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Council orders removal of hook-nosed witch mural for ‘historical inaccuracies’

witch mural fife - BOBBY ROGUEONE
witch mural fife - BOBBY ROGUEONE

A Scottish council has ordered the removal of a giant mural of a hook-nosed witch with warts from the side of a village pub because it was based on “historically inaccurate false narratives”.

Councillors in Fife said the image on the side of the 19th-century Larachmhor Tavern in Pittenweem was not a realistic depiction of women who were tried and executed for witchcraft.

Planning officers said the mural, which appeared on the pub last Halloween, was “not only inaccurate but also gaudy in its use of colour and stylisation”.

The council’s north east planning committee rejected an application for retrospective planning permission and it must now be removed.

At least 26 people were tortured and 18 killed in Pittenweem during the 18th century after being accused of being in league with the devil.

The most notorious incident involved the death of Janet Cornfoot in 1705. She was swung from a rope, stoned, then crushed under a door piled with boulders by a mob and a horse and cart repeatedly ridden over her.

Popular visitor tours have been run in recent years for tourists attracted to the village by its historical association with witches.

pittenweem
pittenweem

The pub’s owners commissioned street artist Bobby McNamara, known as Rogue One, to paint the mural. He has previously painted many of Glasgow’s giant street scenes.

But it covers the gable end wall of a listed building, part of a row of listed properties in the Pittenweem conservation area.

Fiona Corps, a Liberal Democrat councillor on the committee, said it made a “mockery of the village history”. Sean Dillon, her party colleague, said: “The mural depicts a stereotypical witch with warts and all, which inaccurately depicts women who were tried and executed for supposedly practising ‘witchcraft’.”

Planners said it would have “a significant detrimental impact on the character and appearance” of the conservation area and the building’s setting.

Chris Smith, a planning officer, told the councillors: “The wynd itself is widely used. Within the context of the narrow wynd, the mural is considered to be overbearing and inappropriate.

“The typical palette of colours along the harbour is fairly muted and neutral, and we’d be introducing a broad range of gaudy colours to a fairly neutral environment.”

Historic Environment Scotland also advised that the application of paint to unpainted historic walls could cause “considerable damage in the long term by preventing the evaporation of moisture from the underlying fabric.”

Mr McNamara told BBC Scotland: “The owner of the property wanted the witch mural as Pittenweem has a witch history, but a few locals did moan a bit about it being mean and ugly and they’d rather not expose their village witch history so much.

“I get that. It’s understandable. But the owners wanted it, and I enjoyed doing something edgy and scary.”