Kilmuir
lies
in the southern part of the Black Isle and should not be confused
with Kilmuir Easter to the north of the
Cromarty Firth, or another place of the same name in
Skye.
The
village lies not far from Inverness as the crow flies. However it
is fairly isolated, as by road it is placed at the end of a narrow
road which leads to nowhere else. It lies on the northern shore of
the Moray Firth and east of the Kessock Bridge. It lies below Ord Hill at
the top of which lies an ancient vitrified fort.
The
Kilmuir church lies some distance east of the village and is in
ruins, although the burial ground is well maintained and still in
use. The parish used to be known as Kilmuir Wester but was combined with Suddie in 1756 and together they made up the parish
of Knockbain. It seems that at a later
date the east end of the church was converted into a Graham burial
vault.
Several stones
reflect lives connected with the sea - pilots, boat-builders,
sailors, drownings. The tombstones are well worth
investigation as some of the carvings are quite
intricate
The
Forestry Commission owns woodland behind the village and on the
slopes of Ord Hill. If you park your
car near the churchyard there are marked walks from there to the
village, to North Kessock, and circular routes following initially
the coast towards Munlochy
Bay.
There
are local tales that tell of funeral parties that, rather than take
the road from North Kessock to the graveyard at Kilmuir would take the coastal path carrying the
coffin. Now highlanders being highlanders they would stop off on
route, resting the deceased on a rock whilst they had fly dram. It
was not uncommon for a wave to wash the coffin in to the
sea.
The
cache is a 35mm film canister, and is not hidden in the
wall.