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Kilchiaran and Cultoon

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Islay Beaches

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Kilchiaran Chapel, the beach and the stone circle at Cultoon The chapel (St Ciaran’s) is one of the churches on Islay which may well be built on a an older site. The building itself dates from the middle ages. Immediately next to the chapel is a cupstone with several cups in the foreground of the first picture and in detail in the second. One of the cupstones has a rounded rock within it. The significance of these stones to our distant ancestors is not clear as far as I know, but they do appear in several places. The chapel itself is roofless, but the stone font remains as does the stone alter (visible in the rear of the church) and several carved gravestones one of a person lying with hands in prayer.

The full-sized 640 x 480 image can be seen by clicking on the picture.
the chapel with the cupped stone in the foreground The cupped stone in detail the font, probably not its original stand? The Chapel, the alter and the two niches.
If you leave the chapel you walk down to the attractive beach and rocks. Seals are often seen offshore here. There is a deep cleft in the rocks here ending in a deep cave that is perfect for exploring.
The path down to the beach a small burn runs down to the beach and makes interesting and peaty pools after a lot of rain the waterfall is in full spate The rocks at the beach
The beach is sandy and seals are often seen many wild flowers are seen around here one of the stones in the circle, another can just be seen just over the hill A few miles along the road near the farm of Cultoon is a stone circle. It is a perfect ellipse of 15 stones erected somewhere before 750 bc. Strangely after much effort bringing the huge stones to the site and digging the sockets only a few of the stones were erected. The reason for the abandoning of the site is a mystery that might never be solved. I wrote a pome about the strange atmosphere there.