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Kilmartin church and its churchyard.
Argyll and Bute

Kilmartin Stones

Medieval West Highland grave slabs of warriors, swords and interlace in the churchyard at Kilmartin.

Welcome

In the churchyard at Kilmartin, behind a Victorian church, is one of the finest collections of carved grave slabs in the West Highlands.

The best of them date from the 1300s and 1400s, carved in a style that belonged to this part of Argyll, most likely from stone quarried around Loch Awe, and they are covered in intricate scrollwork and interlace, figures of warriors and clerics, and elaborate crosses and swords.

The stones are gathered in two places. The largest group stands in the Campbell burial aisle, built for Bishop Neil Campbell, who died in 1627. Seven more lie in the Poltalloch Enclosure, built for the Malcolms of Poltalloch in the 1700s: three West Highland slabs of the 1300s or 1400s, two medieval effigies of warriors with spears and swords, and two tombstones of the 1600s. The collection is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, and it is free to see.

Round the cornerKilmartin GlenOne of Scotland's richest prehistoric landscapes, with more than 800 monuments within six miles of Kilmartin and a museum to explain them.1 min by roadSee itStanding stones in a frosted field in Kilmartin Glen.
Before you go

The stones are in Kilmartin churchyard, in the village on the A816.

Entry is free.

Where
Kilmartin churchyard, on the A816.
Entry
Free.
Where it is

Kilmartin churchyard.

Close byIn Kilmartin.
  1. Nether Largie Standing StonesNether Largie Standing StonesFive tall stones in Kilmartin Glen raised some 3,200 years ago, thought to mark the rising and setting of the moon.1 mile1 min by road
  2. Carnasserie CastleCarnasserie CastleThe Renaissance tower house of John Carswell, first Protestant Bishop of the Isles, at the head of Kilmartin Glen.1 mile2 min by road
  3. Dunadd FortDunadd FortThe rock of the Gaelic kings of Dál Riata in Kilmartin Glen, with footprints carved for the making of kings.4 miles8 min by road
  4. Duntrune CastleDuntrune CastleThought to be Scotland's oldest continuously occupied castle, on a rock above Loch Crinan, home of the Malcolms since 1792.5 miles14 min by road
  5. The overgrown stone walls of Kilmory Oib among bright green bracken and trees.Kilmory Oib TownshipThe ruins of a township of at least seventeen buildings in Knapdale Forest, with an early Christian cross-marked stone.7 miles10 min by road
Directions
Standing stones in a frosted field in Kilmartin Glen.AttractionsKilmartin GlenA step away
Cup and ring carvings etched into weathered rock, cracks running across the surfaceAttractionsAchnabreck Rock Art6.9 miles
A path between azaleas and rhododendrons in flower.AttractionsArduaine Garden10 miles
The covered deck of the Tayvallich Café, picnic tables looking out over the bay.RestaurantsTayvallich Café12 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the stones, and when each is next free.

The Hollies, Argyll and ButeThe Hollies
  • Sleeps 18
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 19 miles from the stones
Check datesA landscape view of the whitewashed cottage in low evening sun, its blue doors, lit lamps and teak chairs, smoke rising from the chimney.Fern Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Croggan
  • 19 miles from the stones
Check datesGlencruitten House, Argyll and ButeGlencruitten House
  • To stay
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 19 miles from the stones
Check datesTimber cabin with copper roof beside a loch, shaded by oak treesUisge Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Oban
  • 19 miles from the stones
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in Argyll and ButeAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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