‘I don’t know how exactly how she ended up on Loch Etive but it seems that during a bad storm she broke free from her moorings, ending up badly damaged and beached here in this small bay near Ardchattan Priory, where it appears she will be staying…
We have made several visits over the previous few years to the lovely area around Loch Etive. This year we were there from the end of May to the middle of June. We were expecting the usual good weather that we always seem to have at this time of year in Scotland. Alas this was not to be and the climate was more ‘Scottish’ than we’ve encountered before, i.e. if you don’t like it, then wait five minutes. That said, we managed to not get soaking wet and our accommodation on the edge of the water offered some amazing views as the weather and light changed.
The loch is a spectacular twenty-mile long sea loch in Argyll and Bute. It Reaches depths of nearly 500 feet and runs from the foot of Glen Etive to the open sea at Connel, three miles north of Oban. The area around the loch is popular with hikers, anglers, kayakers and people just wanting to enjoy the amazing views.Talking of amazing views, the below two photos were taken from our accommodation looking towards Connel Bridge.
The first photo was taken just after 9 p.m. one evening as a light mist was covering the loch
The second photo below was taken a few minutes after 11 p.m. as it was just getting dark and the bridge was all lit up, quite a sight.
The bridge connects Connel on this side of the loch to North Connel on the other. It now takes the A828 Fort William road across the narrowest section of the loch at The Falls of Lora. It is a cantilever bridge and was originally constructed in 1903 to carry a single track railway line. Moving along, we reach the nearby town of Oban and a short walk from the town centre stand the ruins of Dunollie Castle. Standing high on a rocky promontory, the ruins of Dunollie Castle have watched over the bay for more than 700 years. The site itself has been occupied for much longer and archaeology suggests people have lived here for around 8,000 years. The castle ruins as you see them today are mainly fifteenth century, with parts of the curtain wall added in the sixteenth century. It was the seat of Clan MacDougall (The Lords of Lorn) who once held sway over a large part of Argyll and the islands of Mull, Lismore, Jura, Tiree and Coll.
The MacDougall clan picked the wrong side in the Wars of Independence. John MacDougall defeated Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Dalrigh in 1306 but Bruce came back a couple of years later and defeated the clan at the Pass of Brander. The lands of Lorn were then forfeited to the Campbells, though Dunollie itself was eventually returned to the family. The Marquis of Argyll took the castle in 1644 and handed it back in 1661. By 1746 the family had moved into a more comfortable Georgian home a little further down the hill from the castle. It is now called The 1745 House and is a museum. After this move the castle was left to the elements and the ivy.
The promontory on which the castle stands offers some fabulous views out across the bay towards the island of Kerrera. The island can be reached by water taxi from the North Pier in Oban and the crossing takes ten minutes. Alternatively, one can take a Cal-Macferry from Gallanach which is about two miles south of the town, a crossing that takes five minutes. The island is only small, about four miles long by a mile wide and is home to a population of just forty people. There are no villages on the island.
We took the ferry across from the pier in Oban and spent quite a few hours exploring the coastline. The below photo is taken from Kerrera looking across to the mainland and Dunollie Castle. The lighthouse in the photo is the Kerrera Northspit Lighthouse. It is a minor, ten-metre, navigational beacon which marks the northern entrance to Oban Bay and the Sound of Kerrera. It sits on the rocky north end of the island. The ferry approaching Oban is one of the regular Cal-Mac (Caledonian MacBrayne) ferries travelling back and forth between the mainland and the Isle of Mull.
Now we are back to the lovely Loch Etive. I had left David with his fishing gear on the beach by Ardchattan Church, on the North Connel side of the loch. I set off to walk the two mile or so road along the edge of the loch to Ardchatten Priory and its ruins. Along the way I spotted the below vessel looking in a sorry state,seemingly abandoned on the beach. Possibly built in the 1940s, she started life as a fishing trawler registered in Stromness on the Orkney Islands. Later she was converted to a dive boat where she worked on Scapa Flow.
I don’t know how exactly how she ended up on Loch Etive but it seems that during a bad storm she broke free from her moorings, ending up badly damaged and beached here in this small bay near Ardchattan Priory, where it appears she will be staying…
Further along the road I arrived at the ruins of Ardchatten Priory and these are open to the public daily. The information board at the entrance provides some information about the priory. In the year 1230, King Alexander II granted a priory at Pluscarden, near Elgin, to a new order of monks called the Valliscaulians. Duncan MacDougall, perhaps hoping to demonstrate his allegiance to the king, did the same at Ardchatten the following year.
The Valliscaulian order focused exclusively on the spiritual side of life. Dedicated to prayer and contemplation, they undertook no physical labour but lived off land rents, endowments and bequests. Their communities were small, with no more than twenty monks allowed. At Ardchattan there were periods when as few as three monks lived here.
A small establishment, the priory was somewhat dominated by the MacDougall family. By the end of the 1400s the position of prior (one which therefore had influence over the priory’s wealth) had been held by three MacDougalls.
Ardchattan Priory eventually fell into ruin as a result of religious transitions, clan conflicts and being dismantled for building materials. It transitioned from a functioning monastery into a secularised private estate but its former church was eventually abandoned, burned and stripped for local construction projects. To the left of the photo is Ardchatten House which is occupied to datewith the extensive gardens that are open to visitors every Wednesday during the summer.
We move along now to one of the most photographed castles in the area, Castle Stalker.
The castle is surrounded by water and is located twenty-five miles north of Oban on the west coast near the village of Appin. It is privately owned but a number of tour boats operate throughout the summer, bookable by appointment only.
I was going to write a brief history but it turns out it is not so brief. Anyone who wants to read more can find an article on the internet which covers its long and fascinating history in detail. One thing I will add is that the castle was famously used in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Sunset over Connel Bridge
The sky on fire over the loch
Monster clouds over the bridge
Coming to the end of our brief journey around this beautiful area I will close with three photos taken from our holiday home at Dunfuinary as the sun was setting.
That brings us to the end of this trip around the Loch Etive and Oban area for now.
Wring & Images Ruth Craine – Summer 2026
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