Kilmun
Encyclopedia
Holy Loch
The Holy Loch is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
in Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...
, Scotland
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...
. It runs between the head of the loch and connects with the village of Strone
Strone
Strone is a village on in Argyll in south-west Scotland at the point where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde....
at Strone Point, where the loch joins the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
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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
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
merchants after 1827, when a quay was built by the marine engineer David Napier. It was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer
Clyde steamer
The era of the Clyde steamer in Scotland began in August 1812 with the very first successful commercial steamboat service in Europe, when Henry Bell's began a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock...
services until its closure in 1971.
Kilmun is also home to an extensive arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
managed by the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
. 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
Japanese Larch
Japanese Larch is a species of larch native to Japan, in the mountains of Chūbu and Kantō regions in central Honshū....
, Araucaria araucana
Araucaria araucana
Araucaria araucana is an evergreen tree growing to tall with a trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile, western Argentina and south Brazil. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria...
(monkey puzzle) and Japanese Chestnut
Japanese Chestnut
Japanese Chestnut is a species of chestnut originally native to Japan and South Korea. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10-15 m tall. The leaves are similar to those of the Sweet Chestnut, though usually a little smaller, 8-19 cm long and 3-5 cm broad...
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 churchCollegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
in 1442 by Sir Duncan Campbell
Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell
Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell Duncan Campbell, 1st Lord Campbell (Classical Gaelic Donnchadh mac Cailein, and also called Donnchadh na-Adh of Loch Awe, (died 1453), was an important figure in Scottish affairs in the first half of the fifteenth century and...
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
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
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
Ardgowan House
Ardgowan House is a late 18th-century mansion and estate on the Firth of Clyde near Inverkip, Scotland. Ardgowan is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. The Ardgowan estate has been held by the Stewart family since the early 15th century. The present house was begun in 1797,...
.
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
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
, the first qualified female physician in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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