Home to some of Scotland's mightiest trees, the designed landscape at Ardkinglas and Strone is of outstanding horticultural interest for its woodland garden collections. It provides the setting for Robert Lorimer's Ardkinglas House and was valued as a work of art in its own right by 18th-19th century tourists and travellers to the Highlands.

Type of Site

Within the spectacular setting of the mountains and sea, the late 18th and early 19th century parkland and woodlands of Ardkinglas host woodland trails, an outstanding collection of specimen trees and a woodland garden with a fine collection of shrubs and trees and Edwardian formal gardens and terraces close to the house.

Main Phases of Landscape Development

1790-1820, 1830s-1870, 1906-08, 1930s-1970

Artistic Interest

Level of interest

Outstanding

In its present form, Ardkinglas and Strone retains most of its late 18th and 19th century design structure, as created under the Campbell and Callander families.

The landscape was admired as a work of art in its own right by early tourists to the Highlands, such as Dorothy Wordsworth in 1822. Later Victorian visitors also commended the gardens and mature tree cover, together with the scale and interest of the conifer collection (Gray 2000: 92-3).

Ardkinglas Woodland Garden remains very well-known at a national level, and is among horticulturalist Kenneth Cox's 'top ten' Scottish gardens (Edmonstone 2013).

The formal garden by Ardkinglas House is of interest as an example of the work of architect Robert Lorimer (1864-1929). Although James Playfair's 1790 landscape scheme was not taken forward, his involvement and surviving design plan are of some interest in charting contemporary landscape trends and for what they tell us about Sir Alexander Campbell's ambitions for the estate (McWilliam 1970).

Historical

Level of interest

High

Ardkinglas Woodland Garden is a very good example of a Scottish west coast woodland garden, begun in the earlier 19th century as a pinetum, and then expanded to take in further trees and shrubs ideally suited to the local topography and climate.

Estate documents connected with the Callander of Ardkinglas family survive as a sub-collection within the Argyll Papers, but have not been consulted as part of this assessment (www.friendsoftheargyllpapers.org.uk). The survival of other historic documents, including James Playfair's (unexecuted) plans, and an engraving of the house and parkland landscape circa 1800 (McWilliam 1970; Canmore ref. B 13879 P) provide evidence for the development of the landscape.

Horticultural

Level of interest

Outstanding

Ardkinglas and Strone has a long history of woodland management and an outstanding collection of trees and shrubs, including a number of very large champion trees (www.treeregister.com).

The woodland garden, in particular, is of outstanding interest for its veteran trees, 20th century rhododendron collections, and large champion conifers. Some of these trees have been celebrated for their size and unusual forms since the late 19th century.

The garden is in good condition and the collections are being renewed, with links being made to the International Conifer Conservation Programme.

Elsewhere, there is also some interest in the pattern of surviving parkland specimens and the range of ornamental trees and shrubs in the shrubbery and Ladies Garden. The latter has a good collection of hybrid azaleas.

Architectural

Level of interest

Outstanding

Ardkinglas House, by the renowned architect Robert Lorimer (1864-1929), is one of Lorimer's finest buildings.

Other buildings and structures at Ardkinglas and Strone contribute further interest in this category and provide evidence for the 18th to 19th century landscape. They include gate lodges, the rubble arch bridge and a large number of ancillary buildings including cottages, former estate offices and a D-plan walled garden.

Archaeological

Level of interest

High

There are no scheduled monuments at Ardkinglas and Strone. However, the site merits a high score in this category as a medieval and post-medieval estate where the approximate locations of previous structures, including a post-medieval castle, are known. Above-ground remains, including the abutments of earlier bridges, a well, and the consolidated ruin of Ardkinglas Mill, also contribute knowledge towards the estate prior to the 18th century.

Evidence for earlier phases of human history, meanwhile, comes from other known sites and find-spots, including a possible enclosure at Bathach-ban cottage (Canmore ID 124090) and a hoard of bronze axe heads (Kerr 2016).

Scenic

Level of interest

High

The mosaic of parklands and woodlands and the sheer scale and variety of planting at Ardkinglas and Strone contrasts with the wider upland landscape at the head of Loch Fyne. This contrast was noted by early tourists to the Highlands in the late 18th and early 19th century. The extensive canopy of woods, and the spiky tops of tall conifer specimens are especially visible in views along and across the loch.

Nature Conservation

Level of interest

High

The Ardkinglas and Strone designed landscape covers a large area of land from hillside to lochshore. Although there are no national natural heritage designations, the diversity of habitats contained within this landscape offer high nature conservation value.

The artificial Caspian Lake and the woodland lochan, surrounded by native planting, provide important water-based habitat. In the woodlands, the diverse age range and species of trees present provide habitat for lower plants (mosses, lichens etc.) and other wildlife, including red squirrels and birds.

Ardkinglas and Strone is set within the mountainous region of Argyll in western Scotland. Located on the southern shore of Loch Fyne, the designed landscape occupies a sheltered strip of flat ground and lower hill slopes, close to the head of the loch at Glen Fyne. The small village of Cairndow lies to the northeast, and the town of Inveraray is 8 km to the west. The wider landscape is one of upland plateaux and ridges, long ribbon lochs, open heather moorland and forestry plantations.

Ardkinglas House itself stands on a terrace overlooking the loch, with its gardens, estate buildings and parks on the surrounding flat ground. Woodlands extend along the shore to the southwest, up onto the higher ground behind Ardkinglas House, and either side of the deeply incised Kinglas Water, which flows into Loch Fyne at Cairndow.

The main woodland garden is on an escarpment above and to the east of the Kinglas Water, while Strone House and its private garden are located further upslope, to the east of the old Military Road. Above the designed landscape, the ground rises to the summits of Binnean an Fhidhleir and Stob an Eas, part of a group of hills and mountains known as the Arrochar Alps.

The shelter of the surrounding hills, high annual rainfall and the tempering influence of the Gulf Stream provide ideal growing conditions for the woodland garden collection.

The mosaic of mixed woodlands, tall champion trees, historic buildings and park and garden grounds at Ardkinglas and Strone contrasts with the surrounding upland moors and forestry blocks. This contrast was observed by 19th century tourists and travellers (see site history) and offers scenic interest in views along and across Loch Fyne.

Ardkinglas was a medieval and post medieval estate owned by the Campbell family. Its built history is complex. The present Ardkinglas House (built 1906-08) is the latest in a sequence of fortified structures and principal houses known to have stood on the level grounds by Loch Fyne. A castle existed and was under repair in the 1500s (RCAHMS 1992: 212). Maps hint towards a second fortified structure at Ardkinglas in the 1600s and 1700s (Pont 1583-96; Roy 1747-55). By the end of the 18th century the 'ancient castle' had been pulled down (Stoddart 1801: 254) and a new house erected – the first of two mansions built, then either destroyed or demolished, from the late 18th to 19th century.

Against this backdrop of constant building, we can chart the development of the surrounding landscape through historic maps, written accounts, and the evidence from veteran trees. The first main phase of work took place during the lifetime of Sir James Campbell (circa 1666-1752). He inherited a system of horticulture that took place close to the castle walls – a source from the 1630s describes 'faire yeards' (walled enclosures) with 'sundrie kinds of fruit trees…and sundrie kinds of herbs' (MacFarlane 1906: 146). Like other landowners across Scotland, such as at the nearby Inveraray Castle, Campbell shifted the focus outwards, planting and improving estate grounds for prestige and profit. By the time of his death in the mid 18th century, there were sizable blocks of woodland and regular tree-lined parks (Roy 1747-55). The oldest surviving silver firs in the Kinglas valley may also have been planted around this time (www.monumental trees.com; RCAHMS 1992: 307).

