History

St Conan’s Kirk in Lochawe is a unique building in a simply stunning location. It offers an astonishing range of architecture and styles, many humorous touches and promotes a feeling of peace and contemplation in its many visitors. St Conan’s has become one of Argyll’s top visitor attractions and its Grade A listing confirms its national importance.

Much loved by many, it was voted one of the best buildings in Scotland completed in the Twentieth century.

The story of the Kirk is fascinating. Up until the 1870s the road from Stirling to Oban passed along the north shore of Loch Awe where there was little habitation between Dalmally and the Pass of Brander. The interest of Queen Victoria in all things Highland sparked a wide response amongst the merchant classes of Glasgow. The coming of the Callander to Oban Railway in the early 1880s made practically possible the realisation of the dream to build a Highland home. The Blythswood family of Inchinnan near Renfrew exemplified this interest and their great wealth from coal, iron, ship building, property and railways was used to develop what became the village of Lochawe.

Walter Douglas Campbell, 8th child of Archibald Campbell of Blythswood bought from the Marquis of Breadalbane, the island of Innischonain, St Conan’s Isle, and built for his mother, Caroline, sister Helen and himself, a mansion house.

The story goes that his mother, then in her late sixties, found the long carriage drive to church too
much and asked Walter to build a church nearby. This, he did, and, having secured the land from the Marquis, began to build St Conan’s Kirk in 1881.

Walter was a man of many interests and talents and a most capable, if somewhat unorthodox, professional architect, a determined collector of everything from ships’ timbers to mediaeval windows, a skilled carpenter, and a building engineer. He and Helen had important connections with Queen Victoria, the Royal family, and the Campbell Dukes of Argyll. Princess Louise, who became Duchess of Argyll after 1900, took a keen interest in the church project.

Walter Douglas Campbell

Walter himself was a congenial individual with a mix of social talents including public speaking, singing, writing, and performing plays and comedies, writing children’s books, recording local Loch Awe legends, Celtic culture, early religion across Argyll and the history of architecture. The Kirk is testament to his knowledge of a wide range of architectural styles and his interest in the development of religion from Pagan times to the Reformation.

This serious intellectual curiosity was accompanied by a clear sense of fun and joy in the building from images ranging through owls, swallows, griffins, angels peeking out from roof supports, cheeky human faces in stone, and an abundance of cherubs in stone, wood, and glass.

The original Kirk which was started in 1881 and completed in 1886 was a comparatively small, simple
building easily recognised as a Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It was adequate to the needs of its small congregation. Its footprint was what is now the Nave and part of the Choir of the present Kirk. To make provision for the future, Walter created a Trust in 1883 comprising himself, his brother Montagu, Lord Archibald Campbell, second son of the Duke of Argyll and an authority on Argyll, its history and legends, and representatives of the Church of Scotland. This Trust exists today, now formed from local people owning and man aging the building as laid out in Helen Douglas Campbell’s will of 1927. The Kirk was never adopted as a Church of Scotland church due to its small congregation and significant maintenance costs, but the local Church of Scotland Minister provided the service on a Sunday.

It remains “a Chapel of Ease”, a place of occasional worship open to all, also serving as a memorial to the Blythswood family.

Walter’s vision did not end in 1886. His mother died in 1897, aged 83, and within ten years he began the
wonderful, surprising, unique building that you now see. Building work started in 1907 with Walter overseeing the entire project to which he dedicated the rest of his life. He died in April 1914 and work inevitably slowed during the Great War due to shortages of material and labour.

On his death his sister Helen took up the task and carried out the plans he had prepared making it her life objective to complete the Kirk in memory of her brother. She died in 1927, her nephew, Archibald, the 4th Lord Blythswood died in 1929, and the Trust largely completed the project.

Walter’s vision of a noble ecclesiastical building was not unduly influenced by convention. Most of the building is in the Norman or Romanesque style but he included not only early and late types of this but other totally different styles demonstrating his eclectic choices. He was more anxious to achieve interest and beauty than consistency and tried to include examples of every type of church architecture to be found.

Styles to be found in the Kirk include Norman, Romanesque, Saxon, Celtic Revival, Decorated Gothic, Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts.

Related News

New Website Launched!
So, our volunteers have been beavering away for the last...
Bridge @ the Kirk
It was great to see the local Dalmally and Lochawe...
Community Sing-a-Long dates Announced!
As we enter 2025, we are delighted to announce that,...
Skip to content