An island church

THE island of Islay lies of the west coast of mainland Argyll, and is the most hospitable of the group of islands which also includes Jura, Tiree, Coll, Colonsay and Oronsay. Much of its surface is reasonably lat and well-drained, and there are supplies of peat, used for fuel; there are also deposits of limestone.

Until the early 18th century it was largely a crofting island, but in 1726 the islands of Islay and Jura were purchased by Daniel Campbell of the Shawield mansion in Glasgow, using money paid by the Government in compensation for the sacking of that house in 1725 by a mob opposed to the introduction of a tax on malt. Campbell enlarged an existing house, Kilarrow House, begun in 1677, to form Islay House. His son, also Daniel, who inherited in 1653, transformed the island, introducing improved agriculture. He and his successors laid out villages to house people displaced from the land. These settlements – Port Charlotte, Port Ellen, Port Wemyss, Port Askaig, Bridgend and Bowmore – ofered much better housing than the thatched cottages they displaced.

Kilarrow village, in the grounds of Islay House, was replaced in the 1760s by the new model town of Bowmore, laid out on a regular plan.

The old village was a mediaeval settlement, with a parish church dedicated to St Maelrubha. After the Reformation the parish of Kilarrow was united with that of Kilchoman, to the north, but when Bowmore was established the parishes were disjoined, and the new parish church, subject of this article was built at the head of the main street of the town, where it is a notable land and sea mark. It is unique for its time in being on a circular plan. It is likely that the design was inspired by one prepared by John Adam in 1758 for Inveraray, but not constructed. The Bowmore building was completed in 1767 by Thomas Spalding, with a robust central wooden column supporting the elaborate roof timbers. This feature restricts the view of the pulpit from some of the pews at the back of the church.

Construction of a roof of this complexity was made possible by the importation of timber from North America and the Baltic. To cope with the growing population of the town a gallery was added in 1828. The old church at Kilarrow was abandoned, but its remains can still be seen, with some good mural monuments. In the churchyard are some ine examples of the carved grave-slabs characteristic of the late mediaeval period in the western Highlands and Islands.

At the Disruption of the Church of Scotland a few members of the parish church congregation formed a Free Church congregation in Bowmore, meeting occasionally in the parish church. In 1856 Bowmore was declared a preaching station by the Free Church, and in 1859 it became an extension charge, a church being constructed in 1859-60 to designs by Duncan Macfarlane. This became Bowmore United Free Church in 1900 and a Church of Scotland church in 1929. In 1936 this congregation, and that of a Church of Scotland mission at Skerrils united with Kilarrow, and the former Free church was converted into halls for the parish church.

Today Islay is probably best known for its Scotch whisky distilleries, but there is much more to the island than that. In the south is the Kildalton Cross, the best preserved ‘high cross’ on the Irish model in Scotland, and in the north is the Kilchoman Cross, a ine later mediaeval cross. Both testify to the long association of the island and its people with Christianity. A pilgrimage to the island will be a memorable one, and Kilarrow will be an important place to visit.