A small Scottish village famous as a filming location for the hit series Outlander is home to a hidden underwater wonder that once attracted visitors from across the world. Culross, on the Firth of Forth, is now a picturesque stop for tourists following in the footsteps of characters Jamie and Claire, but in the 16th century it was the site of an extraordinary engineering feat: the world's first underwater mine.
The mine was masterminded by Sir George Bruce, who sank a shaft in the sea just below the high water mark. In 1617, King James VI visited the mine, reportedly fearing that his guides were plotting to drown him. The king survived, but later that year a storm destroyed the shaft. The mine was abandoned until 1790, when stones from its walls were taken to Edinburgh to build a pier.
Archaeologist Ben Robinson explored the remains of the mine for the BBC Two series Villages by the Sea. He told the Mirror: 'Culross is quite beautiful. It is colourful, tourists come and go in bus loads. We waded out into the Firth of Forth in the mud, accompanied by a mining engineer. There is a circular shaft which remains way out. It was a wonder of the world. People came from all over. It has this extraordinary history.'
The series, starting on 2 November, also visits other coastal villages including Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, Holkham in Norfolk, Beer in Devon, Solva in Wales, and Cushendall in Northern Ireland. In Cumbria, Robinson investigated the lost harbour of Port Carlisle, a once-thriving port that hoped to rival Liverpool or Manchester but now consists only of a row of grand Georgian houses.
In Cushendall, Robinson explored the Curfew Tower, built by an eccentric 19th-century landlord to keep villagers in order. The tower, now owned by musician Bill Drummond of the KLF, served as a garrison with a single armed pensioner tasked with ringing the curfew bell. Robinson said: 'Everywhere has a story to tell. You're never going to run out of places to explore and see.'
