed in the 1597 witch hunt.
The other Great Scottish Witch Hunts took place in 1590-91, 1628-1631, 1649-59 and 1661-62.
But within 30 years of the switch from Catholicism to the Protestant faith, St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen took on a far darker and sinister role.
Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, served as a prison for suspected witches while they faced trial and before they were led away to their deaths....
Witch prison found in 15th century Scottish church: Medieval chapel was used to hold suspects before they were killed and burned
St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas was first built in the 1400s
A metal ring was put into its wall in 1597 to chain up suspected witches
Twenty three women and one man were held there before being executed
They were led out to be strangled and then their bodies were burned
By Richard Gray for MailOnline
22 July 2016
In the years before the Reformation, a small chapel in a church on the outskirts of Aberdeen had provided a quiet place for Catholic women to pray in peace.
But within 30 years of the switch from Catholicism to the Protestant faith, St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen took on a far darker and sinister role.
Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, served as a prison for suspected witches while they faced trial and before they were led away to their deaths.
St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen was used as a witch prison towards the end of the 16th Century, it has been discovered. Twenty three women and one man were tried and executed after being chained to a wall in the chapel (1886 drawing of St Mary's Chapel after being restored)
An almost innocuous iron ring embedded into the north wall of the chapel is now all that remains of this gruesome past.
But records unearthed from Aberdeen's city archives have revealed this two inch wide ring was installed to chain the witches up while they were being held in the prison.
They reveal that 23 women and one man were tried and executed for witchcraft in the city during the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.
Dr Arthur Winfield, who is leading a project to restore and preserve the 'Mither Kirk', as St Nicholas's is known locally, said it was hard to imagine the chapels dark past when standing in it now.
He told MailOnline: 'I was quite sceptical that the ring was anything more than a piece of metal in the wall. It looks so insignificant.
But the city archives show in quite some detail that this ring was installed specially to hold those who had been accused of committing witchcraft.
'This was the last place these people saw before they were taken off to be killed and their bodies burned.'
There is thought to have been a church on the site of the Mither Kirk since before 1100 and it was built on a hill outside the city walls.
The is later mentioned in a Papal document dated in 1157.
The bodies of 22 babies have been unearthed in excavations, apparently buried in an arc along the outside of the original church walls.
A two inch wide metal ring was embedded into the north wall of St Mary's Chapel in the church and was used to chain the suspected witches to the wall. The ring remains there to this day (pictured)
Over the years St Mary's Chapel in Aberdeen has had many uses. Built in the 1400s it was initially used as a place for Catholic women to pray but after the reformation was used as a prison for witches. It later got used to store the city's gallows and as a soup kitchen for feeding the poor (St Mary's Chapel as it is today pictured)
The Kirk of St Nicholas (pictured left) is known locally as the Mither Kirk. Conservationists are attempting to build a heritage centre there. City records show how witches were convicted, with each record signed by the provost of the time Alexander Rutherford (plaque bearing his name in the church pictured)
But in the 1400s the church was enlarged and improved, resulting in the construction of St Mary's Chapel as part of the building.
The chapel was originally used as a place where women would got to pray but following the Reformation in 1560, the use of the church changed.
While it escaped largely undamaged from the unrest that occurred during the often blood Reformation in Scotland, it was divided into two sanctuaries – the East and West Kirk.
In 1597, however, Scotland was gripped by the Great Scottish Witch Hunt under the order of King James VI of Scotland.
It was one of a wave of witch hunts that swept across Europe in the 15th Century.
The witch hunt, however, was meticulously recorded by officials working under the Royal Commission set up to sniff out the witches.
After the reformation the church was divided into two churches, the East and the West. St Mary's Chapel sits within the East Church and was used as a prison for witches
Experts are now attempting to preserve the Chapel as part of a heritage centre. A wooden civic pew is pictured in the chapel
They contain macabre details for the equipment needed for witchhunting – peat for burning, tar barrels, rope and stakes.
While most of those accused were women, there was one man who also stood trial and was convicted of witchcraft.
Andrew Mann was accused of healing someone's entire herd of cattle, of leading dances in the countryside and kissing the devils backside.
He was also said to have claimed to have had a long standing affair with the queen of the elves and to be able to summon Satan with just two words.
'It is possible he had some sort of mental illness and found himself accused of witchcraft as a result,' said Dr Winfield.
Among the other names to appear in the city records are a Jane Wishart, who was convicted of 18 counts of witchcraft including casting spells that caused an illness in her neighbours.
She was also said to have induced a brown dog to attack her son-in-law after an argument and dismembering a corpse that hung on a gallows.
Witches were often accused of 'kissing the devil's anus' in trials during the witch hunts that swept across Europe during the 16th Century (drawing of the Obscene Kiss from Francesco Maria Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum)
Like many accusations of witchcraft, they were often leveled by others in the community who perhaps had a motive to see the person they accused being convicted.
The names and crimes of each ‘witch’ are meticulously recorded in the city’s records and signed off by the provost of the time Alexander Rutherford. A plaque bearing his name still resides in the church.
Each of those found guilty of witchcraft were taken from St Mary’s chapel, strangled and then their bodies were burned.
No remains of the accused witches have been found at the site but excavations at the church have found the remains of more than 2,000 individuals were found buried at the site.
The OpenSpace Trust is now working to develop a heritage centre at the Kirk of St Nicholas that will tell the story of the history of the church and Aberdeen more widely.
Since its time as a witches’ prison, St Mary’s Chapel has served as a place to store the city’s gallows and even a soup kitchen for the city’s poor.
Dr Winfield said: ‘It is an astonishing place with quite a vivid history. In many ways the history of the church helps to tell the story of the city.’
THE GREAT SCOTTISH WITCH HUNT
Witchcraft laws passed by James IV of Scotland led to a nationwide search for witches that became known as the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.
It was in fact the second of five national witch hunts in Scottish history. Like the others it was conducted under the supervision of Royal Commissions.
But it is one of the most poorly documented of the Great Scottish Witch hunts as it was not documented centrally.
Instead local authorities were left to record the accusations and outcomes of trials. Around 200 ‘witches’ are believed to have been killed in the 1597 witch hunt.
The other Great Scottish Witch Hunts took place in 1590-91, 1628-1631, 1649-59 and 1661-62.