St John's Church, formerly Dunoon Free Church, is a Presbyterian church building in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. A Category A listed structure, it is located in the town centre at the junction between Hanover Street and Victoria Road. The church is still in daily use.
The Very Reverend Mackintosh MacKay's 27 February 1840 Address to the Parishioners of Dunoon and Kilmun, given from the Manse in Dunoon, was published later that year. An 1842 addendum by MacKay was later included.
The current building was erected in 1843 on the site of an older church. Architect Robert Alexander Bryden was hired and the present church building was completed in 1877. (Bryden is buried about half a mile to the north of the church, in Dunoon Cemetery.)
Like the predecessor, it was initially called Dunoon Free Church and later renamed St John's Church.
St John's Church was built using dry stone masonry and stands on a steeply sloping site which increases its apparent size and the height of the tower and spire. The architecture is in the Normandy Gothic architecture style with crisply carved details. The interior is laid out with a horse-shoe shaped gallery for the congregation and a raised and raked gallery for the choir behind the central pulpit. There are many stained glass windows throughout the building. The organ was installed in 1895 by Brook & Co. as a two-manual pipe organ and was subsequently enlarged to three manuals in 1921.
The church was refurbished in 2012 via a £200,000 grant from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Dunoon is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the council area of Argyll and Bute, Dunoon also has its own community council. Dunoon was a burgh until 1976.
The early history of Dunoon often revolves around two feuding clans: the Lamonts and the Campbells. The town was a popular destination when travel by steamships was common around the Firth of Clyde; Glaswegians described this as going doon the watter. This diminished, and many holidaymakers started to go elsewhere as roads and railways improved and the popularity of overseas travel increased.
In 1961, during the height of the Cold War, Dunoon became a garrison town to the United States Navy. In 1992, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they closed their Holy Loch base in Sandbank, and neighbouring Dunoon suffered an economic downturn. Since the base's closure, the town and surrounding area are again turning to tourism, marketing to outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife lovers, as well as promoting festivals and competitions. The largest annual event held in the town is the Cowal Highland Gathering, which has been held since 1894. The Royal National Mòd has also been held in the town.
Dunoon Castle was built on a small, partly artificial, conical hill beside the Firth of Clyde in the 12th century, of which low walls remain. It eventually became a royal castle with the Earls of Argyll (Campbells) as hereditary keepers, paying a nominal rent of a single red rose to the sovereign. Mary, Queen of Scots, visited Dunoon Castle on 26 July 1563 and granted several charters during her visit. In 1646 the Dunoon massacre of members of Clan Lamont by members of Clan Campbell took place. The castle was destroyed during Argyll's Rising, a rebellion in 1685 against James VII.
In the early 19th century, the town's main street, Argyll Street, stopped at Moir Street. Instead of continuing to Dunoon Pier, it turned right at today's Sinbad's Bar. Before Dunoon Burgh Hall was built, beginning in 1873, the land was an open field, owned by James MacArthur Moir, leading to an area known as the Gallowhill. There were no streets and houses between Argyll Street and Edward Street. Argyll Street, roughly as it is seen today, was completed by 1870. Moir donated some of his land for the building of the Burgh Hall, but he did not get to see its completion; he died by suicide in 1872.
Dunoon in the 21st century is overlaid with the ghost of a town which, in 1885, possessed two banks, 21 insurance agencies, 10 hotels, a gas company, two bowling greens, three weekly papers, the West of Scotland Convalescent Sea-side Homes (complete with Romanesque hydropathic spa) and the lavishly appointed second homes of some of Scotland's most successful people.
— Saving the Hall (Jay Merrick, 2017)
The two banks mentioned above were the Union Bank of Scotland and the City of Glasgow Bank. The hydropathic spa, meanwhile, was "an elegant new baths building, named Ardvullin, erected a little to the north of the village as a hydropathic establishment, where baths - hot, cold, artificial salt, and Turkish — may be had at moderate charges."
Many of the town's early villas had their own private bathing ground or boxes.
The best bathing place for ladies is the West Bay. Gentlemen's bathing places: Rocks, foot of Castle Hill, deep at all states of the tide. Sand: beyond Baugie Burn, beginning of Bullwood, shallow and sandy. Rocks: behind Argyll Hotel, available only at high water. Kirn Pier and Hunters Quay, deep water.
— Colegate's Guide to Dunoon, Kirn, and Hunter's Quay (John Colegate, 1868)
The population of the united parishes of Dunoon and Kilmun in 1861 was 5,444; in 1866 the estimated population of Dunoon, from Baugie Burn to Hunters Quay, was 3,000.
