St Ninian's Cave **
Region: Dumfries & Galloway
St Ninian's Cave, Isle of Whithorn cc-by-sa/2.0 - © G Laird
Description:
Tradition holds that this cave was a place of retreat for the saint, who’s said to have been active in Dumfries and Galloway in the late AD 300s. It may well have also been a hermitage from the monastery at Whithorn. Alternative interpretations are as a chapel or stone-carving workshop.
The cave today is a lot smaller than it once was, due to successive rock falls. Today it’s 7m long and 3m high, and almost 3m wide at the mouth. Excavations in the cave in 1950 revealed internal stone walls and pavements, along with the disturbed and undated burials of an elderly adult and two children.
More in-depth information?
Even more information?
Try here!
Found a mistake or maybe have something to add? Do let me know!