Killin Ht Leaflet

8/10/2019 Killin Ht Leaflet

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KillinHeritage Trail

TheNatural

MeetingPlace

Stained glass window detail, St Fillans Gray Street, looking West

The Falls of Dochart and Gray Street


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How to meet the villageWelcome to Killin The Natural Meeting Place

From glens and lochs, woods and mountains,many routes meet here. Two powerful rivers the Dochart and the Lochay flow beside the

village and join beyond it.The windings of these rivers throughthe plain at the end of the lake, andthe surrounding hills, in many partsskirted with wood, serve to renderthe situation of the village bothpicturesque and pleasant.

So wrote the parish minister,back in the 1790s. More than twocenturies later, Killins setting is still

super

b, but so is the village itself. Take time to exploreit, and Killin will reward you, both with details of itsbuildings and broader pictures from its lore, history andopportunities for enjoyment.

The Killin Heritage Trail is easy to follow, mostly alongthe line of Main Street and Manse Road. If you like, youcould take a longer loop to make a circuit. Use the maphere as a guide.

Buildings and other stone structures give the frameworkfor the tour. They can help you to see how the villagedeveloped, and how in a very real sense its a placedeep-rooted in the local landscape.

The circles on the map show the trail route, the largercircles indicate interpretation panels. It doesnt matter

where you join the trail, the important thing is toappreciate the many things that the village can offer,whether in its architecture, history or the places whereyou can eat, shop or stay.

Main Street


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On a Sunday, listenVillagers have been familiarwith the ring of the Killin and Ardeonaig ParishChurch bell since the 17th century. The bell wascast in 1632 by Robert Hog, one of a family ofbell-founders based in Edinburgh and Stirling.For more than a hundred years, it rang from the

previous church, which was sited in the old burialground to the north-east of the Killin Hotel.

A neat birdcagebelfry perches at thetop of the eight-sidedstructure which is

the churchs oldestpart. This was built in1744, and extensions,including therectangular sectionwith the main door,were added in the

1830s. The ancientHealing Stones of St.Fillan are now located

in the church. By tradition the layer of river wrackon which the stones are bedded is changed everyChristmas Eve.

Cue galloping hooves and jangling keys:the nearby Killin Hotel is where the StreethouseInn once stood, on the old Aberfeldy to Tyndrumcoaching route. This was also once the locationof a Sheriff Court and jail.

A ring to itAround the old village square

A quartet of interesting buildings sits at theeastern end of the village. Together, they spannearly four hundred years. They can help youto think of different times here, not just inmental pictures, but in sounds.

Killin and Ardeonaig Parish Church


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Heavy metal and gospelThe small, white-and-green-painted Episcopal Church (St Fillans) is madefrom corrugated-iron sections erected in 1876, usingmoney from Gavin Campbell, 7th Earl of Breadalbane.Nicknamed The Grouse Church, it was once used byguests on the Earls private shooting parties. These days, it

is open to all and was recently restored to help preserve it.

The Campbells of Glenorchywere once the most powerfulclan branch in Breadalbaneand beyond, with lands fromArgyll to Kenmore. Chiefs

became barons and earls.Their castles includedKilchurn, Taymouth,Edinample and(just north of Killin)Finlarig.

Now an unsafe ruin, Finlarig hosted a ScottishParliament meeting at a time of Civil War in 1651.But only three members attended.

Now think of the sounds of speechKillin haslong had links to Gaelic language, certainly back towhen St. Fillan an Irish, Gaelic-speaking priest- settled here in the 8th century. In the late 1800s,

more than four in five Killin folk spoke ScottishGaelic. They would have benefited from the workof the Rev. James Stewart (Stuart), minister ofthe Church of Scotland. In 1767, he was the firstperson to translate the whole of the New Testamentinto Scottish Gaelic. Theres a monument to himoutside the church.

Laughter, music and many voices TheMcLaren Hall, built in 1935, has been a hubsince then for village clubs, societies and socialgatherings. Its masonry is concrete, shaped tolook like blocks of stone.

Look out for the interpretation panel

in the McLaren Hall car park.

St Fillans Episcopal Church

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Monument to Rev. James Stewart (Stuart)

FinlarigCastle


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Homes shaped from the landscapeMain Street and Park Entrance

Some houses in Killin almost literally grew from thesurroundingfields and rivers. These include someof the oldest in the village ,like the single-storey rowof cottages across the road, which could date from

the 1700s. Look carefully at theirmasonry to get clues to recognisingother old dwellings in the villagebefore you go into the park.

