Angus

Pictish Angus – Two Museums, a Battle Slab and a Round Tower

A day by car, from Dundee station and back.

The route

The Picts left their mark on Angus in carved stone: symbols whose meaning is lost, crosses, hunts and a battle, cut into slabs from about AD 600.

This day out from Dundee follows the stones east across Strathmore in the order the road meets them. It starts at Meigle, just over the line in Perthshire, where the old village school holds 26 carved stones, then comes to the cross-slab in the roofless kirk at Eassie. Beyond Glamis and Forfar, the stones at Aberlemno stand by the roadside and in the kirkyard. Lunch is in Brechin's old railway station, a few minutes from the cathedral's round tower. The day ends at St Vigeans, on the edge of Arbroath, among 38 stones and an inscription that may name a Pictish king. From there it's 40 minutes back to Dundee.

The day

The Pictish stones

The day runs one way, east across the farmland of Strathmore from Meigle to the coast at Arbroath, and nothing is driven twice. Most of it is spent close to the carving, in two small museums, a roofless kirk, a kirkyard and by the roadside, with short drives between. Leave Dundee at about half past nine and the car is back by late afternoon.

2 hr 29 min at the wheelAbout 71 miles

Meigle Pictish Stones
An attraction
It's 30 minutes' drive from Dundee, over the Sidlaws by Newtyle, to Meigle, just over the line in Perthshire. The old village school holds 26 carved stones from the late 700s to the late 900s, all that survives of a Pictish power centre; most were gravestones, saved after the church burned in 1869. The great cross-slab, almost 2.5 metres high, has a cross on one face and Daniel among the lions on the other. The story goes that the scene shows Guinevere, said to lie under a mound by the churchyard. The museum opens from April to September, and a Wednesday is the one day it is open on the same day as St Vigeans, where the day ends.
More about Meigle Pictish Stones
8 min by car
The Eassie Stone
An attraction
Drive 8 minutes east along the A94 and up a lane to the roofless old church of Eassie, where one cross-slab stands in a glass shelter in a corner. Found in the burn, or stream, below the kirkyard wall, it is one of the earliest Pictish cross-slabs. An angel stands beside the interlaced cross, and below it a hunter on foot, with a spear and a small square shield, goes after a stag whose muscles are drawn in scrolls. Most Pictish hunters ride.
More about The Eassie Stone
25 min by car
Aberlemno Pictish Stones
An attraction
It's 25 minutes' drive by Glamis, whose castle is a day of its own, and through Forfar, where Saddlers on East High Street sells bridies, meat pasties, to Aberlemno in Angus. Park at the village hall; the B9134 has no pavement. By the verge stand the serpent stone, with its double disc and Z-rod, and a worn boulder; the roadside cross-slab has been away for conservation since 2025. In the kirkyard down the lane, a cross-slab's battle scene may show the Picts' victory at Nechtansmere in 685, a site now debated.
More about Aberlemno Pictish Stones
About 12 min by car
The Whistle Stop
Carry on 12 minutes along the B9134 into Brechin and round to Park Road, where the Whistle Stop is a family-run café in the old station building of the Caledonian Railway, now a heritage line. Lunch is local food and home baking. It closes at 3pm, so eat here before the cathedral rather than after; there is parking at the station, and the café keeps its own days whether or not a train is running.
3 min by car
Brechin Cathedral
An attraction
It's 3 minutes' drive across town to the Church Street car park by the cathedral, a parish church until 2021 and now in the care of a trust. Its round tower is one of only two Irish-style round towers in Scotland, seen from outside only. The carving round its high door shows the crucified Christ, two saints and crouching beasts, and points to about 1100, though it may be a century older. When the cathedral is open, the stones inside include the St Mary Stone, with the Virgin and Child.
More about Brechin Cathedral
30 min by car
St Vigeans Museum
An attraction
It's 30 minutes' drive south on the A933 through Friockheim to St Vigeans, on the edge of Arbroath. From the car park it's 150 metres over a bridge to the museum below the kirk on its mound. The 38 stones found here point to a Pictish church at the centre of a royal estate, and the Drosten Stone carries an inscription naming Drosten, Uoret and Forcus, perhaps from about 840. Arbroath's harbour, where E&O Fish sells Arbroath smokies, is under two miles on, and Dundee 40 minutes home.
More about St Vigeans Museum

If it rains

The two museums, at Meigle and St Vigeans, are indoors, and so is lunch at the Whistle Stop. Aberlemno's stones stand in the open by a road with no pavement, so in heavy rain look from the verge and go down the lane to the kirkyard slab without lingering. For more under a roof, the Meffan in Forfar is free and on the day's road, 14 minutes on from Eassie: it keeps the Dunnichen Stone and the carved stones found at Kirriemuir, and opens from 10.30am to 4pm, Wednesday to Monday, from April to October. Park in the Myre car park.

Worth a detour

Meffan Museum & Art Gallery
The day's road runs along West High Street in Forfar, past the door. The Meffan is free, and keeps the Dunnichen Stone and the carved stones found at Kirriemuir. It opens from 10.30am to 4pm, Wednesday to Monday from April to October and Friday to Monday in winter, with last admission half an hour before closing; park in the Myre car park. No extra driving.
Restenneth Priory
Two miles east of Forfar on the B9113, the tower and roofless walls of a priory church stand among fields. The story goes that it began as the church King Nechtan of the Picts built in about 710; the oldest stonework to be seen is of the 1100s. It's free and open every day, from 9.30am to 5pm in summer, seen from the outside only, with parking. About 5 minutes' extra driving.
Arbroath Abbey
Two miles on from St Vigeans, in the middle of Arbroath, stand the red sandstone ruins of Arbroath Abbey. Last entry is at 3.45pm from April to September, so it only follows St Vigeans when the day has run early; otherwise give it a morning of its own. It's 5 minutes' drive from St Vigeans' car park, and 3 minutes' extra driving on the way home.
E&O Fish
At the foot of Arbroath, by the harbour, E&O Fish is a fishmonger selling Arbroath smokies, haddock hot-smoked in pairs, across the counter and wrapped in paper. It is open until at least 5pm from Monday to Saturday. It's 6 minutes' drive from St Vigeans' car park, and adds a minute or two to the way home.