Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
St Marnock's Chapel, Kilfinan
Grid reference
NR 912 727 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
191200 672700
Latitude
55.90206841374257
Longitude
-5.340467278569659
Altitude (metres)
20
County
Argyllshire
Nearby places
Ardmarnock House, Kilfinan (0.26 miles)
Ardmarnock Bay, Kilfinan (0.44 miles)
Ardmarnock, settlement Kilfinan (0.86 miles)
Pollphail, settlement, Kilfinan, Cowal (2.66 miles)
Kilfinan Bay, Kilfinan (3.54 miles)
Object Classification
Antiquity
Ecclesiastical
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
In relation to this chapel site, the minister of Kilfinan recorded in 1795 (OSA xiv, 259): 'There is a tradition in the country, which has wonderfully obtained universal credit; that the entire cell that is to be seen in this borradh was the place where St. Marnock used to retire for the purposes of devotion, and pennance, and likewise where he heard confession; which very much excited my curiosity, as well as that of many others, to see it. But upon visiting the place, and viewing the cell, I could not but wonder at the unaccountable credulity of those who could believe such an unlikely story. For the very size of it is such that St. Marnock must have been a very little man, as well as the person confessing, to find room in it, unless in a very awkward posture. It is therefore most likely, that the idea had been adopted from its vicinity to the chapel above mentioned, dedicated to St. Marnock. For my own part, I am much more disposed to think, that, instead of its being the cell of a saint, it is more likely to have been the den of a thief...' NMRS records (Canmore ID 39917) the presence of a chapel and burying ground still existing in the nineteenth century, until it was destroyed. Today there are no remains.
Relationships with other parishes
Within Kilfinan, parish ARG (Cowal)
Relationships with other places
Adjacent Ardmarnock Bay, Kilfinan
Adjacent Ardmarnock House, Kilfinan
Names
1 head-name linked to this place ?St Marnock's Chapel
Head name
St Marnock's Chapel
Place
St Marnock's Chapel, Kilfinan
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Obsolete
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
St Marnock's Chapel 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formSt Marnock's Chapel Head nameSt Marnock's Chapel PlaceSt Marnock's Chapel, Kilfinan Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.