Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1018700
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018700
St Conan's Church- Lochawe, is a monument to the skills and determination of Waiter Douglas Campbell, who had built a mansion on the island of Innis Chonain in Loch Awe. Campbell designed and built the first church on the site between 1881 and 1886, occupying what is now the nave, but he envisaged a more imposing structure; he devoted himself to the design and building of the church between 1907 and his death in 1914. The completion of the task was supervised by his sister Helen and, although she died in 1927, the church was at last dedicated in 1930.
The church is spacious and light; although designed to juxtapose many different styles both in the interior and in the decoration of the exterior, it is a memorable place to visit. Fragments from Iona Abbey are incorporated into the north wall of the south aisle, and a window from St Mary's Parish Church, South Leith, is built into the south wall of the Bruce Chapel. An unusual object is also preserved in the Bruce Chapel: a bell founded in 1843 for Skerryvore Lighthouse (no. 13).
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Argyll and the Western Isles’, (1985).
