St John's Loch

St John’s Loch lies two-thirds of a mile inland from Dunnet Bay on Scotland’s north coast, within the parish of Dunnet in Caithness. It is one of the two largest lochs in the parish, alongside Loch Heilen. The water is almost circular, just under a mile long and just over half a mile wide, covering 195 acres. Its deepest point reaches seven feet in the south-east corner. The loch drains south through the Dunnet Burn, which flows through the village of Dunnet before reaching the sea at Dunnet Bay. The loch once held a Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to St John, now reduced to a grassy knoll with a patch of rough pasture marking the site. Priests once claimed the water could cure the sick and enrich the church, collecting offerings at the altar. After the Reformation, visitors began throwing coins into the loch instead. The area remains home to a large population of wildfowl, including mallard, wigeon, pochard and tufted duck. Visitors find a quiet inland loch surrounded by open pasture and low hills. A grassy knoll marks the former chapel site at the eastern end, where the water is calm and shallow. The Dunnet Burn’s gentle flow leads the eye south towards the village and the distant bay. The loch’s round shape and modest depth make it easy to walk around in an hour. Wildfowl glide across the surface or rest along the margins. The knoll offers a place to pause and look back over the water.