Davaar Lighthouse

Davaar Island sits at the mouth of Campbeltown Loch off Kintyre in Argyll and Bute. A tidal island, it links to the mainland at low tide by a natural shingle causeway called The Doirlinn. The crossing takes about forty minutes on foot. The island was once known as Sanct Barre, and its modern name comes from the Gaelic for ‘thy St Barre’. Dr Gillies suggested another meaning, ‘double-pointed island’, in his study of Argyll place names. The lighthouse was built in 1854 by engineers David and Thomas Stevenson. It was automated in 1983 and is now cared for by resident keepers who also run holiday cottages and farm rare breed sheep and Highland cattle. During the Second World War a Royal Observer Corps post called The Lookout was built nearby and has since been restored as a holiday cottage. Feral goats roam the island alongside the farm animals. Seven caves lie along the shore, one holding a life-size cave painting of the Crucifixion painted in 1887 by local artist Archibald MacKinnon. The painting caused controversy and led to MacKinnon’s exile from the town. It has been restored several times, most recently after vandalism in 2006. The island is one of forty-three tidal islands in Great Britain that can be walked to from the mainland.