HISTORICAL SIGHTS

There are many sights of historical interest on Islay. Here are some of the more accessible.

Kildalton Church and High Cross
Approx 7 miles north east of Port Ellen. One of the early Christian crosses in Britain. Dates from the second half of the 5th century.

Finlaggan. http://www.whisky4u.co.uk/finlaggan/
Off the A846 between Ballygrant and Port Askaig. The seat of the Lords of the Isles.

National Museums of Scotland.
Visitor Centre open April to September, Tuesdays, Thursdays &
Sundays 2.30-Spm

American Monument
The Oa. Built by the United States Government as a memorial to the 266 Americans who perished in the torpedoeing and sinking of HMS Tuscania in 1 91 8.

Dun Nosebridge
South east of Bridgend. Iron Age fort which offers a wide view of the Laggan Valley.

Cultoon Stone Circle.
On the Portnahaven/Kilchiaran Road. Only three of the 12 blocks of stone are upright, the others lie on the ground, by the holes which had been dug to receive them. Excavation in 1874 revealed that the stone circle had never been completed.

Round Church, Bowmore. Located at the top of the main street in Bowmore, built with no corners for the devil to hide. Built by Daniel Campbell in 1767, one of only two in Scotland.

Dunyvaig Castle.
Sited on a promontory on the east side of Lagavulin Bay (take the first road on the left past Lagavulin). The ruins of a 16th century castle which was built on the site of an earlier stronghold of the Lords of the Isles.

Grasdal &TokamalTownships, the Oa.
Reached by a pleasant walk from Kintra Farm. Two of the many deserted villages on this once densely populated peninsula.

LurabusTownship, the Oa.
(take the track up towards the radio mast but turn right before you reach it). Most of the buildings were abandoned towards the end of the 19th century.

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