Crichope Linn

Crichope Linn is a gorge and waterfall near Gatelawbridge in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Linn is the Scots language word for waterfall.

It is over 30m deep and is formed from the action of the stream, Crichope Burn, on the soft sandstone that underlies much of the area. The gorge was long believed to harbour supernatural beings, and a natural rock cell, the "Elf's Kirk" (since broken up for building stone), stood at its entrance. A natural archway on the footpath along the side of the gorge bears many 18th and 19th century inscriptions, supposedly including one by Robert Burns.

In the 17th century, Covenanters used Crichope Linn as a hiding place. Probably as a result, Walter Scott chose it as the lair of John Balfour of Burley in Old Mortality.