Inspired by the author Diana Gabaldon and her books, the producers of the popular historical TV saga Outlander have made good use of Scotland in the filming of the various seasons of the Amazon Prime series. Spectacular landscapes, romantic castles, ancient monuments, beautiful gardens and picturesque villages and towns around the country have all played their part in Claire and Jamie’s mystical world, sometimes doubling for far flung overseas locations.
VisitScotland has created an online tour and map linking up over 40 places that have appeared in seasons one to four. One that does not, however, feature in this guide and is well worth a visit is a bluebell woodland in rural Perthshire, where the famous Witness Trees are to be found.
Appearing in season four, the Witness Trees stand on the boundary line of Fraser’s Ridge, the North Carolina estate where Jamie Fraser built a home for his wife Claire and their family. Although the scenes are set in America, Scotland provided much of the backdrop for the actual filming, including Kinclaven Bluebell Wood, near Blairgowrie.
Occupying a broad sweep in the River Tay, Kinclaven Bluebell Wood is best known – as the name suggests – for its bluebells, which bloom in May each year. Managed by the Woodland Trust, it is largely broadleaved, predominantly beech and oak, with some silver birch, yew, rowan and holly. But there is some Scots Pine too and a plot of conifers.
Steeped in history, full of wildlife and originally named simply North Wood, the forest became known as Ballathie Bluebell Wood due to the profusion of these plants before being renamed Kinclaven Bluebell Wood in 2017, when the land was bought by the Woodland Trust.
Along with the oaks and bands of conifers, the trees not only shelter bluebells and other wildflowers but also provide a home for mammals like red squirrel, roe deer, pine marten, brown hare, hedgehogs and bats and an array of birdlife, including the song thrush, woodpeckers, cuckoo and woodcock.
A car park on the Blairgowrie to Murthly road just west of the hamlet of Kinclaven, 30 minutes drive north from Perth via the A9 or A93, offers easy access on foot and, from an information board, a gravel path rises gently into the trees. This leads straight to the Witness Trees, two veteran beeches straddling the border between the ancient oakwood and conifers.
Their slightly odd, gnarly appearance is created by a fusion of snaking stems, the result of bundle planting, when multiple saplings are planted together as a bunch. The oldest of the bundled beeches at Kinclaven are thought to date from the mid-18th century.
Click here for a mapped walking trail around the oakwood which you can start and finish at the Witness Trees. A short detour can be made east from this route to Kinclaven Church. Built in 1848 to replace an earlier place of worship, entry to the church and graveyard is via a charming lychgate. The rooftop belfry contains a bell half a metre in diameter, cast in Holland and operated by an external chain.
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Secret Scotland 