Drawings of the Campbeltown Cross by Captain T.P. White
The Campbeltown Cross is Scheduled Ancient Monument No 249. This Celtic cross is thought have been carved around 1380 and, it’s suggested, was originally located at Kilkivan churchyard between the villages of Drumlemble and Machrihanish. Sir Andrew MacEachen was promoted from Kilkivan to the church of Kilchoman, in Islay, before 1376, and dispossessed of this benefice shortly after 1382. It was removed to Campbeltown and adapted to serve as a market cross sometime after the foundation of the Burgh in 1607. It was formerly sited outside the town hall, but was taken down during the Second World War for safe-keeping and erected afterwards in its present position on the roundabout at the end of Hall Street. The socket stone appears to be original due to the similarity in the stone, but the rest of the base is modern.
The inscription reads:
“This is the cross of Sir Ivor MacEachen, sometime parson of Kilkivan, and of his son, Sir Andrew, parson of Kilchoman, who caused it to be made”
