54°41′38″N 4°26′59″W / 54.6938°N 4.4498°W
| St Ninian's Cave | |
|---|---|
 Entrance of the cave, 2007 | |
| OS grid reference | NX4212935962 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
St Ninian's Cave is a cave in Physgill Glen, Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.[1][2] It features in the climax of the acclaimed 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.[3][4] It is a place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage by way of its association with the Scottish saint Ninian.
Excavations in the cave in the 1880s and the 1950s uncovered a collection of early medieval carved stones. There were 18 in total, most of them built into a post-medieval wall, others lying loose in the cave's interior or at its mouth.[5]
Rockfalls near the entrance have diminished the size of the cave over time, as seen at right.