![The original Fearnan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/The_original_Fearnan.jpg)
Fearnan (
Gaelic ''Feàrnan'', 'Alders') is a small
crofting
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man.
Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bett ...
village on the north shore of
Loch Tay
Loch Tay ( gd, Loch Tatha) is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the Perth and Kinross and Stirling council areas. It is the largest body of fresh water in Perth and Kinross, and the sixth largest loch in Scotland. The ...
in
Perthshire,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
The village lies at the junction of the road to
Glen Lyon
Glen Lyon ( gd, Gleann Lìomhann) is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east.
This glen was also kno ...
and the road between
Kenmore and
Killin
Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...
that runs along the north side of the loch. The land around the village has at various times in history belonged to both the Robertsons of
Struan and the
Campbells. The village is now a mix of old crofts dating back up to 400 years and new builds mainly from the 1980s. There is also a whole hidden village of crofts with just their foundations left, just below the forestry of Drummond Hill. Visitors who wish to explore the area are encouraged to park at the village hall and walk up the field opposite, clamber over the wall and walk right, where there is a road covered in fern, then walk up the hill, and with a bit of searching they will find the remnants of the houses.
The village's only hotel, the Tigh-an-Loan, went out of business in 2008 and the building was demolished a year later. Up to the early 1970s, this loch-side hotel also ran a small garage/filling station plus the village post office. The latter moved to a new building just east of the junction for
Fortingall
Fortingall is a small village in highland Perthshire, Scotland, in Glen Lyon. Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore. Its Gaelic name is ''Fartairchill'' (lit. "Escarpment Church"—i.e. "church at the foot of an escarpmen ...
but even that closed in 2001 and now the nearest shops are in
Kenmore, away. Along with several other village schools around Loch Tay, the one class village primary school (where Kate Maynard was the last teacher) closed in 1983 when a new comprehensive primary school opened in the grounds of
Taymouth Castle
Taymouth Castle is situated to the north-east of the village of Kenmore, Perth and Kinross, in the Highlands of Scotland, in an estate which encompasses 450 acres. It lies on the south bank of the River Tay, about a mile from Loch Tay, in the ...
in
Kenmore. Secondary school pupils have always had to travel to
Aberfeldy ( from Fearnan) and that situation continues today. Across the road from the former school building lies the remains of Fearnan Pier, one of five intermediate piers served until 1946 by the Caledonian (later LMS) Railway's steamers plying from Killin to Kenmore and back.
At the top of the road leading up from the lochside, 20 metres past Quarry Road (a single lane road accessing the top of the village), attached to the top of a wall on the left, is a small hollowed stone with a cross incised across its interior. This stone is a font or holy water stone from an ancient chapel, long demolished, dedicated to
Saint Ciarán which once stood in or near the village, a probable
early Christian site. A bronze plaque attached to the font was commissioned by the
Marquess of Breadalbane
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
to explain its history. The four cottages in the picture above are collectively called Dalchiarnan (a corruption of the Gaelic Dal Ciarán or Church of
Saint Ciarán) although the second one from the camera is also now referred to as 'Grandad's Cottage' in recognition of its current owner's father who first purchased it as a weekend retreat in 1958. The nearest cottage in the picture is today the home studio of the well-known Scottish landscape and wildlife painter Keith Brockie.
The Glen Lyon road, as mentioned before, is a spur off the road to
Fortingall
Fortingall is a small village in highland Perthshire, Scotland, in Glen Lyon. Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore. Its Gaelic name is ''Fartairchill'' (lit. "Escarpment Church"—i.e. "church at the foot of an escarpmen ...
eventually leading to main road to
Rannoch
Rannoch ( gd, Raineach or , meaning 'bracken') is an area of the Scottish Highlands between the A9 road, to the east, and the A82, to the west. The area is crossed from south to north by the West Highland railway line.
Features of the area inc ...
/
Loch Tummel
Loch Tummel (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Teimheil) is a long, narrow loch, northwest of Pitlochry in the council area of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is fed and drained by the River Tummel, which flows into the River Tay about south-east of th ...
and
Aberfeldy.
References
External links
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Villages in Perth and Kinross