Know Before You Go
The cave is open to the public from April to September. To arrange visits outside these times or for large groups, contact the Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries at 01383 602365.
Dunfermline, Scotland
Saint Margaret's Cave
A hidden tunnel leads to a medieval queen's shrine buried beneath a parking lot.
Not far from Dunfermline Abbey and the ruins of the palace is an ordinary parking lot with a small, nondescript building nestled in the corner. But there’s more than meets the eye. Enter this building, and you’ll discover a hidden tunnel. The sound of piped-in hymns and chants adds an eerie ambiance as you descend beneath what, from the surface, seems like any other parking lot.
A staircase beneath the building descends into a tunnel that leads visitors to a small, natural cave containing a life-sized image of Saint Margaret of Scotland. The cave, which was originally set in the wall of a valley, was a favorite spot of Queen Margaret, an 11th-century Scottish queen.
Margaret was a deeply religious woman known for her charitable works, and often came to this spot to pray. After she was canonized as a saint in 1250, the cave became a place of pilgrimage.
When Margaret went to the cave to pray, she followed a peaceful, wooded path that meandered along a stream. But visitors today must instead journey to the cave via a concrete and steel tunnel. That’s because when town planners wanted to convert the site to a parking lot in the 1960s, local outcry led to the construction of the tunnel as a compromise.
The clash between the atmosphere of religious reverence and the modern tunnel and parking lot makes the descent a unique experience. There is also a series of printed panels with information about the life of Saint Margaret and the history of the cave.
