Parish of Kilmory

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Kilmorie 1834-45: Kilmorie

Kilmory, a parish comprising the W and S sides of the Isle of Arran, Buteshire, and including the island of Pladda. Bounded NW and W by Kilbrannan Sound, S by the Firth of Clyde, and E by Kilbride, it has an utmost length from N by W to S by E of 19³/₈ miles, an utmost breadth from E to W of 7⁷/₈ miles, and an area of 67,099 acres. The coast-line in Arran extends from the mouth of Loch Ranza, all round the W, the S, and the SE, to Dippin Head; and the interior line of boundary is principally the watershed of the island. The coast, the surface, and the chief features, natural or artificial, have all been noticed in our article on Arran, and in other articles which are there referred to. Rather less than one-eleventh of the entire area is in tillage, and nearly all the remainder is either pastoral or waste. Agriculture is the staple industry. The Duke of Hamilton is almost the sole proprietor, 1 other holding an annual value of less than £500. Kilmory is in the presbytery of Kintyre and synod of Argyll; the living is worth £341. The parish church stands 7 furlongs N of the southern shore of the island, and 10 miles SW of Lamlash, under which there is a post office of Kilmory. It was built in 1785, and in 1881 was stripped and handsomely renovated at the cost of the Duke of Hamilton. There are also Free churches of Kilmory, Lochranza, and Shiskan; and Kilmory, Little Mill, Lochranza, Penrioch, Shiskan, Sliddery, and Dongarie schools, all of them public but the last, with total accommodation for 538 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 268, and grants amounting to £297, 5s. 5d. Valuation (1860) £7729, (1883) £10,959. Pop. (180l) 2296, (1831) 3771, (1861) 3151, (1871) 2879, (1881) 2586, of whom 1909 were Gaelic-speaking.—Ord. Sur., shs. 13, 21, 1870.

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Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer