History of Ardchattan

Ardchattan has been touched by almost all the major natural and political events from the Big Bang to the present day.

The geological variety illustrates most of the rock formations from 55 million years ago to the last Ice Ages: pudding stone, limestone, volcanic, sedimentary, it's all here somewhere.

The last remants of the Ice Ages lingered in Glen Creran centuries after the rest of the country was already recovering, and the ravages of each of the ice periods is clear to see throughout the area from the slashes through the landscape of the Glens Etive and Creran to the expanses to alluvial raised beaches at all the edges.

Early Man clearly found the place special and popular, and left many structures and places of importance behind them.

The first city of Scotland was established at Dun MacUishneachan, or Beregonium, before Dunadd became the centre for the Christian kings. Religion, politics and clan rivalry all played out around the land and seaways. In the main it was Campbell country, but not simply one family, notably Barcaldine, Lochnell, Inverawe, and Ardchattan Campbells whose allegences were, at various times, spread between the Breadalbane Campbells, Argyll Campbells and Calder families. Each was a powerful force in national politics, intricately involved in all the myraid convoluted political games through the centuries.

for those interested in the history of Ardchattan there is a growing archive of information, records, and help at the Parish Archive