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Supposed site of a battle. The battle, known as 'Dun Nechtain, 'Nechtanesmere' or 'Pool of Garan', was fought between Brude mac Beli, King of Pictland, and Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, during the afternoon of Saturday 20th May 685. Ecgfrith was killed and his army routed, both factors which contributed to the limitation of Northumbrian expansion in the north. The exact site of the battle is not known, but 'Dun Nechtan' is generally accepted as being the modern 'Dunnichen' and 'Nechtansmere' as being the loch or mire which existed there until it was drained in the 18th and 19th centuries for the extraction of peat and marl. This identification was proposed by George Chalmers in 1807. No archaeological remains of the battle have been recovered in the area, but a confused tradition prevails of a great battle having been fought on the East Mains of Dunnichen, between the Picts and the Britons and chronologically earlier cist burials and tumulii opened in the vicinity have been erroneously ascribed to the battle.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Angus
HER -
NO54NW0012 - BATTLE OF NECHTANSMERE