Bowmore

Kilarrow Parish Church, Bowmore

Bowmore lies near the head of Loch Indaal, and is the geographical and administrative centre of the Island as well as being its largest settlement. A significant village has existed here for many centuries, though originally called Laggan. The name Bowmore was first recorded in 1614 when the village received its charter.

Today's visitor from Port Askaig or Port Charlotte and Bridgend will approach along Shore Street. This leads between white and pastel coloured houses and past the excellent Lochside Hotel to the main intersection in the heart of the village.

Bowmore Distillery Bowmore Distillery from the Sea Harbour and Main Street Tourist Information and Distillery

From here most of Bowmore's key features are visible. The new road to Port Ellen leads up the wide Main Street to the imposing circular Parish Church of Kilarrow. In the opposite direction lies the short spur of road leading to Bowmore's harbour. And straight ahead of you is the square containing Islay's main Tourist Information Centre and, beyond it, Bowmore Distillery.

Bowmore Harbour

Shore Street

Church Interior

Distillery Stills

The village of Bowmore you can see from this spot owes little to the original village of Laggan. Instead what you can see from here comes largely from planning and subsequent rebuilding undertaken by Daniel Campbell, the Laird of Islay, in 1768.

The main landmark at the harbour end of the village is Bowmore Distillery. This was licensed in 1779, becoming Islay's first legal distillery. The emphasis should be on the word "legal". It seems clear that distilling went on here and in other places on Islay for may years before, though on a more informal basis that the residents took care to conceal from occasional visiting excisemen.

The distillery also dominates Bowmore's beach. The photo on the left does show that Bowmore, like most of the island's distilleries, has its name painted in large black lettering on the sea-facing wall.

Loch Indaal is shallow and Bowmore's harbour has never been accessible to large ships. Until the 1920s steamers from Glasgow loaded and unloaded cargo here using lighters, but no longer. These days the harbour, with its odd surround on two sides of low level rocks, is used primarily by pleasure craft. In the second world war Loch Indaal's shallowness was less important than its shelter for the Royal Air Force, who operated flying boats from Bowmore.

Kilarrow Parish Church dominates the landward end of Bowmore. Its circular design is striking and extremely unusual, and gives it a very modern appearance. It is a surprise to discover it dates back to 1767, a year before most of the rest of the village. Folklore suggests that the circular design was intended to ensure there were no corners in which the devil could hide.

The Round Church as it is usually known, was built for Daniel Campbell to serve the population of the Parish of Kilarrow, most of whom he moved to Bowmore once the village had been completed the following year. In 1830 a gallery was added to increase the capacity to 500. The church is open to visitors all year, from 9.00am to 6.00pm, and a visit is highly recommended.

The layout of the pews mean that the circular design is not very obvious at ground floor level, except for the central 19 inch wide pillar supporting the main structure of the church. This is plastered, but thought to comprise a single length of hemlock oak. A doorway covered by a curtain reveals the curved staircase leading to the gallery, and here the circular shape of the building is very obvious indeed.