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.

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/

Relationships with other parishes

Within Kilfinan, parish ARG (Cowal)

Relationships with other places

Adjacent Ardmarnock Bay, Kilfinan

Adjacent Ardmarnock House, Kilfinan