Misplaced Pages

Saddell

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

Human settlement in Scotland
Saddell
Saddell Abbey
Saddell is located in Argyll and ButeSaddellSaddellLocation within Argyll and Bute
OS grid referenceNR785321
Council area
Lieutenancy area
  • Argyll and Bute
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCAMPBELTOWN
Postcode districtPA28
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°31′53″N 5°30′40″W / 55.53139°N 5.51111°W / 55.53139; -5.51111
The Lords of the Isles stone figures at Saddell

Saddell (Scottish Gaelic: Saghadal, pronounced [ˈs̪a.ət̪əl̪ˠ]) is a small Scottish village situated on the east side of the Kintyre Peninsula of Argyll and Bute, overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound and the Isle of Arran, 8 miles (13 km) from Campbeltown on the B842 road to Carradale. The name Saddell is derived from the Norse for sandy dale.

Saddell Abbey

Main article: Saddell Abbey

Saddell is home to the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey. This was founded around 1160 by Somerled and completed by his son, whose descendants became the Clan MacDonald and eventual Lords of the Isles. Stone carving was a speciality at Saddell, and fine examples of carved medieval grave slabs are displayed under cover in the grounds of the abbey, now a cemetery. Relief carvings on the stones show warriors in their armour, clerics, ships, huntsmen with stags, large swords, and Celtic knotwork designs. Most were carved at Saddell Abbey, but some are more typical of the Iona school of stone-carving.

Saddell Castle

Main article: Saddell Castle

Saddell Castle, a tower house 1⁄4 mile (400 m) to the southeast and nearer the shore, was built for the Bishop of Argyll in the early 16th century. When the Campbells took it over in the late 17th century, stone from the abbey was used to add farm buildings to the castle. The family moved into a new house nearby around 1774, and the castle deteriorated over the years before being bought by the Landmark Trust. In 1976, the Landmark Trust contracted Mr Robert R Mauchline to restore the castle to its former glory. Soon after its completion, the castle appeared in Paul McCartney's "Mull of Kintyre" music video. Mr Mauchline's daughters Joanna and Hazel were also featured in the video.

The Trust now owns both Saddell Castle and the newer Saddell House, allowing pedestrian access to the beach below Saddell Bay.

Kildonan Dun

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (July 2017) Click for important translation instructions.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution.
  • You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Saddell}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

At the end of Saddell Bay is Pluck Wood and the remains of Kildonan Dun, a late Iron Age hillfort dating from 200BC and made from Stone.

In contrast to the mostly round Duns, it has a D-shaped ground plan, like Barsalloch Fort and Castle Haven in Galloway. The Dun measures about 19 m × 13 m (62 ft × 43 ft) within the outer two, one-meter high and two-meter thick ring wall. The impressive entrance, with its well-recognizable door construction, is in the southwest. The double staircase on the rampart, located within the wall on the west side, and a round wall niche in the northeast are intact. In form and design, some novelties are shown, as occurred with Brochs in the same period.

The excavation of Dun Kildonan between 1936 and 1938 resulted in a precise chronology. Objects from the 1st and 2nd centuries demonstrate the time of construction of the dun, while objects from the 6th and 9th to 12th centuries or later times show that the central square also remained an important focus. The finds are located in the Campbeltown Museum.

  • Kildonan Dun Kildonan Dun
  • Interior of Kildonan Dun Interior of Kildonan Dun

See also

References

Portal: Categories:
Saddell Add topic