Route: Kildalton Cross
Area: Southern Islay
Date of walk: 21st March 2022
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 1.8 miles
Ascent: 100 feet
Weather: sunny
After this morning’s Three Distilleries Walk we still had time for another short afternoon walk. We drove past the Ardbeg distillery, which we’d visited earlier in the day, and parked in the small car park adjacent to the ruins of Old Parish Church of Kildalton. The 1,300 year old Kildalton Cross lies within the church grounds
The Kildalton Cross is sometimes called the Kildalton Great Cross or the Kildalton High Cross. It is one of the finest and most complete Christian crosses in Scotland and is made from a single piece of a grey-green coloured stone known as epidiorite. The stone is very durable, hence the fine state of preservation of the cross
After wandering around this atmospheric place we left the church and joined a track heading towards the sea. A few yards further along we passed by another cross known as the Kildalton Small Cross or the Thief’s Cross, on account of the theory that it marks the grave of a criminal as it stands in unconsecrated ground
We passed through the gateposts to Ardmore House (the ‘private’ signs here refer to vehicles only) and continued along the track through woodland, with good sightings of roe deer and fallow deer along the way. We soon emerged at the far point of the walk – Port Mor, an idyllic place to sit and watch for seabirds.
We lingered here for a while and then retraced our steps back to the start of a short but sweet walk, which we’d enjoyed in complete solitude.
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The coast road to Kildalton is remote and we had some good wildlife sightings along the way, including this group of grey seals
The start of the walk from the ruins of Kildalton Church
The Kildalton Cross, carved towards the end of the 700's.
We leave the church ruins and pass by the Kildalton Small Cross or the Thief's Cross
We pass through the gateposts for Ardmore House
We follow the easy track, and spot several red and fallow deer along the way
The main track forks right and is the access to Ardmore House. We continue ahead
A short woodland section
We arrive at Port Mor, an idyllic place to sit and watch for seabirds
Cormorant or shag? They are very hard to tell apart. My guess is the latter, on account of the peaked forehead
This is as far as the path goes, and from here we retrace our steps back to the start
