White Loch of Myrton

About White Loch of Myrton

The White Loch is glimpsed from the road, through woodland which is carpeted with bluebells in Spring. It is part of the Monreith Estate, which has been owned by the Maxwells since the 17th Century. The centre of the estate was once Myrton Castle, sited on a motte or artificial mound, near the current 18th Century house. The Castle hosted Royal pilgrims on their way to Whithorn, including James IV of Scotland, who was Whithorn’s most faithful Stuart visitor. The loch was reputed to have magical properties and the 17th Century minister of the parish disapproved strongly of superstitious practices, which were clearly still popular, of visiting on May Day, when young girls might hope to see their future husbands in the waters of the Loch. It also hides an unexplored crannog or prehistoric lake dwelling, dating from the Iron Age, at its western end, and nearby Black Loch, now more or less drained, has been the site for exciting archaeological discoveries about the middle Iron Age in recent years. You can see what the roundhouses, which were excavated, looked like, by visiting the full-scale replica at the Whithorn Trust.