Kenmore, Perth and Kinross

The village dates from the 16th century. It and the neighbouring Castle were originally known as Balloch (from Gaelic bealach, 'pass'). The original village was sited on the north side of river approximately {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} from its present site and was known as Inchadney. In 1540 Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy started the construction of Balloch castle on the opposite bank of the river and the entire village was moved to a prominent headland by the shores of Loch Tay, hence the name Kenmore, which translates from Scots Gaelic to "big (or large) head". The village as it is seen today is a model village laid out by 3rd Earl of Breadalbane in 1760.

Kenmore Pier in Loch Tay was built for the Loch Tay Steamboat Company in 1882 by a workforce of 14 men to the designs of the engineer John Strain, C.E. of Glasgow. The transverse and longitudinal beams rested on piles {{convert|30|ft|m}} long sunk {{convert|9|ft|m}} into the bottom using hammers weighing {{convert|15|long cwt|kg}}. The weather side of the pier was planked so that the steamers could lie safely on the lee side. The pier was {{convert|210|ft|m}} long and the depth of water at the end was {{convert|12|ft|m}}.{{cite news |author= |title=New Piers and Steamers for Loch Tay |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000295/18820407/128/0005 |newspaper=Dundee Advertiser | location=Scotland |date=7 April 1882 |access-date=30 November 2024 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}

{{anchor|Landmarks|reason=Old section name.}}

The Kenmore Hotel, commissioned in 1572 by the then laird Colin Campbell, has its origins in a tavern built around 70 years earlier offering accommodation and refreshments. It is reputed to be Scotland's oldest hotel. Well known travel writer Rick Steves defined the community as "little more than the fancy domain of its castle, a church set in a bouquet of tombstones, and a line of humble houses, Kenmore offers a fine dose of small-town Scottish flavour".[https://www.timescolonist.com/travel/rick-steves-highlands-offers-taste-of-traditional-scotland-1.24097806 Rick Steves; Highlands offers taste of traditional Scotland 14 March 2020]

File:Kenmore Hotel.jpg

Taymouth Castle, another Campbell creation, was built by John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane (d. 1862) on the site of its late medieval predecessor, Balloch Castle (built 1550 by the Campbells of Glenorchy, ancestors of the Marquesses of Breadalbane, demolished 1805). This enormous mansion, in neo-Gothic style, was completed in time for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1842. No expense was spared on the interior, which was decorated with the utmost sumptuousness. Taymouth Castle is now privately owned and has a golf course in its grounds.

Kenmore Bridge dates from 1774 and the village as it is today was laid out in the 18th century by the third Earl of Breadalbane. It retains many of its original buildings and historic appearance.

Around {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} northeast of the village by the side of the A827 road is a complex multi-phase stone circle known as Croft Moraig Stone Circle.{{cite web |url=http://canmore.org.uk/site/24891/croft-moraig |title=Croft Moraig |work=Canmore |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland |access-date=15 August 2015}}

To the southwest, between Kenmore and Acharn, the waterside settlement of Croft-na-Caber has been redeveloped into a number of tourist attractions. The Scottish Crannog Centre (formerly the Crannog Reconstruction Project) is an open-air museum on the south of Loch Tay Road. It features an accurate full-size reconstruction of a {{lang|gd|crannog}}, an Iron Age artificial island, of which more than 20 (most now submerged) have been found in Loch Tay. The crannog mockup is based on the real Oakbank Crannog archaeological site off the north shore of the loch.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-15 |title=Building a Crannog – The Scottish Crannog Centre |url=https://crannog.co.uk/dalerb-blogs/building-a-crannog/ |access-date=2023-07-17 |language=en-US}} The Crannog mock-up was destroyed by fire on the evening of 11 June 2021.{{cite web |title=Fire destroys recreated Iron Age house in Perthshire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-57452498 |website=BBC News |access-date=13 June 2021 |date=2021-06-12}} The visitor centre also displays artefacts from nearby excavations, which are funded in part by the proceeds from this attraction. The Croft-na-Caber Watersports & Activity Centre, originally planned as a £20 million sailing resort in 2009,{{Cite web|url=http://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-news/£20m-Croft-Na-Caber-plans-approved/116273|title=£20m Croft-Na-Caber plans approved|website=www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk}} now offers additional activities, including hydraboarding and canyoning. The original Croft-na-Caber Hotel closed in the 2000s, though the successor resort is served by other area hotels, the largest of which is the Kenmore Hotel.