The second major phase of work took place from around 1790 to the early 19th century. Following a wider trend for more informal landscapes, Sir Alexander Campbell invited the architect, James Playfair (1755-94), to devise a new scheme for Ardkinglas (McWilliam 1970). Although Playfair's 1790 design for a 'Marine Pavilion' set within a picturesque park was rejected, its more general landscape concepts were taken forward. A new mansion house was built in 1795, while landscape work created the essential structure of the present designed landscape, with informal parks and specimen trees, woodlands, drives and paths, a D-plan walled garden, ancillary buildings and pleasure grounds, including the Caspian Lake.

The accounts of travellers, tourists and other commentators from the 1790s-1820s provide valuable insight into the developing landscape. They note the replacement of the old castle with 'a modern building' with 'many pleasing sketches' in the grounds.  (Stoddart 1801: 253). They comment on the extent of the plantations, describing the emergence of maturing woodland cover in an area otherwise renowned for its bleakness and lack of timber (Garnett 1800: 74-5; McDougal 1792: 170; Anon. 1819: 37; Dorothy Wordsworth 1822, quoted in Gray 2000: 92-93). An engraving of around 1800 also shows the early parkland landscape around the house (Canmore ref. B 13879 P). This house, later dismissed as a 'great square mass of masonry' proved short-lived (Campbell 1832: 8). It was reported unused by 1822 and destroyed by fire in 1831 (RCAHMS 1992: 308).

A major influence on the designed landscape from the 1830s-50s onwards was the unprecedented availability of exotic trees and shrubs as a result of plant hunting expeditions to China, the Himalayas and the Pacific Northwest. By this time, Ardkinglas belonged to the Callander family - direct line descendents of the Campbells, and the estate had been revived. From 1840, the owner James Henry Callander (1803-51) had a new residence, and 'reformed' grounds (Cockburn 1848: 348). With plants and seeds arriving from around the world, Callander and his successors used an existing framework of older trees in the Kinglas valley to plant up a Victorian pinetum. This forms the basis of the present Ardkinglas Woodland Garden (Gray 2000: 94) (see under Woodland Garden).

In 1905, Sir Andrew Noble, an armaments expert, purchased the estate. Ardkinglas was by then a mature designed landcape known for its '…luxuriant gardens, old lawns, bosky banks and stately woods' (Anon 1882 quoted in Gray 2000: 94). In the pinetum, the conifer specimens thrived, well suited to the West Coast climate and mountainous landscape. The Nobles added first to the estate's architecture – commissioning Robert Lorimer to build the present Ardkinglas House – and then invested in its infrastructure with a hydroelectric scheme, new roads and cottages and a new house at Strone in the 1920s. In its Edwardian heyday, the Ardkinglas estate gave employment to a large workforce of servants, shepherds, builders, gardeners, foresters and gamekeepers.

Succeeding generations of the Noble family worked and maintained the estate during the 20th century. They expanded the botanical collections in the gardens and shrubbery. In the woodland garden, Michael Noble, Lord Glenkinglas (1913-1984) founded much of the present rhododendron collection from the 1930s to 1970s. Together with his wife, Lady Glenkinglas, he oversaw its transformation from inherited Victorian pinetum to an increasingly diverse and renowned arboretum, famous for its giant conifers (Gray 2000: 97-8).

In 1966, the Ardkinglas estate was divided, with Strone House and the woodland garden coming under the management of the Cairndow estate. In 1993, however, the woodland garden was brought back into the ownership of Ardkinglas. The Ardkinglas estate covers some 12,000 acres (2017) (www.ardkinglas.com). Within this, the designed landscape is managed for both commercial ventures and public amenity, while forest and conservation plans prioritise sustainability and conservation (eg. Gray Stephens and Black 2013). In 2013, the Ardkinglas Woodland Garden was considered one of Scotland's ten best gardens (Edmonstone 2013). 

Architectural Features

Ardkinglas House was built 1906-08 to designs by Robert Lorimer (1864-1929) and is the latest in a sequence of main houses built as the focal point for the estate landscape (see Site History). It is a large Scottish-style mansion arranged around an open courtyard with tower and crowstepped gables. It stands close to the shore of Loch Fyne and is among Lorimer's finest buildings (Walker 2000: 63).

