Kilmonivaig () is a small village, situated close to the southeast end of

Loch Lochy Loch Lochy () is a large freshwater loch in Lochaber, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. With a mean depth of , it is the third-deepest loch of Scotland. Geography Located southwest of Loch Ness along the Glen Albyn, Great Glen, the lo ...

Spean Bridge Spean Bridge () is a village in the parish of Kilmonivaig, in Lochaber in the Highland region of Scotland. The village takes its name from the Highbridge over the River Spean on General Wade's military road between Fort William and Fort A ...

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

and is in the Scottish council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. Fort William lies approximately 15 miles southwest of Kilmonivaig.

Parish of Kilmonivaig

Kilmonivaig is also the name of the large parish which has its Church of Scotland parish church one kilometer from the bridge at Spean Bridge on the north side of the river. Kilmonivaig was one of the two constituent parishes which traditionally made up

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

. A memorial to the

Commandos A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as opp ...

, who trained at nearby

Achnacarry Achnacarry () is a hamlet, private estate (land), estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the w ...

, is situated on a vantage point above Spean Bridge looking out over Kilmonivaig. The work of sculptor Scott Sutherland, it was cast by H.H. Martyn & Co. of Cheltenham and unveiled by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

on 27 September 1952.

Bridges of Kilmonivaig Parish

The villages of Roy Bridge and Spean Bridge both boast bridges designed by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

between 1817 and 1819 and subsequently widened. Just downstream of Spean Bridge is the remains of High Bridge completed by

General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...

in 1736 at a cost of £1,087.Donald B. MacCulloch, ''Romantic Lochaber Arisaig and Morar'', (Spean Bridge: Lines Publishing, 1996), p. 173–91. High Bridge on the River Spean

Royal Heritage and battles

In 1431 a battle took place at Kilmonivaig between Donald Baleal, cousin of Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, then a state prisoner of

Tantallon Castle Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to b ...

and the

Earls of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to hav ...

. In this battle the royal forces were defeated and the Earl of Caithness was slain. In 1645 Montrose fought Argyll, with Argyll being defeated.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Populated places in Lochaber Parishes in Inverness-shire