by Lorraine Murray

References to witches in and around Glasgow were sometimes hidden in plain sight.  There was a stretch of road in the Calton, just south of Dennistoun in the east end of the city named ‘Witch Lane.’  Although the stretch of road still exists, it has become the northerly extension of Abercromby Street. The block now consists of residential houses and St Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, which was completed in 1842.

The name Witch Lane is first seen laid out in the 1807 Map of the City of Glasgow and suburbs by Peter Fleming. Another reference is in Plan of Glasgow by J. and D. Nichol, printed in 1844, where the stretch of road was called Witches Lane.

In the mid-19th Century, Bellegrove Place began on the corner of Duke Street, continued to become Young street, then crossed at an intersection with Gallowgate Street and on to Witches Lane, which continued south until it became Abercromby Street. Witches Lane was sited between the Gallowgate and Mill Road (now Millroad Street).

‘Lane’ is a derivation of ‘loan’ which describes a path leading to a field or ground used as pasture or a common green, and the original street name was ‘Witch Loan’. Hugh McIntosh, in his text ‘The Origin and history of Glasgow Streets’ from 1902, says that Abercromby St was named in 1802 and was previously called ‘South Witch Loan’.

The final mention of this street name in maps can be found in J. Rapkin’s Glasgow plan of 1854.

Lorraine Murray is an archivist and historian with a particular interest in the history of Inverclyde and the stories of women persecuted as witches. Find her blog here.