Early history The name
Dùn Chailleann means
Fort of the Caledonii or
of the Caledonians. The 'fort' is presumably the
hill fort on King's Seat, slightly north of the town (). Both these place-names imply an early importance for the area of the later town and bishop's seat, stretching back into the
Iron Age. Dunkeld (
Duncalden and variants in early documents) is said to have been 'founded' or 'built' by
Caustantín son of Fergus, king of the
Picts (d. 820). This founding likely referred to one of an ecclesiastical nature on a site already of secular importance, and a Pictish monastery is known to have existed on the site. The 'Apostles' Stone', an elaborate but badly worn cross-slab preserved in the cathedral museum, may date to this time. A well-preserved bronze 'Celtic' hand bell, formerly kept in the church of the parish of Little Dunkeld on the south bank of the River Tay opposite Dunkeld, may also survive from the early monastery: a replica is kept in the cathedral museum. The dedication of the later medieval cathedral was to St
Columba. This early church was for a time the chief ecclesiastical site of eastern Scotland (a status yielded in the 10th century to
St Andrews). An entry in the
Annals of Ulster for 865 refers to the death of Tuathal, son of Artgus,
primepscop (Old Irish 'chief bishop') of
Fortriu and
Abbot of Dunkeld. The monastery was raided in 903 by Danish
Vikings sailing up the River Tay, but continued to flourish into the 11th century. At that time, its abbot,
Crínán of Dunkeld (d. 1045), married one of the daughters of
Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (1005–34) and became the ancestor of later Kings of Scots through their son
Donnchad (
Duncan I) (1034–40).
Middle Ages in
Scotia Depicta, published 1804 The see of Dunkeld was revived by
Alexander I (1107–24). Between 1183 and 1189 the newly formed diocese of
Argyll was separated from that of Dunkeld, which originally extended to the west coast of Scotland. By 1300 the Bishops of Dunkeld administered a diocese comprising sixty parish churches, a number of them oddly scattered within the sees of
St Andrews and
Dunblane. The much-restored cathedral choir, still in use as the
parish church, is unaisled and dates to the 13th and 14th centuries. The cathedral was stripped of its rich furnishings after the mid-16th century
Reformation and its iconoclasm. The nave and porch have been roofless since the early 17th century. They and the tower in the 21st century are in the care of
Historic Environment Scotland. Below the ceiling vault of the tower ground floor are remnants of pre-Reformation murals showing biblical scenes (
c. 1490), one of very few such survivals in Scotland. The clearest to survive is a representation of the
Judgement of Solomon. The cathedral museum is housed in the former
chapter house and
sacristy, on the north side of the
choir. After the Reformation this chamber was used as a burial aisle by the Earls, Marquises and Dukes of
Atholl, and contains a number of elaborate monuments of the 17th-early 19th centuries.
Later history Dr
George Smyttan FRSE HEIC (1789-1863) was born and raised in Dunkeld and retained links to Birnam all his life. Dunkeld was partly in the parish of
Caputh until 1891. The
High Street drill hall in Dunkeld was completed in 1900. The alignment of the town was radically altered in 1809 by the building of a new stone bridge —
Dunkeld Bridge — over the River Tay by
Thomas Telford at the east end of the town, and the laying out of a new street (Bridge Street–Atholl Street) at right angles to the old alignment. ==Governance==