St Fillan’s Chapel and Graveyard

We have wanted to get away for solstice for a few years now and this year we finally managed it. Not up for a long drive, we decided to explore part of our local area, and so booked a cottage at the very beautiful Dunira. Below are a few photos from our solstice eve.

The ‘Dun’ in Dunira refers to Dundurn, a small, steep rocky knoll and once the site of a Pictish fort that sits not too far from Loch Earn. As drystone wallers we are always keen to visit historic sites that feature drystone or stone, especially local ones. So, we walked to Dundurn along the banks of the River Earn and across the golf course. On the way to the hill, you will pass an old graveyard and chapel ruins. This is St. Fillan’s Chapel, a 16th century ruin, thought to stand of the site of an earlier chapel built by St. Fillan.

Surrounded by a rough, fieldstone drystone wall entrance is made through a gap where a gate once was, or if you fancy some fun, over a lovely wee stile built into the wall. It’s hard to describe but this place somehow feels like the centre of the universe.