The Witchery by the Castle occupies a 16th-century merchant's house at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, on the very spot where over 300 women were burned as witches between the 15th and 18th centuries. The building's name directly references this grim history, and the site's associations with persecution and violent death have given rise to persistent reports of supernatural activity.
The restaurant and its opulent suites occupy a building steeped in the dark history of the Scottish witch trials. The area around the castle esplanade was Edinburgh's primary execution ground, and the terrified screams of the condemned are said to echo still through the narrow closes and vaulted chambers nearby. Staff working late at night have reported encountering a female figure in period dress who vanishes when approached, as well as unexplained cold drafts in rooms with sealed windows.
The most commonly reported phenomenon is the scent of burning — a phantom smell with no identifiable source that drifts through certain rooms and disappears as suddenly as it arrives. Objects have been reported moving on their own in the private dining rooms, and guests in the suites above have described the sensation of being watched by an unseen presence. The Witchery sits at the junction of Edinburgh's most haunted landmarks — the castle itself, the Lawnmarket, and the entrance to the underground vaults — making it a nexus of the Old Town's concentrated supernatural reputation.