Situated in the Duncarron Valley, near Falkirk, Duncarron Medieval Village was built by Charlie Allan — actor and founder of The Clanranald Trust for Scotland — it is a recreated medieval settlement dedicated to bringing Scotland's early history to life.
The brief was to transform two shipping containers on site into standalone pieces of mural art, built around a Pictish theme and an overall ancient Celtic aesthetic. Rather than generic historical imagery, the containers were to feature real figures from the site itself: Charlie and his wife Chara were chosen as the two models, grounding the artwork in the people actually behind Duncarron.
The first container, completed in June, centres on Charlie himself. He's depicted wearing a Pictish Orkney hood and holding a Celtic sword, set against a backdrop of standing stones — instantly rooting the piece in early Scottish and Pictish history.
As a mural and graffiti artist, taking a plain shipping container and turning it into a piece of Pictish-themed art is the kind of large-scale, narrative-driven work I love — using spray paint technique to build something that feels carved from the same history as the rest of the site.
