Although its a small town, Brechin likes to remind everyone that it is in fact a city. It was once a bishopric and still has a cathedral (although that is now a parish church), and doggedly fields a football team named Brechin City (sometimes better known as Brechin City Nil........incidently the team plays at the only "senior" ground in the country with a hedge round it).
The cathedral stands above the river South Esk flanked by something of an architectural and historical oddity, a round tower which is the only remaining part of a Culdee religious foundation dating back to about 1000 AD in the reign of Kenneth II.
The round tower's total height is 26m with a slight taper, although the diameter inside the tower remains constant from bottom to top, and the design follows that of similar belfry-cum-watch-towers in Ireland.
The Culdees came and went following the absorbtion of the Celtic church into that of Rome, and the little cathedral of today dates from the 13th century. and its splendid square tower with pointed spire from the 14th.
The building was much neglected after the Reformation with the transepts being demolished in the 19th century, but these have since been restored. Inside there is much modern stained glass and some interesting tombs. Outside there are some more tombs of interest, one called "The Brechin Hogback", which is a long recumbent stone, fashioned with a a dragon-like head at one end and a rump at the other, almost certainly made by Scandinavian immigrants in the 11th century.
The steeply sloping High Street with its sandstone houses and shops, runs down towards the river, and since the town was bypassed by the main Aberdeen, Perth trunk road, its a rather sleepy place.
Brechin Castle, home of the Earls of Dalhousie is nearby as are the remains of the Maison Dieu almshouse founded in 1256. Brechin Castle Centre hosts an attraction devoted to the history and culture of the Picts. Click here for more information.
In the 19th and early twentieth centuries, much of the town's employment was in the textile industry, but much of this has now disappeared.
Other trivia? Robert Watson-Watt, the inventor of radar was born in the town
If you are a railway buff, its worth visiting the old Brechin Railway station, now the property of a local railway preservation society (Caledonian Railway) and is the restored Victorian terminus of a stretch of line that runs from Brechin to Bridge of Dun on the edge of Montrose Basin.
The society runs steam trains every Sunday during the summer months and the station contains static displays which can be visited most days.
For more information visit their website.
For more information on the Cathedral and Round Tower click here.
For more information on Maison Dieu click here.
For more on all sorts of stuff visit the Brechin - The Ancient City website.
For a map of the area, click here.
