Overview of St Fillan's Cave

A cave in the cliff face at Pittenweem ('The place of the cave') associated with St. Fillan, an early Christian missionary from Ireland, who lived and worshipped here. St. Fillan's bell and crozier are still preserved in the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and it was perhaps one of these relics that was carried by the Abbot of Inchaffray into the Battle of Bannockburn, after which the Scots attributed their victory to the support of St Fillan. Many miracles of healing were attributed to the saint and to Holy wells associated with him. One of these wells is to be found within the cave which was rededicated as a shrine in 1935 by the Bishop of St Andrews and is still a place of worship.