Burrowhead
Burrowhead lies a couple of miles away from its nearest village, Isle Of Whithorn, and was the place where the famous closing scenes of the film were shot.
Burrowhead is now occupied by a caravan park by the name of 'Burrowhead Holiday Village'.
The area in which Howie and Rowan emerge from the cave to be met by Lord Summerisle is still as it was during the time of filming. The hole itself is not as deep as it was on screen and presumably the crew filled in the hole upon completion of filming.
Of note to those with a keen eye is a similar hole situated on the hill opposite. Perhaps this was the crew's first choice of location. The cliff edges and rocks are, naturally, as they appear in the film.
If we go up the hill where Howie was dragged to his demise, we pass the hole in the ground where the tree prop stood during the film's production.
Beyond this spot is the mound where the wicker man itself once stood. Unfortunately, the legs that protruded above the grass mound have since been destroyed in a fire, and its subsequent remains have been pilfered by over-keen fans in recent years. All that can be seen on this spot are a couple of holes and traces of concrete.
The next picture was taken from the site of the wicker man looking towards our friend who is standing in the hole left by the tree prop.
Further along the coastline, remains of a second wicker man can be found. This wicker man was built on a smaller scale than its big brother mentioned above.
It was built for close up shots and is believed to be seen in some of the close ups we see of Howie's final moments within the chest of the effigy. The two stumps measure approximately four feet in height and are mounted on a concrete base which has the message 'pc 1972' etched into it.
This is also the prop which we see in the film's final shot where The Wicker Man bows its head before the
sunset at the very end of the film.
Sadly, as of November 2006, the above mentioned stumps have been stolen. See our articles section for details.