Heritage Open Day
Today we had our first Heritage Open Day where we shared our plans around community engagement and improving access and opportunity by opening up The Crypt, the Bruce Basement, installing better disabled toilets, adding new lighting, making the building more accessible and encouraging new community club activity as well as a programme of affordable events. […]
Hadden Gates
Walter Douglas-Campbell employed some of the leading craftsmen of the era to work on St Conan’s Kirk. This included the metalwork in the building much of which was made by the renowned arts and crafts metalworker, Thomas Hadden. The gates to St Conval’s Chapel and St Brides Chapel are especially important. After 100 years the […]
Gardens and Grounds
The kirk sits in a beautiful part of Argyll with wonderful views down Loch Awe. From the entrance, where you can see remnants of a stone circle, the original path leads towards the kirk. The natural landscape with oak trees, rhododendrons, terraces and grassed areas creates a tranquil setting. A variety of paths and steps wind […]
The Crypt
Underneath the Chancel and Ambulatory in the East end of the kirk is the amazing Crypt. Unfortunately this has to be closed to the public due to the lack of handrails and safety signage. However we would love to open it for public access, and ideally as a small performance space and as an extra […]
£1m Community Vision
St.Conan’s Kirk in the Argyll and Bute village of Lochawe has been revealed as one of only twelve UK buildings to be awarded funding in the latest round of funding by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. An open day on Saturday 4th November 2023 (10am until 4pm) will give visitors and local communities an opportunity […]
Stonework
As wonderful as stonework in the Kirk is, it is in dire need of repointing. the A program of repointing in lime will need almost the whole building to have a scaffold tower at some point to allow the laborious, time consuming and vital job to be done. We still have all the major towers […]
Roof Repairs
The roof of the Kirk is truly amazing, with complex shapes, decorative design, different materials, square towers and more. Other than the slate roof of the north tower which is from the earlier part of the building completed in 1886, all other roof elements were added when the building was dramatically extended, opening in 1930. […]
Lighting Project
The Kirk was completed in 1930. Up until 2019, the kirk had 4 chandelier lights in the Nave and a little bit of lighting beside the exhibition area. After dusk the building becomes quite dark, gloomy and atmospheric, but you can’t see very much! In 2018 we engaged Paul Covell Lighting Consultants to help us […]
St Bride’s Chapel
St Brides Chapel is the resting place of Walter Douglas Campbell and his sister Helen. The major roof leaks having been stopped, the chapel now needs specialist conservation and cleaning to restore the chapel to its former glory. In 2022 a simple lighting scheme with a wireless push button to let visitors turn on the […]
Proposed Visitor Toilets
One recurring issue for visitors to the Kirk whether tourists, wedding guests or attending arts, culture, music or community events is the lack of visitor toilets! Although for a staffed event or wedding we can sometimes arrange access to the single Vestry toilet, it can problematic. During 2018, 2019 and 2020 the Trust and Friends […]
