Monument record MHG51696 - Remains of stone quay, Ardtornish Bay

NM64SE 41 6929 4268
Pier [NAT]
OS 1:10,560 map, Argyll, sheet 55, 1900.
For Ardtornish House or Tower (NM 7033 4753) and related buildings, see NM74NW 13. <1>

The remains of an old stone quay were identified while walking along the rocky western shore of Ardtornish Bay, adjacent to Ardtornish Castle. The pier does not appear on Admiralty chart 2155 (surveyed 1851). A rough track supported by a stone retaining wall leads from Ardtornish Steading down to the quay. Two phases could be discerned. The older remains comprise the track, retaining wall and seven squared sandstone blocks representing the remains of the pier. Diving surveys confirmed that the rest of the material from this earlier structure now lie below the mean low water level. A second phase of construction is evident in the form of rough mortar/cement steps leading down to the rock edge. It is likely that the construction of the pier is associated either with the expansion of Ardtornish Steading c.1846, the demolition of Old Ardtornish House in 1907 or with 19th and early 20th-century restoration work at the castle. <2>

The pier is depicted on the 1st edition 6 inch Ordnance Survey map c.1875-6. <3>