Rock it scienceHere, as in manyparts of Scotland, early buildings were

made from the most readily accessiblelocal stone. Some of it didnt evenneed to be quarried. The beds and

rocky sides of the two rivers that flank the village werea source of both rounded and flatter stones. Rockscleared from fields could also be changed from anuisance to ploughmen to a boon for house building.

The cottage walls have irregular sizes of blocksgathered from the neighbouring countryside. In thisway, you can see one of the strong links betweenvillage and land. These old cottages reflect very localgeology. And in their own, modest style, that makesthem more distinctive to Killin than many of the one-

off, grander structures in the village.

Some of the oldest cottages in the village, past and present

Random rubble detail


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The largest stones were used to makestrong foundations and give someprotection from damp. These footingsjut out a bit on the pavement side. Lookfor other buildings in the village thathave this feature to give a pointer togreat age of stonework.

Portal to legend Go through theimpressive gates of Breadalbane Parkand follow the path to the lone rock

that rises from the turf. Called FingalsStone, this recalls a time when, it issaid, a band of warrior heroes theFianna roamed the hills and glensof Scotland and northern Ireland.

Some think that their leader, Fionnmac Cumhaill (pronounced FinnMacool and modified to Fingal by apopular 18th-century writer) lies buriedhere. Fionn had many adventures,including with his hunting dog, Bran.Pause at the stone and what do youhear? Is that a dog barking, somewherein the distance?

Look out for the interpretation panel under thesignpost for Fingals Stone& Sron a Chlachain.

Entrance to Breadalbane Park

Fingals Stone


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Branch line and newtrade routes A bigchange to this patterncame in 1886, when the

Killin branch line of theCallander to ObanRailway opened. Killin Station waslocated where the car park is now, atthe north end of the village. A milefrom Killin the railway reached LochTay Station. In the early years of the

railway a wooden pier was built toserve the steamboats that provideda regular service on Loch Tay andrails were installed to enable boatsto load or unload at the station. Therailway provided an easy means ofmoving sheep and cattle, as well as other goods.

Thousands of tourists came to the village on the specialround tours, and cheap day tickets, from Edinburgh andGlasgow. Main Street changed, as large villas started toappear. Unlike the old cottages of local stone, these coulduse imported stone, brought by rail. This included long,even-edged blocks of pale sandstone from the Central Belt.Stone of this kind is common on the rybats or window

and door surrounds of these buildings, where local rockoften continues to feature at the sides and rear.

Seasonal shiftsMany of the owners of these big newhouses moved out in summer. They used the cottages atthe rear, so that the main house could be let as holidayaccommodation. It was a very different lifestyle from thatlived in the past by the weavers, shoemakers, stonemasons,tailors, blacksmiths and flax workers who were typicalinhabitants of village cottages in the 18th century.

The Loch Tay station closed to passengers in 1939, andthe railway closed entirely in 1965. But by then as now motorised transport was the typical way for people toreach the village.

Stop near Drumfinn, the villa that was once the Union Bankand then the Bank of Scotland, and go up Manse Road.

A train pulls into Killin

Theoldbank

SteamtrainatKillinStation


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Symbols, clues and soundsManse Road and Main Streetto Monemore

Turn up the slope off Main Street to seeManse Road. One of thefirst buildings therehas a square-sided insert, high on its wall.

Freemasons meet here, in what was once SawmillCottage. Freemasonry is a non-religious brotherhoodwith deep roots in Scotland (Robert Burns was afreemason) and a worldwide membership. Some of itssymbols such as the square and compasses carvedhere are based on stonemasons tools.

Signs of past times Thewalls bulging base is a signof age and gives it strongfoundations and someprotection from damp: boththe Masonic Lodge and thecottages beside it are 17th-

century structures. Anotherclue is in the dark, blue-greyroofing slates, which are

larger at the foot of the roof than at the top. TheyreWest Highland slates, once quarried at Ballachulish,and on the slate islands of Lorne and likely to havecome here after the opening of the railway. So theyre

old but not as old as the building.Further up Manse Road, the first large house on theright is the one that gives the road its name. This wasbuilt by the 1st Marquis of Breadalbane to house arebellious, but locally popular, minister. He was oneof hundreds of preachers who had left the Churchof Scotland in the 1840s to form the Free Church of

Scotland after a bitter dispute about how ministersshould be appointed.

Masonic Hall, Manse Road


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River echoesA little farther on, Pearl Cottage was oncethe home of fishers who took freshwater pearls from theRiver Dochart. Freshwater mussels have long gone fromhere and most of the other Scottish rivers where they oncethrived. So the name has a poignant echo to it.