Strone House, circa 1920s, is thought to have been built from plans also prepared by Lorimer (Dictionary of Scottish Architects). Set within a private garden in the east part of the designed landscape, it is a rectangular plan, two-storey, seven-bay house with a central entrance and high hipped roof. Strone Cottage, on the old Military Road by the gates to Strone House, is a rectangular-plan, single storey and attic, harled, white painted cottage of probable early 19th century date (evident on Thomson 1824).

Structures associated with Kinglas Water include a late 18th century, single arched rubble bridge, and a rubble powerhouse and weir. These were built in 1906-08 as part of a scheme to generate hydro-electric power for the estate. Further upstream, and close to the modern footbridge, there are the remains of stone abutments from two previous bridges and the consolidated ruin of Ardkinglas Old Mill, also known as the Kinglas Water Mill.

Estate buildings in the vicinity of Ardkinglas House include Ardkinglas Square, a courtyard of former garages, coach house and staff accommodation, Laundry Cottage, Ardkinglas Stables and the later Lorimer Cottage, built in the early 20th century as the estate kennels and kennelman's cottage. Along the loch shore to the west, there are further 19th century estate cottages - Middle Lodge, Pier Cottage and Sawmill Cottage.

The D-plan walled garden to the northeast of Ardkinglas House is of late 18th or early 19th century date. It has coped, stone rubble walls, an arched northeast gateway and a series of wrought iron garden gates made by Thomas Hadden in 1906-08. Garden Cottage is a two-storey cottage designed by Robert Lorimer, located just north of Caspian Pond. Remains of a stone structure northeast of the garden are recorded on Canmore as a former well and possibly the site of an older castle at Ardkinglas (Canmore ID 26328). This location is labelled as an ice house on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey.  

Boundary features include a harled, octagonal gate lodge of possible 18th century date at the east entrance to the Ardkinglas estate, and another 19th century cottage, named Policy Gate, on the shore of Loch Fyne at the northwest corner of the designed landscape. A former, single-storey north lodge at Cairndow was demolished in circa 1930 (Gray 2000: 94). A low stone dyke or wall runs along the upper edge of the woodland garden along the Old Military Road.

Drives & Approaches

In general, the network of estate roads at Ardkinglas follows routes established from the late 18th to 19th century (evident on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, published 1874), with further estate roads added in the earlier 20th century (Ordnance Survey map, published 1924).

The main entrance to the Ardkinglas estate and woodland garden is from the north at Cairndow. This hamlet, with its 18th century coaching inn, was once the only stage for travellers between Arrochar and Inveraray on the old military road. A former gate lodge for Ardkinglas at Cairndow was demolished in circa 1930 (Gray 2000: 94). From Cairndow, the entrance drive follows the meander of the River Kinglas before crossing the single arched rubble bridge and proceeding through the parks. Here it diverges - west towards estate buildings (and the site of the Old Ardkinglas House), and north towards the present Ardkinglas House.

Another former entrance to the grounds leads from the southeast, past the late 18th century octagonal gate lodge. From the northwest, a minor shore road enters the Ardkinglas grounds at Policy Gate. For the private grounds of Strone House, entrance gates from the old military road by Strone Cottage gives access to a short, curving drive.

Paths & Walks

A substantial network of estate roads and historic and modern footpaths now provide the basis for public walking trails around the Ardkinglas estate (www.ardkinglas.com).

West of Kinglas Water, the Ardkinglas Trail links woodland and riverside paths with features such as Ardkinglas Old Mill and a viewpoint that has views south over Loch Fyne and towards the hills of Glen Fyne.

East of Kinglas Water, in the woodland garden, footpaths traverse the steep, thickly planted slopes. They work along the contours and up and down the slopes via steep flights of steps. Paths were first created here as part of the Victorian pinetum in the mid 19th century and these, together with the oldest trees, form part of the historic structure of the garden. The paths have been added to and modified to improve public access and interpretation (2017). A more recent feature is the Gruffalo Trail, based on the popular childrens' book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Closer to Ardkinglas House, other 19th century paths through the shrubbery connect different character gardens and provide a circuit around the Caspian Lake. In the early 1900s, Lorimer linked his design scheme for Ardkinglas House and garden terrace to these walks via a series of stone steps (Macintyre 1985:76).

