Church Overview

St Munn’s Church or Kilmun Parish Church, now known as Historic Kilmun, was built overlooking the Holy Loch, on the site of a Celtic monastery. Its tower was part of a 15th-century collegiate church but the present building dates from 1841, designed by architect Thomas Burns with interior remodelled by Peter MacGregor Chalmers in 1899.

It possesses important stained glass by Stephen Adam and Alfred Webster and an exceptionally rare water-powered pipe organ by Norman & Beard that was installed in 1909. It is surrounded by an ancient graveyard, containing many fine 18th-century carved stones and the Mausoleum of Dukes of Argyll. It is also the burial place of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the USA and the first female physician to be registered with the General Medical Council in the British Isles.

A local community-led conservation group known as Historic Kilmun was established in 2008, to raise money for repairs and seek a sustainable future for St Munn’s and the adjacent mausoleum. By 2012, this organisation had raised £1.15m for repairs to both buildings. The final regular weekly service was held there in 2018 and the sale to Historic Kilmun from the Church of Scotland was finalised in September 2021.

Opening Arrangements

Open by arrangement and for regular public events. Visit the Historic Kilmun website for more details 

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.