Your Heritage
The Machars has over 86 Scheduled Monuments, 102 other Nationally Important sites and three Archaeologically Sensitive Areas. Chambered cairns, cup and ring stones, stone circles and individual standing stones dot the unspoilt landscape. There are iron age forts, crannog sites, ancient wells, early Christian chapels, medieval castles and church sites.
Local people had the opportunity to explore this fascinating history by taking part in the ‘Whithorn Big Dig’ event. Families and children got their hands dirty by digging a metre square test pit and sieving the topsoil to uncover fragments from the past. Others took part in training workshops then had a chance to use their new skills working alongside professional archaeologists to survey sites across the area, helping uncover the past beneath their feet.