Kilmartin Glen

This is a fascinating place, forming the centre of over 350 ancient structures and relics found in the Argyll and Cowal area, 150 of them prehistoric. The glen is part way between Oban and Lochgilphead, with the village of Kilmartin in the middle. Kilmartin houses a museum which can be a good starting point for learning about the monuments before exploring them by car and foot.

The Neolithic and Bronze age monuments include a henge, a number of cists, impressive standing stones, a “linear cemetery” of five large burial cairns, several of which are accessible to the public. There are also many natural rocks decorated with cup and ring marks and other carvings. The monuments include the rock fortress of the kings of Scotland at Dunadd and three more modern castles.

The best way to see the remains is to spend a couple of days in the area and tour the sites by car, walking to the sites. Walkhighlands features two walks combining the main remains near Kilmartin that would be a good introduction to the main highlights. The museum in Kilmartin House is good for setting the scene and it also has a number of hands-on exhibits like a stone quern for grinding corn and there is a good cafe on site. What the museum does not offer is an easy guide to where to go next and how to access all the sites. We therefore offer a brief itinerary based on the two walks and sites accessible from the Oban to Lochgilphead road.

Next to the museum is Kilmartin Parish Church which has an impressive selection of carved gravestones in the cemetery which should not be missed. Afterwards start the walk around the local monuments described here. This takes in the Glebe Cairn, which is the first in a line of large, burial cairns buried under large piles of rounded stones. This cairn was excavated in 1864 and two concentric stone circles were found underneath. At the centre were two cist burials and artefacts found here included a decorated bowl and a jet necklace thought to originate in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

The walk visits the next cairn, Nether Largie North Cairn, which has a sliding door allowing access to the cist burial area inside. Nether Largie Mid Cairn is next, this used to be a lot bigger, but stones were taken from it for local road building. Cup and ring marks and carvings of an axe head can be seen on the southern cist inside the cairn.

Nether Largie South Cairn is the oldest cairn making up the linear cemetery. It is a neolithic chambered cairn probably dating from the fourth millennium BC. It was once 4 metres high but again reuse of the stones has reduced it's size. Two cists were found in the chamber and pottery and arrowheads found inside.

It seems that all the Neolithic and Bronze Age finds and monuments point to Kilmartin Glen being used for the dead rather than as a living settlement. It is only from the first millennium that there is evidence of forts, crannogs and settlements in the area with artefacts being found that point to a living use for the Glen.

Near to Nether Largie South Cairn is Temple Wood containing two circles of standing stones and also the very impressive and large Nether Largie Standing Stones.

Further down the A816 stop and undertake the short walk to the rocky fortress of Dunadd. This was once the seat of the Scottish Kingdom, Dalriada. There are a number of carvings at this impressive viewpoint including a footprint. The outcrop on which the fort stood is protected by the massive raised bog of the Moine Mhor, or Big Moss. It covers 1,200 acres and is one of only a few salt and fresh water raised bogs in Europe, it was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1987.