Site of the Former Wellmeadow Cafe

I won’t say much, but if you know anything about Donaghue v Stevenson you’ll love this spot.

I’m going to start with a super important disclaimer — don’t come to this site expecting to find a café. It is the site of the former Wellmeadow Café, a hugely important part of Scottish and Commonwealth legal history.
It was restored in 2012 by Renfrewshire Council with the help of Reid Kerr College and Co-​Operative Funeral who are next door to the site. The site now contains a marker to explain the story of the «snail in the bottle case» to passers-​by, and those who are not familiar with the story. This coincided with the 80^th anniversary of the judgment in the case being handed down, and a International Law Conference was held in Paisley to celebrate.
I studied the case in University and never expected to get to visit the site. When I moved to Scotland, circumstances took me to Paisley and I was quickly whisked up to the site for a visit. Back then it was really nothing to look at and was merely a dumping ground for rubbish. Thankfully, the Council realised that visitors from all around the world were coming to see it as part of the conference and they arranged to have it restored.
Here is my short summary of the case although there are many better resources online that can explain it in a lot more detail. In 1928, Mrs Donoghue visited the Wellmeadow Café with a friend who purchased her a ginger and ice. When she poured her drink out, part of a decomposing snail came out with it. She became ill (as she had consumed part of the drink) and sought to take legal action. At the time she had no recourse against the café owner as she hadn’t purchased the drink. The case proceeded and subsequently established the law of negligence against the manufacturer of the drink which is a principle of law now applied in Commonwealth countries across the world.
If you’re ever in Paisley you should walk along the High Street for a visit to this site. It really is a important piece of history for Scotland.