DUror & KentallenLocal History

With Duror and Kentallen Community Council in the midst of preparing a Local Place Plan (2024), it was fascinating to find a copy of the last major review of the community in the Parish Church.  Carried out in 1990 by Archie Clement, the Review makes fascinating reading, not least as a comparison to the recent community survey.

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The church is named after St Adamnan's, the ninth abbot of Iona who was born in 624 AD. and is known for his Vitae Columbae, the biography of St Columba.  

Local resident Neill Malcolm's history of St Adamnan's Church gives a detailed insight in to the construction and design features of the church through the years - a Ballachulish slate roof, earth floor with later additions of dressed Aberdeen granite and decorative stained glass windows. The church organ with 376 pipes is probably the oldest playable pipe organ in Scotland.

It is probable that St. Columba stayed in the vicinity of Keil on at least one of his travels.  Old documents name the place as Kilcolumcille which translates as The Church of St. Columba.

With congregations thought to date back to 1354, the chapel has in recent years undergone restoration.  Numerous gravestones made from Ballachulish slate surround the chapel marking the resting place of locally known family names including McColl and Stewart. The most famous person to have been buried here is James of the Glen who was hanged on 8th November 1752 for his alleged involvement in the Appin Murder.

Cuil - Gaelic for recess, nook or perhaps secluded pleasant place is an area rich in geological formations dating back millions of years.  The discovery of a Standing Stone and a possible prehistoric burial cairn point to Cuil being a settlement anywhere between 2000 and 5000 years ago.

Local resident, Neill Malcolm, has documented a fascinating history of Cuil through the years: the land, its changing ownership, its people, the Jacobite Rebellion and a declining population.

The account continues to detail the impact of the opening of the railway between Connel and Ballachulish in 1906, the military presence of American troops in 1942, the developments in agriculture after WWII, the arrival of electricity to houses in 1953 and the importance of salmon fishing. It's an interesting read.