Overview of Fowlis Wester

A typical Scottish fermetoun village in central Perth and Kinross, Fowlis Wester lies to the north of the road from Perth to Crieff, 4 miles (6 km) northeast of Crieff. Designated a conservation area, it is now largely a commuter settlement, but in its heyday it was the focal point of a parish that had a population in 1794 of 1224 weavers and farmers. At the centre of the village is the restored 13th-century church of St Bean which is dedicated to an 8th-century Irish missionary who preached in this area. On display in the church are an 8th-century Pictish stone, carved to depict Jonah being swallowed by the whale, and a portion of MacBean tartan taken to the moon by US astronaut Alan Bean. A replica of another Pictish stone is located in the village square and in the neighbourhood of the village can be found a Neolithic burial mound, a Bronze Age standing stone and stone circle and an Iron-Age hill fort.