Listings

The interior of tiny Dornoch Cathedral is stunning: magnificent stained glass windows set in simple stone walls, crowned by a white, vaulted, roof. It exudes tranquillity. Founded by the Bishop of Sutherland, Gilbert de Moravia a little after 1222, in 1570 Dornoch Cathedral was almost totally destroyed during a clan feud between the Murrays of Dornoch and the Mackays of Strathnaver, when it was set on fire. It was partially repaired in 1616, but the restoration was not completed until the 19th century. The pop star Madonna had her son, Rocco, baptised at Dornoch in 2000; she and her then husband, Guy Ritchie, were married at nearby Skibo Castle.

Dun da Lamh (pronounced ‘doon da larve’) is a prehistoric, believed to be early Pictish, hilltop fort near Laggan in the Highlands.  It sits on Black Craig, 1484 feet above sea level and 600 feet above the land below, overlooking the River Spey to the north.  The fort is approximately 360 feet (110 metres) long by about 98-246 feet (30 and 75 metres) wide.  Inside are shelters, believed to have been constructed by the Home Guard during WW2.

The fort’s sole defence is a stone wall, which has been cleared in places.  It is constructed of fine quality stone slabs resembling bricks totalling an estimated 5000 tons which are not from the local valley. It has been skilfully made.  The fort is so steep on three sides as to be impregnable and is only approachable from the west where the walls are over 20 feet thick.  Dun da Lamh means ‘fort of the two hands’.  The plaque on the site asks was it a frontier fortress of a great Pictish nation guarding the farmlands to the north and east; or was it something else?

Dun da Lamh can only be reached by foot and it is a strenuous walk for which you should dress appropriately and allow a couple of hours each way, depending on conditions and fitness.  There are a variety of starting points, including a way-marked route from Laggan Wolftrax (as per postcode).  Others suggest starting from the car park opposite the Pattack Falls Forestry Commission Car Park off the A86.

Memorial to Nurse Edith Cavell designed by Sir George Frampton (who waived his fee) in 1915, unveiled by Queen Alexandra in 1920. Edith Cavell was born in Norwich in 1865. She was matron of a hospital in Brussels when the Germans invaded in 1914. Though the invaders offered her and other British nurses safe conduct to neutral Holland, she stayed on, eventually helping some 200 British, French and Belgian soldiers escape to Holland. She was arrested in August 1915 and shot by firing squad on 12th October. She said to her American chaplain, "I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." The British may well have exploited the propaganda value of Edith Cavell's murder, particularly in the at that time neutral USA.

The post code is for nearby St Martin-in-the-Field church. There is another memorial to Edith Cavell in Norwich.

Empingham is an attractive village, with a striking looking church, on the road between Stamford and Oakham.  It sits in the Gwash Valley at the dam (eastern) end of Rutland Water and there has been a settlement there since at least Saxon times (the name means something like ‘the settlement of the followers of Empa’.)  The church, St Peter’s, is mostly 15th century, but dates from the 13th century; its impressive tower is 14th century.  Most of the village’s buildings date from the late 18th/ and 19th centuries.

To the north east near Tickencote is the site of the Battle of Empingham, also known as Battle of Losecoat Field, which was fought on 12 March 1470 during the Wars of the Roses. It was a very short battle and a victory for the Yorkists.

Exton in Rutland is one of those villages that could be described as ‘quintessentially English’.  It probably isn’t, because it is too picture-perfect, with a large number of chocolate-box cottages much loved by Instagrammers, an attractive tree-planted village green with a pub, the Fox and Hounds, and an interesting historic church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, which dates from the 13th century.  Nearby is a large country estate, Exton Park, and Barnsdale Gardens, created by Geoff Hamilton of the BBC television series Gardeners' World.  Exton is also very handy for Rutland Water.

The village has an interesting history going back before the Norman Conquest, and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, but the current buildings are mostly Victorian.