Eccelesiastical Dunkeld

Ecclesiastically Dunkeld represents a national treasured landmark; it was proclaimed the first eccelesiastical capital of Scotland, by Scotland's first king, Kenneth MacAlpin. The majestic ruin of the cathedral still dominates Dunkeld today. Before the Battle of Dunkeld in 1689, the Cathedral was the centre of a busy market town. What is now Cathedral Street was a crowded thoroughfare, with a market cross at one end, where, every Friday, people came from miles around to purchase local produce. The area is still known as The Cross today. The cathedral had already lost its roof - removed by a local landowner after the reformation. In the course of the Battle of Dunkeld the cathedral was further damaged, and the town itself was destroyed by fire. An engraving of the time shows the Cathedral and Dunkeld House as the only buildings of any size still left. There was, of course, no bridge, then. A ferry, upstream from the Cathedral took people across the River Tay. The cattle had to swim. Dunkeld History.