Parkland

Open parkland with specimen oaks, cedars, beech and fir provides a setting for Ardkinglas House. Mature trees frame views of the house from drives and paths to the south and contribute to the scenic character of this part of the designed landscape.

To the north of Ardkinglas House, the Caspian Lake and walled gardens are set within the parks, but are surrounded by trees and a shrubbery. To the northeast, commercial aquaculture (fish farm) facilities occupy part of the former park grounds on Rubha Mòr, the small spit of land that juts out into Loch Fyne. Open ground along the loch shore is enclosed by woodland plantations.

The present arrangement of parks was developed from the late 18th century onwards and was in place by the 1870s (Ordnance Survey, published 1874). Prior to this, Roy's Military Survey of 1747-55 shows a series of regular, tree-lined enclosures roughly between the Allt an Fichead Sgilline and the Kinglas Water. In line with contemporary Scottish landscape design trends, this was replaced by a more informal scheme from the 1790s onwards. While a picturesque plan by James Playfair dated 1790 was not fully realised, an engraving of around 1800 suggests an open parkland scene (Canmore ref. B 13879 P). It is likely that some oaks, sycamores and beech that had been part of the mid 18th century landscape were retained as parkland specimens alongside newer plantings.

To the southwest of Ardkinglas House, some traces survive of a short-lived miniature railway line that ran along the loch shore as far as the Caspian Lake. Installed in 1866 for George F W Callendar, it may have been the first miniature line in the UK, and featured a tunnel, station and engine shed (Mullay 1986, www.ardkinglas.com). The line was dismantled in the 1880s.

Woodland

Commercial plantations extend up and along the hill above the loch. There are some native plantings as well as beech, larch and spruce. Closer to Ardkinglas House, mixed woodlands shelter the parklands and garden areas and are traversed by publically accessible woodland paths. The woodland garden, located to the east of the Kinglas Water, is described separately below (see under Woodland Garden).

Together, these extensive woodlands are an important scenic element of the designed landscape with the canopy providing visual contrast with surrounding uplands. The diverse age range and species of trees present are important habitat for lower plants (mosses, lichens etc.) and wildlife, including woodland birds such as the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin, Treecreeper and Goldcrest (Ardkinglas Trail Leaflet). 

Ardkinglas has a long history of forest management. By the mid 18th century, the Campbells had already created plantations to the west and south of the house and park enclosures at Ardkinglas (Roy 1747-55). Later accounts agree that the tree-cover was 'extensive' by 1790-1800 (McDougal 1791; Stoddart 1801). Continuing major planting programmes during the 19th century achieved the approximate present extent of woodland cover (2017) (Ordnance Survey 1874, 1899).

In 2001, Ardkinglas Estate published a 25 year forest management plan. Among its aims are sustainable management, continuous cover forestry and enhancement of the tree collections (Ardkinglas Trail Leaflet, www.ardkinglas.com).

Woodland Garden

Located on a southwest facing slope to the east of the Kinglas Water, the Ardkinglas Woodland Garden is well known for its outstanding collections of very large conifers and rhododendrons, its rare and unusual species, ongoing programmes of renewal and its links with initiatives such as the International Conifer Conservation Programme. It is a highly valued example of a west coast woodland garden, cited by horticulturalist and author, Ken Cox, as among Scotland's best (Edmonstone 2013).

The garden is crescent-shaped in plan and measures around 10 hectares in area. Although small in area compared to the rest of the designed landscape, the network of paths and steps, the steep and varied topography, and the sheer scale of the largest trees work together to give the impression of greater extent than in reality.

