Kilchoan is a village on the Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 peninsula of Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its length.-Geography:...

, in Lochaber

Lochaber

District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...

, Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

. It is the most westerly village on Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, although several tiny hamlets lie further west on the peninsula (of these, the most westerly is called Portuairk

Portuairk

Portuairk is a crofting township, at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, Lochaber, in the Highland council area of Scotland, and claims the honour of being the most westerly settlement on the British mainland, although nearby Kilchoan is the most westerly village.Overlooking Sanna Bay,...

).

Kilchoan has a population of about 150.

History

Donaldson equates 'Buarblaig' (now Bourblaige about 5 miles east of Kilchoan on the other side of Ben Hiant) with Muribulg, where the Annals of Tigernach

Annals of Tigernach

The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....

 record a battle between the Picts and Dalriads in 731. It may also be the 'Muirbole Paradisi' mentioned by Adomnán.

The ancient Mingary Castle is situated on the coast about a mile to the east of the village.

Tourism

A ferry service runs regularly from Kilchoan to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull

Isle of Mull

The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....

. From Fort William

Fort William, Scotland

Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...

, two buses per day connect with sailings of this ferry: one via Lochailort

Lochailort

Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...

 and Salen

Salen, Mull

Salen is a settlement on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. It is on the east coast of the island, on the Sound of Mull, approximately halfway between Craignure and Tobermory...

; the other via the Corran Ferry

Corran Ferry

The Corran Ferry crosses Loch Linnhe at the Corran Narrows, south of Fort William, Scotland.-Description:Operated by Highland Council, the Corran Ferry is one of few remaining mainland vehicle ferries in Scotland...

 and Salen.

Kilchoan Bay has four visitor moorings that are close to the jetty where there is a shop and showers and a petrol station.

The Sonachan Hotel is the most westerly bar/hotel on the mainland of the UK. The shop and post-office used to be run by author Jon Haylett

Jon Haylett

Jon Haylett is a novelist born in Dar-es-Salaam .He moved to Mombasa, Kenya in 1950 but was educated in England from the age of nine...

.

Geology

The minerals kilchoanite, dellaite and rustumite were first found at Kilchoan.

Very good examples of a type of igneous rock

Igneous rock

Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...

 structure called a cone sheet are found at Kilchoan.

External links

• Kilchoan slipway