Back on Main Street, walk along to the bus drop-off area atMonemore (where theres an interpretation panel linked to this walk).Pause before continuing to the old mill and the bridge at the Fallsof Dochart.

A row of thatched cottages once stood at road levelhere. Familiar sounds for cottage-dwellers could have

included the bleating of sheep being shepherded to a fair;the mooing of cattle as drovers moved them to distantmarkets; the crunch of cart, carriage and coach wheelson the rough surface.

But always, always, the sense and the sound of the riverare not far away.

Look out for the interpretation panel at the Masonic Hall& at the bus drop off area on Main Street.

Pearl Cottage

The River Dochart from the bridge Gray Street

Main Street houses past and present


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Nature, spirit and clanFalls of Dochart, Bridgeand Innis Buidhe

Killin has great appeal: in the way the villagesits in a landscape of mountains, rivers, woodsand glens; in the age and range of buildings; in

the wildlife and the colours of nature both in andaround it. But the stars of its show are obvious:The Falls of Dochart and the river itself.

Generations of tourists havecome here to marvel at thewaters of the Dochart as they

cascade over rocks in the broadchannel, then narrow belowthe bridge. Its a fair bet thatpeople will have thrilled to theFalls since Stone Age hunter-gatherers first walked theriverbanks. In recent centuries,

the village has also developedalong the side of the river. Thiswild, natural feature helps to setthe line and one of the limits ofthe settlement.

Small, but powerful, the river is fed by burns thattumble from Breadalbanes hills. Issuing from LochDochart, it merges with the Lochay downstream ofthe village, not far from where the combined flowenters Loch Tay. Its name could mean Scourer ofEvil, suggesting a pure and cleansing force.

The Falls of Dochart


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St. Fillan built a meal-grindingmill here in the 8th century. Themill that now stands near the Fallswas built around 1840 and tweedwas woven in it until 1939.

Both the mill and the bridge aremade almost entirely of local stone,much of which could have comefrom the river itself. So like other

old Killin buildings, they are partof the landscape in more ways than

one. The same applies to the Falls of Dochart Inn and therow of old, single-storey cottages on Gray Street, across theriver from the mill.

Just downstream of the bridge is Innis Buidhe The

Yellow Island which is the ancient burial ground of theMacnabs. Killin was once at the heart of Clan Macnabterritory, which stretched from Tyndrum to Loch Tay. Theclan name comes from Mac an Aba, meaning son of theabbot, with members claiming descent from an Abbot ofGlendochart. Both geography and associations to a saint ofthe early Celtic church Fillan would make this an ideal

last resting place for Macnab chiefs.Look out for the interpretation panel at the Falls of Dochart Bridge.

The bridge was built with local stone

Clan Macnab burial ground, Innis Buidhe

The old mill

The old mills water wheel


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MoirlanichLonghouse

Bridge ofLochay

FinlarigCastle

War Memorial

Clan Mcnabburial ground

FingalsStone

Roads

Forest Tracks

Rivers

Plantation

Woodland

Mixed

Residential

Heritage

Parking

Toilets

Auchmore Circuit

Killin Heritage Trail

Sron A Chlanchan

Acharn Forest

National Cycle Route

Other Link Routes

Ridge

Killinand Ardeonaig Parish Church

Great cycling

Moirlanich longhouse


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Killin is a small place with big connections. This leaflet is a

guide to the history of this fascinating village. Using it, you can

follow a route through the heart of the village, beginning or

ending at the historic Falls of Dochart or making wider loops.

The trail is along pavements and firm-surfaced paths. Walking

slowly, with stops to view buildings, may take half-an-hour to

one hour. Extend it by visiting local shops and eating places, or

exploring beyond the main trail.

Enjoy Killin the Natural Meeting Place.

For more information, please contact:

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Headquarters

Carrochan

Carrochan Road

Balloch G83 8EG

or

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Office

52-54 Main StreetCallander FK17 8BD

t: 01389 722600

e: [email protected]

w: www.lochlomond-trossachs.org

For information about places to visit, events & accommodation in the local

area visit www.lochlomond-trossachs.org, www.visitscottishheartlands.comor www.visitscotland.com

This leaflet was created by a partnership between Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

National Park, Historic Scotland, Stirling Council & Killin Heritage Society.

Text: Kenny Taylor, Natural Media

Design and artwork: Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority

Photographs: Caitlin, Jack, Nathan and Sophie from Killin Primary

School, David Mitchell, Euan Myles, Kenny Taylor,

Killin Heritage Society, National Trust for Scotland,

Scottish Wildlife Trust, Sheila Winstone

The old millSt Fillans Episcopal Church

Documents

Killin Ht Leaflet