The large beech and oak specimens to the north by the car park are among the oldest trees in the garden. Predating most of the ornamental planting, they are survivors of the mid-later 18th century estate landscape. The tallest conifers are further south in an area known as the Pinetum. They include the celebrated champion Abies alba (a silver fir known as 'the Monster') at the bottom of the bank, thought also to have been planted around the mid 18th century (www.monumentaltrees.com). Midslope, the Abies grandis (a grand fir) was once the national champion for height and remains among Britain's tallest trees (www.thetreeregister.org). These massive conifers provide structure and shelter for the woodland garden as a whole. 

Another feature of the garden is its rhododendron collection, developed during the 20th century. An area known as Sir John's Bank contains some of the garden's oldest rhododendron specimens, including plants from the fragrant Loderi group. Just north of the footbridge, the Bodnant Bank contains hybrids originating from Bodnant Garden in North Wales.

Newer features include a lochan (small lake), made in 1990, which supports wildlife and native plants, and a nearby glade of young Fitzroya cupressoides, planted in partnership with the International Conifer Conservation Programme.

The woodland garden began as a Victorian pinetum planted from around the 1830s by the Callander family. Mapped as 'ornamental ground' by Ordnance Survey in 1870, this became a growing collection of exotic flowering plants and conifers that reflected the exploits of contemporary plant hunters and gardening trends of the era. Local conditions and climate favoured fast growth rates. By 1908, the silver fir was already described as '… the mightiest conifer if not the biggest bole of any living kind in Europe' by the North American botanist, Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927) (Gray 2000: 95). In the 1960s-70s, the fast growing specimens attracted attention at a national level and the grand fir, for a time, became the country's tallest tree until it was overtaken by other Scottish west coast rivals (www.thetreeregister.org). 

During the 1930s-70s, the Noble family developed the horticultural collection. Michael Noble, Lord Glenkinglas (1913-84) cultivated rhododendron species and hybrids, while his wife introduced new flowering shrubs and trees. The garden opened with Scotland's Garden Scheme in 1948.  After a period of restricted maintenance in the 1980s, curatorship and proactive management from the mid 1990s onwards has ensured the revival of the woodland garden

Water Features

The Caspian Lake is an artificial water body to the north of Ardkinglas House. It has an intricate outline, sometimes compared to the Caspian Sea. The lake is surrounded by ornamental trees and shrubs (see under Gardens). It provides habitat for kingfishers and grey herons and other waterfowl such as mallards and moorhen (www.ardkinglas.com).

The lake was described briefly by Cockburn in 1848, who commented on its 'neatness' (Cockburn 1889: 348). It played a role in later 19th century leisure pursuits, being used as a winter curling rink and for sailing model galleons, reputedly equipped with cannon balls and fire power (www.ardkinglas.com). The Ordnance Survey map published in 1899 also shows a boathouse at the north end.

In the woodland garden, the woodland lochan is a small artificial body of water made in 1990. It is surrounded by native species plants and trees and provides valuable habitat for wildlife. 

The Gardens

A formal garden scheme was devised by Lorimer as part of the Ardkinglas House building project in 1906-08. It consists of formal grass bank terraces west of the house, descending towards the loch shore, and a top terrace to the south of the house, leading down to a lawn with a central mermaid fountain encircled by a clipped yew hedge. Hard elements include stone paths, balustrading and flights of steps.

A shrubbery is located northeast of Ardkinglas House and is connected to the formal garden via paths and steps. It consists of mixed-age specimen trees, ornamental shrubs and smaller character gardens and forms a thick planted perimeter around the walled garden and Caspian Lake. It is clearly evident on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map as part of the Victorian pleasure grounds of Ardkinglas (published 1874). The trees and foliage now form part of the setting for Ardkinglas House and contribute to the scenic character of the designed landscape overall.

The formal-style Ladies Garden is located within the shrubbery, immediately to the west of the walled garden. It contains different magnolia specimens and Tibetan cherry, but is most well-known for its hybrid azaleas, including Ghent and Rustica flore pleno azaleas. These were given to John Noble after the First World War of 1914-18 by a Belgian family in recognition of his help in housing Belgian refugees during the war (www.ardkinglas.com).

The private Strone House garden complements the character of the nearby woodland garden with many similar and well-established plantings. 

