Picts and hermits: cave dwellers of Fife

Wemyss Caves, on the shore of the Firth of Forth, have been a famous landmark for centuries. Legend has it that they were occupied by the mysterious Picts who occupied north-east Scotland, to the north of Hadrian's wall; that they were home to medieval Christian hermits; and that they were used later by Jacobean nobles.

Now the caves are under serious threat from erosion: the sea is already lapping at the cliff just below the cave line.

But the caves have never been investigated. How did the enigmatic Pictish carvings on the cave wall get there? Were Picts really living in the caves or were they just passing by? Would there be any evidence of hermits or any type of medieval occupation?

In an intensive three days' excavation, Time Team came up with some remarkable findings, contributing to the task of writing the history of this atmospheric site before it is lost to the sea.

Time Trail

Time Team has been to Scotland on a number of occasions: to the Roman site at Drumlanrig (also screened in 2005); the 'lost city' of Roxburgh in the Scottish Borders (2004); the underwater crannog at Loch Migdale (2004); a Viking boat burial at Fetlar, Shetland (2003); a sunk Armada ship near Kinlochbervie (2002); and a mysterious underground chamber at Mine Howe, Orkney (Christmas 2000) among others.

The Team has also worked with county archaeologist Douglas Speirs in Fife before, excavating a Bronze-Age cemetery at Leven (2003) in advance of a housing development that would destroy the site forever.

This was the first time, however, that it had tackled a potential Pictish site. So who were the Picts? Find out more about this enigmatic people here and then try our Time Trial quiz to see how much you know about this mysterious period in Scottish history.

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