A MEMORIAL to those in Tweeddale executed under the Witchcraft Act has moved a step closer after councillors supported plans this week.

The commemorative stone – which would be placed somewhere on Tweed Green – was discussed at a meeting of the Peebles Common Good Fund Sub-Committee on Wednesday (June 8).

Town resident Elisa Smith, one of the driving forces behind the project, told the virtual gathering that William Purves Funeral Directors had offered to place and maintain the memorial for free.

“It’s a granite slab,” she said. “We’re not going for a gravestone in the middle of Tweed Green, we thought that would be a little bit odd.”

In 1629, 27 people from Peebles and the surrounding area were executed on a single day after being accused of witchcraft.

The planned memorial would list the full names of the victims, as well as a short paragraph recognising other people in Tweeddale who lost their lives.

“We don’t want to do it as Borders-wide because we feel that other towns might want to do something similar,” said Ms Smith. “It would be for the people of Tweeddale.”

The final location of the small stone – which Ms Smith said would be shaped like a wedge – has yet to be decided.

Welcoming any suggestions, she said: “I just want it to be accessible to the most amount of people.”

A public consultation supported a memorial on parkland in the town and a cairn on what is now known as Venlaw Hill, where the executions took place.

The plans have also won support from Peebles Community Council.

The memorial would be the first of its kind in the Borders.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the sub-committee approved the plans in principle.

Chairman Robin Tatler, a councillor for Tweeddale East, told Ms Smith to come back with an exact location and pictures of the design at a future meeting.