Rosneath
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View from caravan site at Castle Point, looking northwest across Rosneath Bay to the pier and village | |
Location within Argyll and Bute | |
Population | 1,260 (2022) [1] |
OS grid reference | NS 25447 83210 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Helensburgh |
Postcode district | G84 |
Dialling code | 01436 |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Rosneath (Scottish Gaelic : Ros Neimhidh) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, 2 miles (3 kilometres) northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about 2.4 miles (4 kilometres) by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited on the southern shore of the peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde.
The Gare Loch narrows at Rosneath to under half a mile (around 600 metres) at a place known as the Rhu Narrows, after the village of Rhu on the eastern shore of the loch. [2]
Rosneath Bay to the south of the village curves eastward to Castle Point, near the site of the former Roseneath Castle, in the grounds of the former Rosneath House which are now occupied by Rosneath caravan park. The coast turns south past Culwatty Bay to Rosneath Point at the tip of the peninsula, which was directly north of the Greenock Princes Pier railway station, 2 miles (3 kilometres) distant on the southern shore of the Firth.
The Rosneath area has been settled from at least 600 onwards, when St. Modan, a travelling missionary, founded a church there. The name Rosneath may have its roots in this era, being derived from the Gaelic Ros Neimhidh, [3] meaning "promontory of consecrated ground". The name has historically been spelled as Roseneath (notably in both the First and New (or Second) Statistical Accounts of Scotland).[ citation needed ] A more visible example is Roseneath Street in Greenock, which looks over the River Clyde to Rosneath Point, and dates from around 1870. [4]
Later, the area was heavily fortified, with Rosneath's own castling joining those of nearby Faslane and Shandon (located at Faslane and Shandon), all of which are long since gone. Rosneath village did not yet fully exist by this time; instead, Rosneath parish was home to many free-standing dwellings, the occupants of which were, for the vast bulk of the area's history, employed in agriculture and fishing. Frequent shipping services to Glasgow, Greenock and beyond were vital for the local economy.
Rosneath Castle was ruined and rebuilt many times; the final rebuilding, as Rosneath House, came in 1803–06, three years after the previous building burned down. [5] Located further uphill from previous versions, it belonged to the Duke of Argyll, whose family retained it until Princess Louise died in 1939. In stark contrast to the earlier castles, it was in the Romanesque Revival style. [6]
From 1941 to 1945, Rosneath was home to an important naval base known as Rosneath naval base, thanks to its location in the well-sheltered natural harbour of the Gare Loch. The Americans used Rosneath Castle as a base of operations. [7] The castle was then abandoned and the remains demolished in 1961.
The Rosneath Peninsula was formerly in the traditional County of Dunbarton until local government reorganisation moved it into the Argyll and Bute council area in 1996.
At the 2001 census, its population was 931. Rosneath lies approximately 44 mi (71 km) from Glasgow by road. It is situated on the B833, a shoreside minor thoroughfare that serves the peninsula. [8]
The Islands of the Firth of Clyde are the fifth largest of the major Scottish island groups after the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. They are situated in the Firth of Clyde between Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. There are about forty islands and skerries. Only four are inhabited, and only nine are larger than 40 hectares. The largest and most populous are Arran and Bute. They are served by dedicated ferry routes, as are Great Cumbrae and Holy Island. Unlike the isles in the four larger Scottish archipelagos, none of the isles in this group are connected to one another or to the mainland by bridges.
Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod. The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Councillor Jim Lynch.
The Firth of Clyde is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula. The Firth lies between West Dunbartonshire in the north, Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. The Kyles of Bute separates the Isle of Bute from the Cowal Peninsula. The Sound of Bute separates the islands of Bute and Arran.
Kilcreggan is a village on the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland.
Faslane on Gare Loch is the name of a bay near the village of Garelochhead, and is now the main part of HM Naval Base Clyde in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, as well as being a Defence Logistics Organisation port, operated in dual site organisation with Great Harbour, Greenock, by Serco Denholm.
The Holy Loch is a sea loch, a part of the Cowal Peninsula coast of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Sea Loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately 20 miles in length, with a width of between one and two miles. The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its western side.
The Gare Loch or Gareloch is an open sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland and bears a similar name to the village of Gairloch in the north west Highlands.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde, primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. It is the navy's headquarters in Scotland and is best known as the home of Britain's nuclear weapons, in the form of nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles.
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately North of Greenock, between Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. This area of the Firth gets its name from the deep water immediately to the west of the sandbank which marks the entrance to the navigable channel up the Estuary of the River Clyde.
Cove is a village on the south-west coast of the Rosneath Peninsula, on Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland.
Loch Goil; is a small sea loch forming part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch is entirely within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Garelochhead is a small town on the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is the nearest town to the HMNB Clyde naval base.
Rhu is a village and historic parish on the east shore of the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
Shandon is an affluent settlement of houses forming a village on the open sea loch of the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Shandon overlooks the Rosneath Peninsula to the west and is bordered by Glen Fruin to the east, which is the site of the Battle of Glen Fruin, one of the last clan battles in Scotland, fought on 7 February 1603, in which an estimated 300 warriors on foot from the MacGregor Clan claimed victory over an estimated 600–800 men from the Colquhoun Clan on horse-back.
Rhu is a closed railway station located in the village of Rhu, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the east shore of Gare Loch. It is located towards the southern end of the West Highland Railway.
Faslane Castle and Shandon Castle were two mediaeval Scottish castles which once stood between the village of Garelochhead and the town of Helensburgh, near the shores of the Gareloch, in Argyll and Bute. In the 19th century, the castles were thought to have dated back to the Middle Ages. At that time period, they were situated in within the mormaerdom of Lennox, which was controlled by the mormaers of Lennox. Today nothing remains of Faslane Castle; though in the 19th century certain ruins of Shandon Castle were said to have still existed. Near the site of Faslane Castle sits the ruinous St Michael's Chapel, which has also been thought to date to the Middle Ages.
Clynder is a place on the western shore of the Gare Loch, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
Rosneath Peninsula is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland, formerly in the historic county of Dunbartonshire. The peninsula is formed by the Gare Loch in the east, and Loch Long in the west, both merge with the upper Firth of Clyde.