Devilla Forest

One thing I’ve started doing again this year is taking the dogs over to Devilla Forest in Fife. I used to go here quite regularly with our old dog (variously known as Tess, The Sausage or Zoltan, Hound of Dracula). I stopped for a while as some extensive logging work was being carried out and never really got back into the habit of going there which is a pity, as the Forestry Commission do a very good job of making their working forests accessible to the public.

Devilla Forest was planted after the Second World War over the Tulliallan Estate which had provided the headquarters for the Polish army during the war but which had a long and varied history encompassing such figures as King Duncan and Macbeth during their altercations with Vikings and various members of the Blackadder baronetcy. Much of this has been documented by local historians Bob and Meg Smith whose maps are dotted around the forest. These maps are now some 20 years old and given the organic nature of the forest some of the marked antiquities are rather overgrown and some proved impossible to find. However, the map is quite a bit of fun providing a scavenger hunt of treasures around the foliage.


Bob and Meg Smith's map of Devilla Forest

The standard stone marking the battle of 1038 where Duncan and Macbeth defeated the Danish army

The Meith stone is meant to be a St Andrews cross marking a boundary.

This mound of earth marks the supposed location of the Danish Camp. It probably predates that battle by several centuries.

The Ice House was used to provide refrigeration to the Tulliallan estate.

This is the remains of the wash house.

This is the Peppermill dam, the largest of the three dams and the furthest from the car park.

The pump house. This was built under the Blackadders' Stewardship of the estate. 

The sluice - another artefact of the damming system.

One part that is now quite heavily overgrown but really worth finding is the mausoleum. I don’t get easily freaked out but these are seriously spooky remains.