During the World Wars, as the main part of the Firth of Clyde defences, the Cloch Point-to-Dunoon anti-submarine boom was anchored to the shore in Dunoon below Castle Hill. A Palmerston Fort and camp at Ardhallow Battery in the south of the town provided one of the coastal defence gun emplacements that covered the anti-submarine boom and Firth of Clyde waters. There also was a gun emplacement atop Castle Hill.
In 1961, as the Cold War intensified, the Holy Loch's importance grew when the U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Proteus brought Polaris ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines to the Firth of Clyde at Sandbank. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protesters drew this to the public's attention. Holy Loch was, for thirty years, the home port of U.S. Navy Submarine Squadron 14 and Dunoon, therefore, became a garrison town.
In 1991, the Holy Loch base was deemed unnecessary following the demise of the Soviet Union and was subsequently withdrawn. The last submarine tender to be based there, the USS Simon Lake, left Holy Loch in March 1992, leading to a major and continuing downturn in the local economy.
In May 2012, Dunoon and Campbeltown were jointly named as the rural places in Scotland most vulnerable to a downturn in a report by the Scottish Agricultural College looking at ninety places.
Notable people
Virginia Bottomley, politician
Robert Alexander Bryden, architect, educated in Dunoon
Mary Campbell, love interest of Robert Burns
MT Carney, businesswoman
Donald Caskie, minister, educated in Dunoon
Peter Dorschel, spy, tried for espionage in Dunoon
William Fraser, architect, lived in Dunoon
Stewart Houston, footballer, born in Dunoon
Sir Harry Lauder (1870–1950), whose Laudervale mansion stood just south of Dunoon on Bullwood Road
Neil MacFarlane, footballer, born in Dunoon
Mackintosh MacKay, minister in Dunoon and Gaelic scholar
Sylvester McCoy, actor
Alexander Robertson, boatbuilder operating from boatyard near Dunoon
George Robertson, politician, educated in Dunoon
Arabella Scott, suffragette, born in Dunoon
Muriel Scott, suffragette, family home was in Dunoon
John Smith, politician, educated in Dunoon
Neil Warnock, football manager
Brian Wilson, politician
Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020). The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Robin Currie, a councillor for Kintyre and the Islands.
Argyll and Bute covers the second-largest administrative area of any Scottish council. The council area adjoins those of Highland, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.
History
Buteshire and Argyll were two of the historic counties of Scotland, having originated as shires (the area controlled by a sheriff) in the Middle Ages. From 1890 until 1975 both counties had an elected county council.
In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts were abolished and replaced with upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. The Strathclyde region was created covering a large part of western Scotland. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, one of which the 1973 Act called "Argyll", covering most of the former county of Argyll, but also including the Isle of Bute from Buteshire. The shadow authority elected in 1974 requested a change of name to "Argyll and Bute", which was agreed by the government before the new district came into being on 16 May 1975.
As created in 1975 the Argyll and Bute district covered the whole area of fourteen of Argyll's sixteen districts and part of a fifteenth, plus two of Buteshire's five districts, which were all abolished at the same time:
From Argyll:
Campbeltown Burgh
Cowal District
Dunoon Burgh
Inveraray Burgh
Islay District
Jura and Colonsay District
Kintyre District
Lochgilphead Burgh
Mid Argyll District
Mull District
North Lorn District: the Lismore and Appin, and Ardchattan electoral divisions only, rest (Ballachulish and Kinlochleven electoral divisions) went to Lochaber district of Highland
Oban Burgh
South Lorn District
Tiree and Coll District
Tobermory Burgh
From Buteshire:
Bute District
Rothesay Burgh
The two Buteshire districts together corresponded to the whole Isle of Bute. The rest of Buteshire, being the Isle of Arran and The Cumbraes went to Cunninghame district. The Ardnamurchan district from Argyll went to the Lochaber district of Highland. The new district was made a single Argyll and Bute lieutenancy area.
Local government was reformed again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. Argyll and Bute became one of the new council areas, but had its territory enlarged to include the town of Helensburgh and surrounding rural areas which had been in the Dumbarton district prior to 1996, and had formed part of the county of Dunbartonshire prior to 1975. The Helensburgh area had voted in a referendum in 1994 to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.
Transport
Railways
The main railway line in Argyll and Bute is the West Highland Line, which links Oban to Glasgow, passing through much of the eastern and northern parts of the area. From the south the line enters Argyll and Bute just to the west of Dumbarton, continuing north via Helensburgh Upper to the eastern shores of the Gare Loch and Loch Long. The line comes inland at Arrochar and Tarbet to meet the western shore of Loch Lomond. At the northern end of the loch the lines leaves Argyll and Bute to enter Stirling council area. The Oban branch of the West Highland Line re-enters the area just west of Tyndrum, and heads west to Oban: stations on this section of the line include Dalmally and Taynuilt railway station. The majority of services on the line are operated by ScotRail: as of 2019 the summer service has six trains a day to Oban, with four on Sundays. In addition to the ScotRail service is the nightly Caledonian Sleeper, although this does not run on the Oban branch.
