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Loch Leven
Lying beneath the shadow of the Lomond Hills is Loch Leven, the largest loch in lowland Scotland and one of the most important sites for waterfowl in Britain. A National Nature Reserve since 1964, its position, size, shallowness, richness and variety of habitats provide a unique environment that attracts, not only the largest concentration of breeding ducks found anywhere in the UK, but many thousands of migratory ducks, geese and swans every autumn and winter.
Roughly triangular, the loch is about 6 km at its longest and the burgh of Kinross lies at its western end. Loch Leven Castle lies on an island a short way offshore. The castle was the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1567, and it can be reached by ferry, operated from Kinross by Historic Scotland during the summer months.
In the 19th century the Loch was partially drained, during which several relics were found, one of them being a sceptre, "apparently of cane, hilted with ivory, and mounted with silver, upon which ... were the letters of the words, "Mary, Queen of Scots," found near the Mary Knowe, where she is supposed to have landed after her escape from the castle.
St Serf's Inch is the largest of Loch Leven's seven islands and it was the home of an Augustinian monastic community, St Serf's Inch Priory. There was a monastic community on the island which was old in the 12th century. The monastery produced a series of Gaelic language charters from the 11th and 12th centuries which were translated into Latin in the late 12th century.
Loch Leven is a National Nature Reserve, as well as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.
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