Trekking across Islay
Day 4: The Isle of Islay
First Shots of Islay
The smell of peat that hangs in the air on Islay is bottled in its famous whiskies. Aside from distilleries, the island's historical sites evoke a past in which these islands were far less remote. The whitewashed cottages along the coast of Islay line clean and beautiful beaches, many of them visited by a variety of wildlife.
~Fodor's Travels: Scotland
Kildalton Church & Cross
About 8 miles northeast of Port Ellen is one of the highlights of Scotland's Celtic heritage. After passing through a pleasantly rolling, partly wooded landscape, take a narrow road (it's signposted "Kildalton Cross") from Ardbeg. This leads to a ruined chapel with surrounding kirkyard, in which stands the finest carved cross anywhere in Scotland: the 8th-century Kildalton Cross. Carved from a single slab of epidiorite rock, the ringed cross is encrusted on both sides with elaborate designs in the style of the Iona school. The surrounding grave slabs date as far back as the 12th and 13th centuries.
~Fodor's Travels: Scotland
Scheduling the Tours
On the way back from the Kildalton cross, we stopped at Ardbeg, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig to schedule tours for the following day.
Kilchoman Cross & Chapel
The Kilchoman parish church was built in 1827 and back then served a rather large community compared to nowadays. Depopulation and clearances emptied the area and only few inhabitants remained, mostly in farms. The majority of the people in Kilchoman Parish live nowadays in Port Charlotte, Bruichladdich and Portnahaven and St. Kiaran's church has taken over the role of Kilchoman Church . The last service in Kilchoman church was held in 1977 after which it gradually deteriorated and sadly became the ruin it is today.
One of the gems in this graveyard is Kilchoman Cross which dates back to around the 1300s when the medieval church was built. The beautiful and very detailed Kilchoman Cross, carved in Iona style, measures 8 feet 4 inches in height, and with the exception of the inscription it is in a very perfect state of preservation, though the design is in places obscured by lichen. The cross has a striking similarity with the great cross at Oronsay Priory albeit that the Kilchoman Cross has more complicated scroll-work.
Kilchoman Distillery
Established in 2005 as the first new distillery on Islay for over a century, Kilchoman is a very welcoming, tiny, farm-based enterprise that grows its own barley, as well as distilling, maturing and bottling its whisky on site. Also, along with Ardbeg, this is the only distillery on the island with a cafe, and very lovely it is too.
~ Rough Guide to Scotland
Kilnave Chapel & Cross
One of the nice features of Loch Gruinart is the historic Kilnave Chapel and Cross, often overlooked by visitors due to its almost invisible position from the road. The name Kilnave comes from the Gaelic word Naomh which means saint or holy. The chapel at Kilnave was built around late 1300s or the early 1400s and belonged to the parish of Kilchoman.
Kilnave church, now in ruins, measures 29 feet by 14 feet with walls that are well over 2 feet thick. The door which is at the west end is round-headed and very low, and its arch is constructed of thin slabs of whinstone. Another important feature is Kilnave Cross, a beautiful standing cross at the west end of the church. This cross is carved on one side only, and very little remains of the design; indeed, it requires a very good light to decipher what is left. Kilnave Cross shows resemblance with that at Kiells in Knapdale.
Moos & Scenery
Portnahaven
South of Port Charlotte, the A847 continues along the wild landscape of the Rhinns of Islay. The road ends in Portnahaven and its twin, Port Wemyss. Planned at the same time, the two villages share a church, but with separate entrances. From Portnahaven you can often see gray seals on the rocks below.
~Fodor's Travels: Scotland
Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse
Just off shore of Port Wemyss sits the island of Orsay, which has the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse. The island of Orsay and the lighthouse are owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board. Standing 29 meters high the Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse was designed and built by the famous Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson in 1825. Prior to the automation of the station in 1998 a principal light keeper and two assistants would carry out a period of four weeks duty at the station. Transfer to and from the island was by helicopter from Oban, where there was a 'shore station' for the keepers and their families. Prior to the use of helicopters, the transfer of the keepers, provisions and other light stores was by small boat.
Driving the Shoreline
Bruichladdich Distillery
In the centre of the village of the same name, this independent distillery was rescued in 2001 by a group of whisky fanatics, but was bought out by Remy-Cointreau in 2012. Progressive and innovative, this is one distinctly cool distillery; moreover, they also produce the island's only gin, the scrumptious Botanist.
~Rough Guide to Scotland
The American Monument
At its tip, the Mull of Oa, is a monument recalling the 650 men who lost their lives in 1918 when the British ships Tuscania and Otranto sank nearby. The American Monument is built on a 429 feet (131 metres) high cliff on the Oa Peninsula in 1920 by the American Red Cross, and is designed by architect Robert Walker. The monument commemorates the loss of two troop ships in 1918, and the location overlooks the very spot where the Tuscania sunk. The monument is built in the shape of a lighthouse and is visible from many areas on Islay. A pleasant half hour meadow and moorland walk from the RSPB parking place takes one to the monument.