The face of an 18th-century Torryburn “witch” who died in jail before she could be burned for her “crimes” has been digitally reconstructed.

Lilias Adie died in 1704 while held in prison for her “confessed” crimes of being a witch and having sex with the devil.

BBC Radio Scotland’s Time Travels programme has now unmasked her face by working with a forensic artist at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee.

The team believes it is likely to be the only accurate likeness of a Scottish “witch” in existence as most were burned, destroying any hope of reconstructing their faces from skulls.

Local historian Shelia Pitcairn told the Press that Dunfermline and Torryburn were supposed to be reaping with people under the influence of the Evil One and in the summer of 1643 six women were burnt here as witches.

"Oh, yes there was a great number of witches in the area!” she said.

"After the reformation they did not hesitate to burn people at the stake for sorcery and when The Rev. Allan Logan came to be the first Presbyterian minister at Torryburn, his mission was to persecute all women suspected of having communications with Satan.

"The most famous of these caught up in the witch mania was Lilias Adie who was arrested in 1701.

"The poor woman was clearly not 100% and told them that she had met with the devil three times on roads near Torryburn."

Ms Adie had been sentenced to be burned to death but died in prison beforehand, with one theory being she committed suicide.

Her remains were buried on the beach between the low and the high tide marks under a large stone.

Locals had sought to weigh down Ms Adie in her grave, perhaps to prevent her coming back to haunt them.

By the 19th century, scientific curiosity outweighed zombie fears and some antiquarians dug up Ms Adie’s remains to study and display.

Time Travels presenter Susan Morrison said: “It was a truly eerie moment when the face of Lilias suddenly appeared.

“Here was the face of a woman you could have a chat with, though knowing her story it was a wee bit difficult to look her in the eye.”

Dr Christopher Rynn, who carried out the work using state-of-the-art 3D virtual sculpture, said: “When the reconstruction is up to the skin layer, it’s a bit like meeting somebody and they begin to remind you of people you know, as you’re tweaking the facial expression and adding photographic textures.

“There was nothing in Lilias’s story that suggested to me that nowadays she would be considered as anything other than a victim of horrible circumstances, so I saw no reason to pull the face into an unpleasant or mean expression and she ended up having quite a kind face, quite naturally.”

By the 19th century, scientific curiosity outweighed zombie fears and some antiquarians dug up Ms Adie’s remains to study and display.

Her skull eventually went to the St Andrews University Museum, where it was photographed more than 100 years ago.

It then went missing at some point in the 20th century but the images remain and are held by the National Library of Scotland.

The records of her accusers paint a picture of a woman, possibly in her 60s, who may have been frail for some time, with failing eyesight.

They also suggest a woman who showed courage in holding off her accusers and their demands for the names of others to interrogate and kill.