File:Kenmore and Loch Tay.jpg

The biggest island in the loch, known as the Isle of Loch Tay, or in Gaelic {{lang|gd|Eilean nam Ban-naomh}}, 'Isle of Holy Women', is just north of Kenmore. It was the site of a nunnery in the 12th century and was the burial place of Queen Sibylla (d. 1122), wife of Alexander I of Scotland (1107–24). A castle was built on the island in the later Middle Ages. Signs of 18 crannogs, "circular houses on stilts", have been found Loch Tay. Only one was rebuilt and became the museum known as the Scottish Crannog Centre.[https://www.timescolonist.com/travel/rick-steves-highlands-offers-taste-of-traditional-scotland-1.24097806 Rick Steves; Highlands offers taste of traditional Scotland 14 March 2020]

As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Kenmore experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Metoffice weather station for which online records are available is Ardtalnaig, about {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} southwest of the settlement. Despite its location in the interior of Scotland, the vast Loch Tay adjacent to the village provides some insulation from extreme frost – unlike many weather observing sites in this area of Scotland, no month averages a minimum below freezing point, and no temperatures below {{convert|−16.0|C|F}} have been reported since at least 1960.

{{Weather box

|location = Ardtalnaig, {{cvt|130|m|ft}} asl, 1991-2020, extremes 1960- (Weather station {{convert|6|mi|0}} SW of Kenmore)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 14.0

|Feb record high C = 14.8

|Mar record high C = 17.8

|Apr record high C = 25.0

|May record high C = 26.5

|Jun record high C = 31.4

|Jul record high C = 30.1

|Aug record high C = 29.3

|Sep record high C = 26.2

|Oct record high C = 22.5

|Nov record high C = 16.1

|Dec record high C = 13.9

|year record high C = 31.4

|Jan high C = 6.2

|Feb high C = 6.8

|Mar high C = 9.0

|Apr high C = 12.0

|May high C = 15.4

|Jun high C = 17.6

|Jul high C = 19.2

|Aug high C = 18.6

|Sep high C = 16.1

|Oct high C = 12.1

|Nov high C = 8.7

|Dec high C = 6.5

|year high C =

|Jan low C = 1.0

|Feb low C = 1.1

|Mar low C = 2.0

|Apr low C = 3.6

|May low C = 5.8

|Jun low C = 8.7

|Jul low C = 10.6

|Aug low C = 10.4

|Sep low C = 8.6

|Oct low C = 5.8

|Nov low C = 3.2

|Dec low C = 1.0

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = −15.9

|Feb record low C = −9.8

|Mar record low C = −12.2

|Apr record low C = −5.6

|May record low C = −2.0

|Jun record low C = 0.6

|Jul record low C = 3.3

|Aug record low C = 1.7

|Sep record low C = -0.3

|Oct record low C = -4.0

|Nov record low C = −7.9

|Dec record low C = −13.4

|year record low C = −15.9

|Jan precipitation mm = 197.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 136.2

|Mar precipitation mm = 116.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 83.3

|May precipitation mm = 79.4

|Jun precipitation mm = 77.7

|Jul precipitation mm = 78.3

|Aug precipitation mm = 88.4

|Sep precipitation mm = 101.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 146.8

|Nov precipitation mm = 157.9

|Dec precipitation mm = 177.3

|year precipitation mm =

|Jan rain days = 17.9

|Feb rain days = 14.9

|Mar rain days = 14.7

|Apr rain days = 12.1

|May rain days = 12.3

|Jun rain days = 12.7

|Jul rain days = 13.0

|Aug rain days = 13.3

|Sep rain days = 13.5

|Oct rain days = 16.7

|Nov rain days = 17.4

|Dec rain days = 17.2

|year rain days=

|Jan sun = 21.4

|Feb sun = 50.9

|Mar sun = 88.4

|Apr sun = 131.7

|May sun = 173.3

|Jun sun = 162.9

|Jul sun = 161.8

|Aug sun = 141.7

|Sep sun = 103.8

|Oct sun = 67.9

|Nov sun = 33.3

|Dec sun = 10.9

|year sun = 1147.8

|source 1 = Meteoclimat{{Cite web|url=http://climate-datas-weather.dynalias.org/listenormale-1991-2020-1-p183.php#ss|title = Météo climat stats | Moyennes 1991/2020 / Données Météorologiques Gratuites}}

|date=November 2011

|source 2 = Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute{{cite web

|url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TXx&year=1998&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-724523.8095238&miny=-4123809.5238095&maxx=142142.85714288&maxy=-3473809.5238095&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=290&mainmap.y=236&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom |title=Ardtalnaig monthly extremes | access-date = 2 November 2011 | publisher = KNMI}}

}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.breadalbane.com/ Breadalbane.com]

{{Perth & Kinross Towns & Villages}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Villages in Perth and Kinross