In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Kingarth like this:
Kingarth, a parish of Bute island, Buteshire, whose church stands 6¾ miles S of Rothesay, under which there is a post office of Kingarth. Containing also the villages of Kilchattan Bay, Ascog, and Kerrycroy, and comprising the southern part of Bute island, it is bounded NW by Rothesay parish, and on all other sides by the Firth of Clyde. ...
Its utmost length, from N to S, is 75/8 miles; its utmost breadth is 3½ miles; and its land area is 8995 acres. Its outline is indented by several small bays, especially on the W side; and, contracting southward to 9½ furlongs at the low sandy isthmus of the Vale of St Blane, it thence projects a peninsula 2¼ miles long, and terminating in the promontory of Garroch Head. The coast is mostly bold and rocky; the interior is variously hilly, undulating, and low-its highest elevations from S to N being Torr Mor or Blane's Hill (485 feet), Suidhe-Chatain (517), and the Mound (367). The scenery of the Vale of St Blane, and in portions of the seaboard, is very beautiful. Principal features are noticed in our articles on Bute, Ascog, Fad, Kilchattan, Garroch Head, Dunagoil, Mount Stuart, and Blane's (St). The soils of the arable lands is light and sandy, but fertile. About four-elevenths of the entire area are moor or pasture, some 950 acres are under wood, and nearly all the rest of the parish is in tillage. The Marquis of Bute is almost sole proprietor, but one other holds an annual value of between £100 and £500. Kingarth is in the presbytery of Dunoon and synod of Argyll; the living is worth £281. The parish church was built in 1826, and contains 600 sittings. There are also two Free churches, designated Kingarth and South Kingarth; and three public schools -Brigidale, Kerrycroy, and Kingarth-with respective accommodation for 50, 88, and 107 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 35, 33, and 67, and grants of £42, £42, 14s. 6d., and £60, 5s. Valuation (1860) £6365, (1883) £10, 517. Pop. (1801) 875, (1831) 746, (1861) 905, (1871) 901, (1881) 1260.—Ord. Sur., shs. 21, 29, 1870-73.
Kingarth through time
Kingarth is now part of Argyll and Bute district. Click here for graphs and data of how Argyll and Bute has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Kingarth itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Kingarth, in Argyll and Bute and Buteshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/16505
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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