The Phantom Mountain & Masonic Seat of Scotland: Did the Knights Templar Hide Their Greatest Secret in a Scottish Peak That Doesn't Exist?

Every country has its legendary mountains steeped in tales of lost treasures and supernatural mysteries. But only Scotland can claim a mountain so magical that it was mentioned in the Bible, guarded by the Knights Templar, and yet might not even exist. According to early Masonic mythologies, "Mount Heredom" is the sacred birthplace of pure Freemasonry, the secret sanctuary where the first Grand Master held council. But for centuries, historians and treasure hunters have been haunted by the same impossible question: where exactly is Mount Heredom, and what ancient secrets are buried there?

View from the summit of Scotland’s Mount Schiehallion looking over loch Rannoch into the setting sun, one of the alleged locations of the legendary Mount Heredom. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Flight of the Knights’ Templar

This quest to find ‘Mount Heredom’ begins in Kilwinning, a sleepy town on Scotland’s west coast that is quite literally ‘steeped’ in legends telling of secret orders of knights guarding valuable sacred relics in the 12th century abbey, the tower of which still stands today in the center of the town. Even the old Mercat Cross in the Main Street of Kilwinning is said to contain part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified and historian Jamie Morton from Ayrshire recently presented evidence that the legendary Holy Grail was hidden in a chamber beneath Kilwinning Abbey.

Main Street, Kilwinning, with Kilwinning Abbey tower seen to the right of Main Street. (dave souza/CC BY-SA 4.0)