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St Ninian's Cave

Coordinates: 54°41′38″N 4°26′59″W / 54.6938°N 4.4498°W / 54.6938; -4.4498
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54°41′38″N 4°26′59″W / 54.6938°N 4.4498°W / 54.6938; -4.4498

St Ninian's Cave
Entrance of the cave, 2007
OS grid referenceNX4212935962
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
Scotland

St Ninian's Cave is a cave in Physgill Glen, Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.[1][2] It features in the climax of the acclaimed 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.[3][4] It is a place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage by way of its association with the Scottish saint Ninian.

Excavations in the cave in the 1880s and the 1950s uncovered a collection of early medieval carved stones. There were 18 in total, most of them built into a post-medieval wall, others lying loose in the cave's interior or at its mouth.[5]

Rockfalls near the entrance have diminished the size of the cave over time, as seen at right.

References

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  1. ^ "St Ninian's Cave". www.historicenvironment.scot.
  2. ^ Stell, Geoffrey (1996). Dumfries and Galloway. Stationery Office. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-11-495294-5.
  3. ^ Bruce, David (1996). Scotland the Movie. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN 074866209X.
  4. ^ Winn, Christopher (2012). I Never Knew That About Scotland. Random House. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-4481-4608-6.
  5. ^ "St Ninian's Cave: History". www.historicenvironment.scot. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

See also

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