Kilbride: Chapel and Rock Art

Kilbride brings together a medieval chapel, archaeologically recorded rock art and a historic route. Four rock art sites were recorded on Kilbride Farm; the Kirnan Way can still be traced over much of the survey area. These features offer different points of interest: the architectural history of St Bride's Chapel, the forms of the rock art and the course of a historic route. If you are looking for a hotel in Kilbride, this perspective puts the destination’s cultural history at the centre of your stay. It offers a way to explore the history of the area through specific places and archaeological sites.

St Bride's Chapel: medieval history

St Bride's Chapel in Kilbride is a roofless medieval chapel. Its exact date of construction is unknown; it may have been built around 1300. It was in use until the Reformation. The chapel thus combines a medieval classification with an uncertain date: “around 1300” remains a possibility, while its use is dated to the period up to the Reformation.

Rock art on Kilbride Farm

An archaeological survey of Kilbride Farm recorded four rock art sites. Sites 75, 76, 83 and 87 each have their own descriptions of the stone, its surface and its location. The slope, raised knoll, natural rock slab and possible former upright position of a boulder each provide a different point of interest.

Site 76 is a cup-marked rock on a gently east-facing slope. It consists of a large, smooth glacial erratic lying horizontally. At Site 87, by contrast, the raised knoll is the defining feature of its location: a large, flat boulder lies there. Comparing the two, Site 76 is notable for its gently sloping position and smooth surface, while Site 87 stands out for its location on the knoll.

Site 83 offers a different point of interest: an intricately carved group of incised markings lies on a natural rock slab. From there, the view extends over lower-lying ground to the southeast. Site 75 also consists of a large, horizontally lying boulder; it may originally have stood upright. These descriptions therefore focus, on the one hand, on a group of carvings and its southeastern outlook and, on the other, on the uncertain former position of a single stone.

The Kirnan Way and the wider context

The Kirnan Way complements the rock art with a historic route. It can still be traced over much of the Kilbride Farm survey area, and it also crosses a stream via a stone culvert bridge. Its description links a route that remains traceable over a considerable distance with a specific crossing point. This distinguishes the way from the numbered rock art sites: the route and stream crossing are the focus here, while the sites are described in terms of their form, markings and location.

Rock art has also been found in the wider region. Two cup-marked boulders were discovered near the abandoned settlement of Achayerran. This find extended the distribution of rock art northwards, beyond the sites previously recorded in Kilbride/Rhudle Glen. It shows that the archaeological context extends beyond the individual sites on Kilbride Farm.

Discover more destinations: Kilmelfort, Isle of Bute, Isle of Gigha, Glencruitten, Cairndow, Craignure, Tarbert, Isle Of Colonsay.

For the main travel overview: Argyll And Bute.