Locations - Burrowhead

(Should be called Burrow Head...)

(Based on and used with permission from the wicker-man.com site which was written circa mid-2000s.)

They shot here from Oct 25 - 30 and on Nov 7, 1972

Below is a map that shows where various things happened. 1) Confrontation and hole, 2) old dead tree prop., 3) The "hero" man, the large one, 4) the smaller one that was used for some shots.

See also Andy Taylor's location footage from 2000.

Burrow Head 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.

It 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 as they had dug it originally.

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.

This 'behind the scenes' shot gives an idea as to where the wicker man stood in relation to cliff edge.

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.

 This spot is the mound where the "Hero" (main prop, the large one) wicker man itself once stood. Unfortunately, the legs that protruded above the grass
mound have since been destroyed in a fire (in the 1990s), 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.

This picture shows the remains in the 1970s.

Another pic that show the dead tree as well.

This picture shows the legs and steps probably around 1995.

Some calculations by Jeff Perry from a visit there.

Jeff also calculated that the effigy was approximately 35 feet tall. Brown in his book says it was 36 feet tall, with the torso being 15 feet off the ground.

This amazing pic, taken by Alec McGhie shows how they got that famous last shot.

    Here is a map that shows the location of the Hero man, the dead tree and where they burned the head, as remembered by Linda McGhie whose father took the above pic.

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, the Hero man.

This amazing shot shows it in place back then.

More recent shots showing only the chopped off legs.

    It was built for the close up shots. 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. Brown says this man was 15 feet tall, it's torso being about 3 feet off the ground.

 Looking up the hill. Edward Woodward also had large cue cards, in this case sheets with the words to his last speech written on them that were hung from the rocks and the peninsula.

Below are the stumps as of the mid-2000s. They were cut down and stolen in November of 2006. (See the Timeline for more info on this.)

Some behind the scenes shots. Some of the Wicker men specifically.

See this video to walk from the cave hole they emerge from to the location of the Hero and the second Wicker Man.

See also The Wicker Man Pilgrim's excellent pages on the locations. (Burrowhead)

Some nice shots of the mysterious metal anchor that's embedded into the rock, here.