St Fillans
St Fillans
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![]() St Fillans, from the southern bank ofLoch Earn | |
Location withinPerth and Kinross | |
Civil parish | |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
St Fillansis a village inPerthshirein the centralhighlandsofScotland,in thecouncil areaofPerth and Kinross.The village lies at the eastern end ofLoch Earn,5 miles (8 km) west ofComrieon theA85 road,at the point where theRiver Earnleaves the loch.[1]St Fillans was a smallclachanin the 18th century, known as Port of Lochearn, or Meikleport. In 1817 it was renamed St Fillans by Lord Gwydyr, the husband of Clementina Drummond, heiress to the Drummond Estate.[2]
The pre-Reformationchurch,St Fillan's Chapel, whosekirkyardis the traditional burial place of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, lies to the south of theRiver Earn,between St Fillans and theIron AgePictishhill fort ofDundurn.[2]It is believed that theIrishmissionarySaint Fillanlived on this hill.[2]Not far from the foot of the hill is the Allt Ghoineanburnwhich is claimed to be the Gonan or Monan ofSir Walter Scott's poemThe Lady of the Lake:[2]
- The stag at eve had drunk his fill, where danced the moon on Monan's rill.
There is a largehydro-electricpower stationin St Fillans, fed from a dam atLoch Lednockhigh above the village.[3]The power station, which forms part of theBreadalbane Hydro-Electric Scheme,is not visible within St Fillans as it is underground and was hewn from solid rock. Thegolfcourse at St Fillans was created in 1903 byWillie Auchterlonie.
The section of the River Earn from St Fillans down toComrie,along with much of the surrounding countryside, is designated as anational scenic area(NSA).[4]It is one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.[5]The River Earn (Comrie to St Fillans) NSA covers 12 square miles (3,108 ha) in total.[6]
The village became the scene of controversy in November 2005[7]when a housing development was halted to avoid killing thefairieswho allegedly lived under a rock on the proposed site. After some negotiation, the new housing estate was redesigned so that the rock in question was preserved, in a small park in the centre of the estate.[8]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/St_fillans_dragon.jpg/220px-St_fillans_dragon.jpg)
On the A85 just to the east of St Fillans lies the St Fillans Dragon and the St Fillans Toad.[9]
References
[edit]- ^"St Fillans"(Map).Google Maps.Google.
- ^abcd"St Fillans".Gazetteer for Scotland.Retrieved26 July2009.
- ^"St. Fillans Power Station".Subterranea Britannica.Retrieved26 July2009.
- ^"Map: River Earn (Comrie to St Fillans) National Scenic Area"(PDF).Scottish Natural Heritage. December 2010.Retrieved21 May2018.
- ^"National Scenic Areas".Scottish Natural Heritage.Retrieved21 May2018.
- ^"National Scenic Areas - Maps".SNH. 20 December 2010.Retrieved21 May2018.
- ^Pavia, Will; Windle, Chris (21 November 2005)."Fairies stop developers' bulldozers in their tracks".The Times.London.Retrieved24 May2010.
- ^James Moncur (22 February 2010)."Builder forced to design estate around rock.. because locals say fairies live under it".Daily Record.
- ^"Archibald Gibson Desert warfare veteran who had an eccentric career".The Herald.18 April 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 2 November 2012.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Parish of Comriein theSecond Statistical Accountof 1845