Southend, Argyll
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Southend (, ) is the main settlement at the southern end of the
Kintyre Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...
peninsula in
Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It lies south of
Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...
, the main town in the area. The
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of Southend comprises the village and the surrounding land, used mainly for farming and forestry. The population of the parish is 497.


History

The village is located beside Dunaverty Bay, which at one end has a rocky promontory called ''Dunaverty Rock'', where Dunaverty Castle was located. Historically the local inhabitants may be first mentioned by
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
as the Epidii (horse people), whose main town may have been named later in the
Ravenna Cosmography The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (,  "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the Ecumene, known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing ...
as Rauatonium. During the early medieval period Dunaverty became the location where Saint
Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...
first set foot in Scotland. Above the cemetery at Keil are two carved human footprints ( Petrosomatoglyphs) similar to that seen at Dunadd, now called ''Columba's Footprints''. Here it is claimed Columba first preached on Scottish soil, after being banished from Ireland. The
Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinà ...
report a siege in 712 by king Sealbach of Dalriada, confirming the importance of Dunaverty Rock as a fortified centre of power. Robert the Bruce sheltered at the castle, which changed hands many times in the later medieval period. During the Dunaverty Massacre of 1647 the
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
MacDonalds were burned alive in their stronghold at Dunaverty Castle.


Modern Southend

John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll developed the village as "Newton Argyll" in the late 18th century. Within Southend parish there are St Blaan's church, Southend primary school, a GP's surgery, Dunaverty Hall (the new village hall with a football pitch and children's swing park), Dunaverty Golf Club's well-maintained and affordable 18-hole links course, Machribeg caravan park and camp-site, the Argyll Arms Hotel, the listed Art Deco Keil Hotel, the historic ruin of Keil School, Keil caves, and the Muneroy shop and tea-room. The main employment sources are farming, forestry and tourism-related business. The big attraction for tourists is the Mull of Kintyre, a high dramatic headland that is the closest point on Britain to Ireland. The Mull affords tremendous views and sunsets to the west including Ireland, Rathlin and Islay, and looks like a small piece of the Highlands. The road down from the top to the west-facing lighthouse is closed to most vehicles, but is walkable for the fit and determined. Several aircraft have crashed on the Mull, and there is a memorial to those lost in a Chinook helicopter crash in 1994 close to the road down to the lighthouse. The beaches along the south coast of Kintyre are sandy, offering good walks in their own right or as part of the Kintyre Way, and good light for artists and photographers. The beaches are named for the farms (some of which offer caravans) including Gartvaigh, Brunerican, Penyseorach, Kilmashenachan, Macharioch and Polliwilline. The Antrim coast is 12 miles away and visible in clear weather. Sanda Island lies two miles south-east of Southend, and can be seen on wildlife boat trips from Campbeltown harbour in summer.


Lifeboat station

The
Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...
(RNLI) operated a lifeboat station at Southend from 1869 until 1930, the boathouse and slipway being at Dunaverty Bay. The lifeboat, station and a house for the
coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...
were paid for by the Ker family of Auchinraith in memory of John Ronald Ker who drowned nearby in 1867. The lifeboat was first launched on 21 June 1869 and was managed by the same committee as Campbeltown Lifeboat Station which had opened in 1861. The boathouse was rebuilt in 1905 and a slipway built in 1905 to enable the boat to be launched more easily in bad weather. During the 61 years of operation it was home to three different lifeboats:


Notable residents

* Angus MacVicar, author, whose works detail rural life and history in the village and surrounding area.


References


External links


Southend village website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southend, Argyll And Bute Villages in Kintyre Parishes in Argyll