Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Cathedral
On Bishop's Close, off the High Street • Daily 9am-5pm • Free
here's been a religious building of sorts here since the arrival of evangelizing Irish
missionaries in 900 AD, and the red-sandstone structure of the
cathedral
has become
something of a hotchpotch of architectural styles. What you see today dates chiefly
from an extensive rebuilding in 1900, with the oldest surviving part of the cathedral
being the 106ft-high round tower, one of only two in Scotland. he cathedral's
doorway, built 6ft above the ground for protection against Viking raids, has some
notable carvings, while inside you can see various Pictish stones, illuminated by the
jewel-coloured stained-glass windows.
10
Pictavia
Haughmuir, a mile west of Brechin • April-Oct Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-5pm; Nov-March Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-5pm • £3.25
•
W
pictavia.org.uk
A mile from Brechin town centre along the Forfar road in the expansive grounds of
Brechin Castle (not generally open to the public) is
Pictavia
, a custom-built tourist
attraction with the grandly titled Brechin Castle Centre (a garden centre) as its hub.
Based on the history and heritage of the Picts, it has interactive exhibits that will appeal
to younger visitors, but is a lacking a little in substance. his is also where you'll find
Brechin's
tourist o
ce
(see below).
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE BRECHIN
By bus
Brechin is easy to get to and from; bus #30 runs at least once per hour to Montrose, nine miles to the east.
INFORMATION AND TOURS
Tourist o
ce
At
Pictavia (April-Oct Mon-Sat 9am-5pm,
Sun 10am-5pm; Nov-March Sat 9am-5pm, Sun
10am-5pm;
T
01356 623050).
Caledonian
W
caledonianrailway.com.
Trains operate every weekend
from June to August, travelling along four miles of track
from Brechin to the Bridge of Dun (£6 return). Diesel trains
run on Saturdays, steam trains run on Sundays.
Railway
tours
T
01356
622992,
ACCOMMODATION
Gramarcy House
6 Airlie Street
T
01356 622240.
Bright, spacious and tastefully furnished rooms in a
house set back from the main road. There's also a
self-catering kitchen area and a sunny breakfast room
with ba
y w
indows. Agnes, the owner, is friendly and
helpful.
£80
Edzell and around
Travelling around Angus, you can hardly fail to notice the difference between organic
settlements and planned towns that were built by landowners who forcibly rehoused
local people in order to keep them under control, especially after the Jacobite uprisings.
One of the better examples of the latter,
EDZELL
,
five miles north of Brechin on the
B966, was cleared and rebuilt with Victorian rectitude a mile to the west of its original
site in the 1840s. hrough the Dalhousie Arch at the entrance to the village the long,
wide and ruler-straight main street is lined with prim nineteenth-century buildings,
which now do a roaring trade as genteel teashops and antiques emporia.
he original village (identifiable from the cemetery and surrounding grassy mounds)
lay immediately to the west of the wonderfully explorable red-sandstone ruins of
Edzell Castle
, itself a mile west of the planned village.
Edzell Castle
A mile west of Edzell • April-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm • £5.50; HS
he main part of
Edzell Castle
is a good example of a comfortable tower house, where
luxurious living rather than defence became a priority. However it's the
pleasance
garden
overlooked by the castle tower that makes a visit essential, especially in late
