St. John's Loch is a loch in the civil parish of Dunnet, in

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

, Scotland.Bartholomew's Half Inch to Mile Map of Scotland - Sheet 27 Caithness; publ. John Bartholomew, 1929

Loch Heilen Loch Heilen is a loch in the civil parish of Dunnet in Caithness, Scotland. St. John's Loch and Loch Heilen are the two largest lochs in the parish. It is about inland from Dunnet Bay to the west, which is on the north coast of Scotland. T ...

and St. John's Loch are the two largest lochs in the parish. It is about inland in a north-easterly direction from Dunnet Bay on the north coast of Scotland.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis H. Groome; publ. Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh,1901. (Article on Dunnet) The loch has a round shape and is just under a long and just over wide, with a surface area of , almost the same as nearby Loch Heilen. The south-east part of the loch is the deepest, reaching .Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish Fresh-Water Lochs, ed. Sir John Murray K.C.B., F.R.S., D.Sc., and Laurence Pullar F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S., publ. Challenger Office, Edinburgh, 1910; Vol II, part 2, p. 18 and Vol. 5, Plate 5:: St John's Loch, Loch Heilen The overflow of the loch is through the Dunnet Burn, which exits from the south shore. This flows southwards for about , through the village of Dunnet and then flows into the sea at Dunnet Bay.Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, Sheet ND27 & Part of ND17 - B, Publ. 1963 There is a large population of wild fowl on the inland lochs around Dunnet, with

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

Wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

Pochard Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks: *Four species in the genus ''Aythya'': ** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina'' ** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri'' ** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca'' ** Madagascar pochard, ' ...

and

Tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

being recorded at St. Mary's Loch.Wildfowl in Great Britain, ed. G. L. Atkinson -Willes (for the Wildfowl Trust), Publ. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1963; p.225 The loch takes its name from a Roman Catholic chapel of St John's, which stood on a grassy knoll at the eastern end of the loch. All that remains of the chapel is a x patch in rough pasture on the knoll. The chapel's priests ascribed virtuous qualities to the water of the loch and took offerings at the altar from visitors using it, enabling curing of the sick and enriching of the church. After the Reformation, the practice arose of throwing money into the loch instead.New Statistical Account Vol XV, publ. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1845, Article on Dunnet (Caithness); p.38Canmore website of Historic Environment Scotland canmore.org.uk/site/8912 – retrieved March 2024

References

St Johns St Johns {{Caithness-geo-stub