Inveraray


Argyll and Bute

Towards Inveraray at Dusk
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Towards Inveraray at Dusk

A neat village of whitewashed houses in Argyll and Bute, Inveraray lies on the A83 road near the head of Loch Fyne opposite St Catherine's to which it was once linked by a ferry. Created a burgh of barony in 1474 and a royal burgh in 1648, Inveraray was rebuilt from 1743 to a regular plan on the instructions of Archibald Campbell, the 3rd Duke of Argyll (1682 - 1761). Nearby is Inveraray Castle, ancestral home of the Argyll Campbells, which was also rebuilt around the same time, and is now the principal tourist attraction of the area. The old village, located slightly closer to the castle, was systematically demolished between 1758 and 1776. The developers included William Adam (1689 - 1748), John Adam (1721-92) and Robert Mylne (1733 - 1811), though it is unclear which of the many fine buildings in the town can be attributed to which of the developers. Buildings of interest include the Great Inn (1755), the Dubh Loch Bridge (1757), the two-part Parish Church (1802), where English and Gaelic services were conducted side-by-side, and Inveraray Courthouse and Jail (1813). Inveraray Primary School dates from 1964, but the small secondary school here closed in 1971, with pupils transferred to either Oban or Dunoon. The town, which developed in association with linen weaving, herring fishing and tourism, was the administrative centre of the former county of Argyll until 1975. Steamers excursions from Gourock visited Inveraray until the 1960s and from 2000 a steel-hulled schooner was moored at the pier as a marine heritage centre. Inveraray was the birthplace in 1864 of the novelist Neil Munro, author of the Para Handy stories.


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