Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kilmartin Glen
In the 6th century, Irish settlers arrived in this part of Argyll and founded the kingdom of
Dalriada, which eventually united with the Picts in 843 to create the first Scottish king-
dom. Their capital was the hill fort of Dunadd, on the plain to the south of Kilmartin Glen.
This magical glen is the focus of one of the biggest concentrations of prehistoric sites in
Scotland. Burial cairns, standing stones, stone circles, hill forts and cup-and-ring-marked
rocks litter the countryside. Within a 6-mile radius of Kilmartin village there are 25 sites
with standing stones and over 100 rock carvings.
Sights
Your first stop should be
Kilmartin House Museum
(
01546-510278;
www.kilmartin.org
;
Kilmartin; adult/child £5/2; 10am-5.30pm Mar-Oct, 11am-4pm
Nov-23 Dec)
, in Kilmartin village, a fascinating interpretive centre that provides a context
for the ancient monuments you can go on to explore, alongside displays of artefacts re-
covered from various sites. The project was partly funded by midges - the curator ex-
posed his body in Temple Wood on a warm summer's evening and was sponsored per
midge bite!
The oldest monuments at Kilmartin date from 5000 years ago and comprise a linear
cemetery of
burial cairns
that runs south from Kilmartin village for 1.5 miles. There are
also ritual monuments (two stone circles) at
Temple Wood
, 0.75 miles southwest of Kil-
martin. The museum bookshop sells maps and guides.
Kilmartin Churchyard
contains some 10th-century Celtic crosses and lots of mediev-
al grave slabs with carved effigies of knights. Some researchers have surmised that these
were the tombs of Knights Templar who fled persecution in France in the 14th century.
The hill fort of
Dunadd
, 3.5 miles south of Kilmartin village, was the seat of power of
the first kings of Dalriada, and may have been where the
Stone of Destiny
was originally
located. The faint rock carvings of a wild boar and two footprints with an Ogham inscrip-
tion may have been used in some kind of inauguration ceremony. The prominent little hill
rises straight out of the boggy plain of the
Moine Mhor Nature Reserve
. A slippery path
leads to the summit where you can gaze out on much the same view that the kings of Dal-
riada enjoyed 1300 years ago.
