Craignish
Craignish (Scottish Gaelic, Creiginis) is a peninsula in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. It lies around 25 miles (40 km) south of Oban, and 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Lochgilphead. The peninsula is around 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long, and is aligned along a north-east to south-west orientation, in common with much of the landform of coastal Argyll. To the south is Loch Craignish, which contains several small islands. To the north are the Slate Islands, with the island of Shuna closest. Jura is only 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Craignish Point, the southern tip of Craignish.
There are two main settlements on Craignish, Ardfern on the south coast, and the modern village of Craobh Haven, established in 1983 as a holiday resort and marina, on the north. A single-track road, the B8002, runs along the south shore of the peninsula. In October 2023 a landslip blocked the A816, which feeds the B8002, cutting-off the village from the south. Heavy rain caused 6,000 tonnes of earth to fall, blocking the road. The road was still blocked in November 2023.[1]
Historic monuments
There are a number of ruined
Near the chapel is
Close to Craobh Haven is Lunga, a 16th-century
The early 19th century paddle steamer PS Comet sank off Craignish Point on 13 December 1820.[citation needed]
In literature
Naomi Mitchison wrote of a visit to Craignish with her family: "We are up here in an incredibly beautiful place thirty miles from a station, all very Celtic, islands and sunsets and sea lochs of blue paint. The gentry are rather alarming - those narrow cruel Highland faces, mouths and eyes a little twisted and arrogant and something too delicate and inbred about their hands and skin. But the farmers are capital red heads and very jolly to talk to, rather less dour than my own coast".[2] .
References
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ Naomi Mitchison, "You may well ask", London, 1979, Part II, Chap. 14, (quoting a letter sent from Craignish to Stella Benson in the late 1920s).
- A Visitor's Guide to Craignish, n.d.
- Coventry, Martin The Castles of Scotland; 3rd ed., Goblinshead, 2001
- Walker, Frank Arneil The Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute, Penguin, 2000