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Dunkeld
an Bishops
of Dunkeld Dunkeld
Historical & Descriptive
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Dunkeld Cathedral History
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What
is now Cathedral Street was a crowded thoroughfare, with a market
cross at one end, where, every Friday, people came from miles
around to purchase local produce. The area is still known as The
Cross today. The cathedral had already lost its roof - removed
by a local landowner after the reformation. In the course of the
Battle of Dunkeld the cathedral was further damaged, and the town
itself was destroyed by fire. An engraving of the time shows the
Cathedral and Dunkeld House as the only buildings of any size
still left. There was, of course, no bridge, then. A ferry, upstream
from the Cathedral took people across the River Tay. The cattle
had to swim. 
By
the 18th century, Dunkeld had revived, as a centre of the shoe-trade,
exporting footwear as far away as the Continent. When, in 1809,
Thomas Telford built the splendid bridge which still carries traffic
across the River Tay today, it became even more important as a
staging post on the way North. The railway came to Birnam, or
Little Dunkeld as it is sometimes known, in 1856 and gradually
the cathedral was restored: first by the Dukesof Atholl, who worshipped
here, and later by benefactors, including the shipping magnate
Sir Donald Currie. In 1926 the nave, tower and grounds were given
by the Atholl patrons to the Ministry of Works, now Historic Scotland,
and in 1931 they gave the choir and chapter to the Church of Scotland.
The choir continues to serve as the parish church of Dunkeld.
The Chapter House Museum, in a room of the main body of the church,
houses an excellent 
display
recounting the history of both the town and cathedral. There are
many interesting graves to be found in the ruined section of the
cathedral, including the remains of General Charles Edward Stewart,
Count Rochenstart, who claimed to be the grandson of Prince Charlie.