KILDALTON

"Kildalton, a parish in Islay district, Argyllshire. It comprises the south-eastern part of Islay island; is bounded on the NW by Killarrow and Kilmeny; includes Texa, Cavrach, and Inersay islets, the Ardelister islands, and the islets off Ardmore Point; and contains the village of Port Ellen, with a post, money order, and telegraph office. Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW, is 18 miles, its utmost breadth is 8 miles; and its area is 48,874 acres, of which 662½ are foreshore and 559¼ water. The coasts and the interior have alike been described in our article on Islay. The extent of land under cultivation bears but a small proportion to what is waste and reclaimable. A great many acres in the NE are under brushwood, and a good many acres are under flourishing plantations. A principal modern building is a handsome light monumental tower, 80 feet high, erected to the memory of Mrs Campbell of Islay; and the chief antiquities are remains of two Scandinavian forts, of the last Islay stronghold of the Macdonalds, and of four pre-Reformation chapels. Kildalton, the principal residence, is 5 miles NE of Port Ellen. Divided ecclesiastically into Kildalton proper and Oa, this parish is in the presbytery of Islay and Jura and synod of Argyll; the living is worth £256. The parish church, near Ardmore Point, was built in 1777. There is a Free church of Kildalton; and five public schools - Ardbeg, Glenegidale, Kintour, Oa, and Port Ellen - with respective accommodation for 92, 63, 40, 72, and 294 children, have an average attendance of about 70, 20, 25, 20, and 160, and grants of over £80, £35, £40, £36, and £230. Pop. (1881) 2271, (1891) 2027, of whom 1778 were Gaelic-speaking, and 1817 were in Kildalton ecclesiastical parish."

Extract from Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, 1896