Burrow Head is the southernmost tip of the Machars

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

in south-west

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It is located approximately two miles south-west of

Isle of Whithorn Isle of Whithorn (''Port Rosnait'' in Gaelic) is one of the most southerly villages and seaports in Scotland, lying on the coast north east of Burrow Head, about three miles from Whithorn and about thirteen miles south of Wigtown in Dumfries and ...

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

and is the second southernmost point of Scotland (after the

Mull of Galloway The Mull of Galloway ( gd, Maol nan Gall, ; ) is the southernmost point of Scotland. It is situated in Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, at the end of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula. The Mull has one of the last remaining sections of natur ...

St. Ninian's Cave St Ninian's Cave is a cave in Physgill Glen, Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It shown in the 1973 film ''The Wicker Man''. Excavations in the 1880s and in 1950 also uncovered a collection of early medieval carved stones. There were 18 ...

is approximately two miles north-west along the coast. It is an important location for pilgrims who believe that

St. Ninian Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedicatio ...

spent some time on retreat there. Burrow Head's location and relative seclusion meant that during the eighteenth century it became associated with

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...

, from and to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

(fifteen miles south) and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. In more recent years, Burrow Head became famous as a location for the 1973

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...

''. Until recently the stumps of the prop used as the

wicker man A wicker man was purportedly a large wicker statue in which the druids (priests of Celtic paganism) sacrificed humans and animals by burning. The main evidence for this practice is a sentence by Roman general Julius Caesar in his '' Commentary ...

in the film remained visible, but these have been gradually eroded by souvenir hunters. Today much of Burrow Head is occupied by a

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

References

External links

St. Ninian's Cave
Headlands of Scotland Wigtownshire Landforms of Dumfries and Galloway {{DumfriesGalloway-geo-stub