Historical interest
Iron Age Fort - OS Grid NR796322
At the end of Saddell bay you will find Pluck Wood and on the summit of the hill within the wood are the remains of an Iron age hill fort. The fort dates from before 500BC. The signal wall of the fort survives facing the sea where it can be seen as a bank of stony debris up to 14ft (4.3 m) thick.
Iron Age Fort - OS Grid NR783273
Three miles south of Saddell going towards Campbeltown is a more impressive fort known as Kildonan Galleried dun. This is a form of Iron Age fortification thought to be between the simple duns or fortified homesteads and the complex broch towers. The Kildonan dun dates from around AD 200. There are artefacts in the Campbeltown Museum.
Kilchousland Chapel - OS Grid NR753221
The earliest part of the chapel dates from the 12th century but has been much altered and remodelled probably in the 16th century. There are some interesting stones in the graveyard with carvings and inscriptions. Best visited on foot for safety, due to lack of parking on this busy road.
Saddell Abbey - OS Grid NR783322
Saddell Abbey was founded in 1160 by the great warrior King Somerled and was completed by his son Reginald. From Somerled descended the clan MacDonald and the Lords of the Isles who ruled the West of Scotland until 1493.
A form of Celtic stone carving flourished at Saddell. Life size stone warriors, with their javelins, swords and daggers can be seen there. This is the most important ecclesiastical site in Kintyre and well worth a visit. There is a small collection of carved stone fragments in the Campbeltown Museum.
Saddell Castle - OS Grid NR789322
Saddell Castle is at the western end of Saddell Bay. This is a tower house built as a residence for the bishop of Argyll and completed in 1512. By 1650 it had come into the possession of the Campbells and towards the end of the 17th Century it was taken over by the Campbell lairds of Glensaddell who quarried stones from Saddell Abbey. The Campbells built a new home nearby in 1774 and the castle fell into disrepair and by the 1970s was derelict. In 1976 it was brought by the Landmark Trust and has been restored as holiday accommodation.