Helensburgh also has a much more frequent service into Glasgow and beyond via the North Clyde Line, which has its western terminus at the town's central railway station.
Roads
The main trunk roads in Argyll and Bute are:
The A82, which runs along the western shore of Loch Lomond, providing the main route between Glasgow and Fort William.
The A83, which leaves the A82 at Tarbet, heading west and then south to eventually reach Campbeltown by way of Inveraray and Lochgilphead.
The A85, which leaves the A82 at Tyndrum (just outside Argyll and Bute) and heads west to Oban via Dalmally.
The A828, which leaves the A85 at Connel and north through Appin to join the A82 at Ballachulish.
The A815, which leaves the A83 in Glen Kinglas near Cairndow, heading south through Strachur and Dunoon and ends at Toward 40 miles later, on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula. The A815 is the main road through Cowal.
The A886, which leaves the A815 at Strachur, passing through Glendaruel, the route includes a ferry link to the Isle of Bute, Colintraive - Rhubodach terminating at Port Bannatyne to the north of Rothesay.
Ferry services
Due to its heavily indented coastline and many islands, ferries form an important part of the council area's transport system. The main ferry operator in Argyll and Bute is Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which operates services from the mainland to most of the inhabited islands. Several other routes are operated by commercial operators, usually on contract to the council, although the Western Ferries service across the Firth of Clyde is run on a commercial basis.
Bute is served by a route across the Kyles of Bute between Rhubodach and Colintraive in Cowal, as well as a route between Rothesay to Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. Both routes are operated by CalMac.
Coll and Tiree are each served from Oban, via a CalMac service that also provides links between the two islands, and a once-weekly link to Barra.
Gigha is served by a CalMac route from Tayinloan in Kintyre.
Islay is served by a CalMac route from Kennacraig in Kintyre. The service is timetabled to utilise either one of two ports on the island, with both Port Askaig and Port Ellen having a service to the mainland.
Feolin on Jura is linked to Port Askaig on Islay via a vehicle ferry run by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council. There is also a passenger-only service between the island's main centre, Craighouse, and Tayvallich on the mainland that is operated by Islay Sea Safaris.
Kerrera is linked to Gallanach (about 3 km (1.9 mi) southwest of Oban) by a passenger-only service operated by CalMac.
Lismore is served by two ferries, a vehicle and passenger service operated by CalMac that runs from Oban, and a passenger-only service from Port Appin that is operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.
Mull is served by a route between Oban and Craignure on the island's east coast, as well as routes across the Sound of Mull (between Lochaline and Fishnish, and Tobermory and Kilchoan). All three routes are operated by CalMac.
Iona is linked to Mull via a CalMac service from Fionnphort at Mull's southwest tip.
The island of Seil, which itself is linked to the mainland via the Clachan Bridge, has links to two further islands: Easdale and Luing. Both services are operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.
There are also routes connecting some mainland locations in Argyll and Bute to other parts of the mainland:
There is a CalMac service across Loch Fyne which provides a link between Portavadie in Cowal and Tarbert in Kintyre.
The Cowal peninsula route is a passenger-only service from the Dunoon Breakwater to Gourock pier, giving easy access to ScotRail services at Gourock railway station with onward transport to Glasgow Central station. This route was for a period run by a CalMac subsidiary company, Argyll Ferries, but has since January 2019 been operated directly by CalMac.
CalMac provide a limited (3 ferry each way per week) service between Cambeltown in Kintyre and Ardrosssan in North Aryshire during the summer months.
Western Ferries, a commercial operator, runs a vehicle and passenger service between Hunters Quay to McInroy's Point that also provides a link between Cowal and Inverclyde in (partial) competition with the subsidised CalMac service.
A service operated by Clyde Marine Services on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport runs between Kilcreggan and Gourock pier, providing a link from the Rosneath peninsula to the rail network at Gourock.
Argyll and Bute also has ferry services linking it to islands in neighbouring council areas:
Oban is the mainland terminal for services to Barra in Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides).
Lochranza on Arran, in North Ayrshire, has a year-round service to Kintyre: during the summer the mainland port used is Claonaig, however in winter the service is reduced to a single daily return crossing from Tarbert.
There is also a passenger-only ferry service linking Campbeltown and Port Ellen on Islay with Ballycastle in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, running seasonally from April to September, operated by West Coast Tours as the Kintyre Express.
Cultural references
The later scenes of the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love were filmed around the lochs and hills of Argyll and Bute.
The area has also been indirectly immortalised in popular culture by the 1977 hit song "Mull of Kintyre" by Kintyre resident Paul McCartney's band of the time, Wings.
