Kilmun

Kilmun looking east along the Holy Loch shoreline towards Strone

Kilmun (Scottish Gaelic: Cill Mhunna) is a linear settlement on the north shore of the Holy Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It runs between the head of the loch and connects with the village of Strone at Strone Point, where the loch joins the Firth of Clyde.

Although as a settlement Kilmun is substantially older than most of its neighbours (see Parish Church below), like them it developed as a watering-place for Glasgow merchants after 1827, when a quay was built by the marine engineer David Napier. It was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer services until its closure in 1971.^[1]

Kilmun is also home to an extensive arboretum managed by the Forestry Commission. Established in the 1930s to monitor the success of a variety of exotic tree species in the humid west coast environment, it includes specimens of Sequoia, Japanese Larch, Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle) and Japanese Chestnut amongst many others from around the world. A series of woodland walks have been established of varying gradients and degrees of difficulty.

Parish Church

This church occupies the summit of a slight knoll about ten metres from the shoreline of the loch. The existing building of 1841 is on the site of a medieval parish church, endowed as a collegiate church in 1442 by Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochawe, and a tower of that period stands to the west of the present building. At the north-east side of the church there is a mausoleum of the Campbell Dukes of Argyll. Rebuilt in 1795-6, it houses the effigy of Sir Duncan Campbell (died 1453) in full armour. There is a second effigy, of a female, probably Campbell's second wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Stewart of Ardgowan.^[2]

Kilmun Parish Church and medieval tower, with the northern Holy Loch in the background

The graveyard contains a wide range of carved headstones, the earliest dating from the seventeenth century. To the north of the church is the final resting place of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first qualified female physician in the United States.

References

1. ^ Walker, Frank Arneil (2000) The Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute, Penguin.
2. ^ RCAHMS (1992) Argyll. An Inventory of the Monuments, Vol. 7, Mid Argyll and Cowal, Medieval and later monuments.

External links

• Kilmun Origins
• Arboretum details
• Map sources for Kilmun

Coordinates: 55°59′36″N 4°56′14″W / 55.99321°N 4.93727°W / 55.99321; -4.93727