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Glenshee Kirk, a small rubble-stone church with a bellcote, behind a mossy kirkyard wall and old gravestones, a green hill rising behind it at the Spittal of Glenshee.
Cairngorms

Spittal of Glenshee

A hamlet between Blairgowrie and Braemar with a country kirk, a prehistoric standing stone, an old military bridge and a legendary grave.

Welcome

This tiny hamlet has a lot of story, right where the road north starts its climb to the Cairnwell Pass.

Its kirk was built in 1831 on the site of an older chapel, a plain stone church whose bellcote has a ball on top. Inside are two stained glass windows paid for by a man born in the glen, who had gone cattle ranching in Australia. His letter home was misunderstood, and the windows became a memorial to him while he was still alive. On the knoll behind the kirk stands a prehistoric standing stone. Next to the kirk, the humpbacked bridge carried Major Caulfeild's military road, which soldiers began building in 1749. Across the water, a mound topped by four boulders is said to be the grave of Diarmid, the hero killed by a magic boar on Ben Gulabin, the hill above you. Allow half an hour or so to see it all.

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The Daily for 31 October, from Scotland with love. A ring of standing stones set among mist and autumn birch
A little further outVictoria's35 min by roadSee itVictoria's
Before you go

The kirk opens by arrangement with its elders, who keep the key.

Services
On the second Sunday of the month from April to September at 6pm, and on Christmas Day at 11am.
Diarmid's Grave
On the east bank of the Shee Water, opposite the kirk. You can see it from the standing stone.

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Where it is

By the A93 at the Spittal of Glenshee, PH10 7QE.

Close byGlenshee and Braemar.
  1. Glen Shee from the road, heather and hills under a wide sky.GlensheeThe A93 climbing to the Cairnwell Pass and Scotland's largest ski area, with a summer chairlift, a café and Munros from the car park.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Devil’s Elbow ViewpointDevil’s Elbow ViewpointA viewpoint on the Cairnwell road between Glenshee and Braemar above the Devil's Elbow, the old double hairpin that drivers once dreaded, now left to walkers.4 miles 6 min by road
  3. The Cockstane: Clan MacThomas' Ancient Gathering StoneThe Cockstane: Clan MacThomas' Ancient Gathering StoneClach na Coileach, the Cockstane, a great glacial boulder in Glenshee that has been the gathering place of Clan MacThomas since the 1400s.5 miles 6 min by road
  4. Glenshee Café & Gift ShopGlenshee Café & Gift ShopA café, gift shop and farm shop on the A93 through Glenshee, a warm stop for walkers and skiers on the road to Braemar, open every day.5 miles 7 min by road
  5. Loch Callater lying in its glen between heather slopes and hills.Loch CallaterA good track up a quiet glen south of Braemar to a high loch hemmed in by mountains.10 miles 13 min by road
  6. Saltire flag flies above the Fife Arms Hotel's stepped gablesBraemarA Highland village of Upper Deeside where the Clunie Water meets the Dee, home of the Braemar Gathering and the place Stevenson wrote Treasure Island.15 miles 19 min by road
  7. Braemar CastleBraemar CastleA white-harled tower house of 1628 north of Braemar, the Farquharsons' seat, run by the village since 2007 and restored in the community's Raising the Standard project.16 miles 22 min by road
Directions
The round dry-stone shelter on the top of Mount Blair, a steel viewpoint indicator ringing its rim, with snow-streaked hills across the glens beyond.WalksMount Blair5.8 miles
The whole of Larch House across its meadow: the larch-clad gable and long roof with roof lights, the lower wing beside it, a ring of river stones in the grass and oaks behind.BlairgowrieLarch HouseSleeps 6 · 6.0 miles
Persie Distillery's still behind glass: a brass pot with a round copper top beside a tall copper column with portholes, against an old stone wall.AttractionsPersie Distillery9.6 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Spittal, and when each is next free.

The whole of Larch House across its meadow: the larch-clad gable and long roof with roof lights, the lower wing beside it, a ring of river stones in the grass and oaks behind.Larch House
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Blairgowrie
  • 5 miles from the Spittal of Glenshee
Check datesA stone cottage with a gabled dormer window catches evening light among autumn trees, a bench and picnic table on the gravel outside.Charlottefield
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Tulliemet
  • 13 miles from the Spittal of Glenshee
Check datesA stone farmhouse with dormer windows sits behind a timber post and rail fence, trees and hills visible beyond.Milton of Kincraigie
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Blair Atholl
  • 14 miles from the Spittal of Glenshee
Check datesAn aerial view shows a stone and timber cottage with a round hot tub in the garden, hills rising behind a dry stone wall.Pheasant Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Kincraigie
  • 15 miles from the Spittal of Glenshee
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in the CairngormsAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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