Walled Gardens

A D-plan, rubble-built walled garden is located northeast of Ardkinglas House. The interior is planted with plum trees and the nearby greenhouses are in use for cultivating vegetables and herbs (information courtesy of Ardkinglas Estate 2016).

The walled garden probably dates to the late 18th or earlier 19th century. James Playfair's proposal plan of 1790 shows a garden of similar plan, but in a different location. This garden was probably built soon after. Historic editions of Ordnance Survey maps show that the 19th century walled garden followed a typical layout with paths dividing the garden into quarters (Ordnance Survey 1874, 1899).

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References:

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/CANMORE ID 141356; http://canmore.org.uk/CANMORE ID 81015

Maps and Archives

Pont, T (circa 1583-96) Mid-Argyll; from Dunoon to Inverary and Loch Awe - Pont 14

Roy, W (1747-55) Military Survey of Scotland

Thomson, J. (1824) Northern Part of Argyll Shire. Southern Part.

Ordnance Survey, Argyll and Bute Sheet CXXXIV.1 (Kilmorich)

Survey date: 1870, Publication date: 1874

Ordnance Survey, Argyll 134.01 (includes: Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich)

Publication date: 1899, Date revised: 1897

Ordnance Survey, Argyll and Bute Sheet CXXXIV (includes: Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich), Publication date: 1924 Date revised: 1914

Printed sources

Anon. (1819) An Account of the Principal Pleasure Tours in Scotland, Edinburgh

Campbell, J. (1832) Memoirs of Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas, written by himself, Vol.1, Colburn and Bentley: London

Cockburn, H. (1889) Circuit Journeys, Edinburgh: David Douglas

Garnett, Thomas (1800) Observations on a tour through the Highlands and part of the Western Isles of Scotland, particularly Staffa and Icolmkill; to which are added, a description of the Falls of the Clyde, of the country round Moffat, and an analysis of its mineral waters London

Gray, D. (2000) 'Ardkinglas Woodland Garden: A historical perspective' in Scottish Forestry 54, No. 2, pp.91-100

Gray Stephens, G. and Black, B. (2013) Ardkinglas Woodland Garden – Landscape Management Plan 2013-2038

MacFarlane, W. (1906) Geographical collections relating to Scotland. Made by Walter MacFarlane / edited from MacFarlane's transcript in the advocates' library, by Sir Arthur Mitchell, Scottish History Society, v.51-3

Macintyre, L. (1985) 'A noble home' in The Scots Magazine pp.73-9

McDougal, D. (1792) United Parishes of Lochgoil-Head and Kilmorich, County of Argyle, (Old Statistical Account), Vol. III, 1792

McWilliam, C. (1970), 'James Playfair's designs for Ardkinglas' in The Country Seat, pp.193-8

Mullay, A. J. (1986) 'The lost railway of Ardkinglas – Britain's first miniature line?' in Blastpipe no. 71, pp.17-19

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) (1992) Argyll: An Inventory of The Monuments, Volume 7 - Mid Argyll and Cowal – Medieval and Later Monuments Edinburgh: HMSO

Stoddart, J (1801), Remarks on local scenery and manners in Scotland during the years 1799 and 1800, London

Walker F. A. (2000), Argyll and Bute, Buildings of Scotland, Penguin: London

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Edmonstone, J (2013) 'A matter of opinion' Scottish Field, https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/a-matter-of-opinion/ [accessed 12/05/2017]

European Silver Fir in the Ardkinglas Woodland Garden, https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/gbr/scotland/argyllandbute/4112_ardkinglaswoodlandgarden/8387/ [accessed 16/05/2017]

Friends of the Argyll Papers www.friendsoftheargyllpapers.org.uk [accessed 12/05/2017]

Kerr, M (2016) 'Ancient treasures uncovered on Argyll estate' The Scotsman, 02/10/2016 http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/ancient-treasures-uncovered-on-argyll-estate-1-4246700 [accessed 16/05/2017]

Tree Register of the British Isles (www.thetreeregister.org) [accessed 16/05/2017]