THE P
RTAL
Saint Conan ’ s Kirk Loch Awe
Eliza Trebelcock visits an oddity
July 2018 Page 22
On my way to Iona I had to go to Oban to catch the Ferry across to Mull , and from there to Iona . As I was driving into Oban I passed what looked like a medieval church right beside the Loch . Intrigued , I stopped the car and went to have a look .
It is , of course , Church of Scotland ; that is to say , Presbyterian . The Kirk is named after St Conan , the patron of Lorne . He is said to have lived at Glenorchy . By Dalmally there is a well named after him .
It appears that he was a disciple of St Columba , but not contemporary with the great man , although like him , he came from Ireland .
St Conan was chosen to tutor the two sons of the King of Scotland and eventually was ordained bishop . As you would expect , he is the subject of many legends , but apart from these spartan facts , we know next to nothing about him .
Fortunately we know rather more about the kirk that bears his name . It looks rather old , but was dedicated as recently as 1930 . Until the 1870s the road from Stirling to Oban passed along the north shore of Loch Awe . There were few , if any , houses between Dalmally and Taynuilt . It was the arrival of the railway that made access to the Loch easier . A hotel was built and Walter Douglas Campbell , younger brother of the first Lord Blythswood , bought the Island of Innischonian . On the island he built himself a stately home and lived there with his sister , Helen , and their mother .
Local folk-lore has it that the elder Mrs Campbell found the long drive to the parish church in Dalmally too much , and so her son decided to build her a church nearby . Campbell had many talents , which he put to use in the building of the Kirk . He was a capable – if unorthodox – architect , a collector of objets d ’ art and a skilled woodcarver .
Campbell started his great work in 1881 and completed the building by 1886 . It was small and simple building , but more than adequate for the small congregation . It stood where the present nave , and part of the choir , stands .
Campbell was not satisfied with this building . He had something much grander in mind . In 1907 he
began work on a larger kirk and devoted the rest of his life to it . He died in 1914 and work was suspended during the Great War , but his sister Helen carried out her brother ’ s plans once the war ended . She died in 1927 and the final work was overseen by Trustees .
The stone used for the building was not quarried . Boulders lying on the slopes of the hill above the Loch were rolled down , split and shaped on site .
Campbell incorporated many different styles into his building . Local rumour has it that he incorporated into his Kirk every type of ecclesiastical architecture found in Scotland ! There is even a circle of standing stones by the entrance gate .
St Conan ’ s is ripe for criticism . It is neither ancient nor conventional . It is far larger than the needs of the small congregation . It is extremely elaborate . Yet , it does fulfil the purpose of its founder to be “ To the Glory of God , a House Beautiful ”. Should you find yourself near Oban , be sure and visit St Conan ’ s . You will not be disappointed .
St Conan ’ s Kirk Web Site : www . stconanskirk . org . uk