Overview of Dunnichen

A hamlet in Angus, Dunnichen lies at the foot of Dunnichen Hill and at a meeting of five roads, 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Forfar. Dunnichen House was the home of the 18th-century agricultural improver George Dempster who built the nearby village of Letham. Outside the church, also built by George Dempster, is a replica Pictish symbol stone, the original 7th-century Dunnichen Stone having been moved to Dundee. Also near the church is a stone commemorating the triumph of the Picts over invading Northumbrians in 685 AD at the Battle of Dunnechtan. Another battle is remembered at nearby Camperdown Well which honours Admiral Duncan's famous naval victory over the Dutch in 1797. Dempster's church replaced an earlier foundation dedicated to Saint Constantine, a Scottish king whose name degenerated locally into Cowsland or Causnan, a name associated with Causnan's Well and the St Causnan's Fair which used to be held every March.