Ardura

56°24′30.8″N 5°45′11.5″W Ardura is a small settlement and rural estate on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. It is south-west of Lochdon. Areas nearby include Ardachoil Farm and Inverlussa.

Road in Ardura

The river Lussa runs through Ardura emptying in the northern part of Loch Spelve.^[1]

Cruach Ardura is a hill in the south-west of Ardura (217m elvation).^[2][3]

History

Monument to Dugald MacPhail

Strathcoil was an historic township in the area that originally had at least three buildings in the late 19th century but all are now ruined.^[4]

In the 18th and 19th centuries, oak woodlands were planted to the south of Ardura.^[5] Tanbark and charcoal were produced for a furnace at Lorna.^[5]

In 1929, a stone monument was unveiled to the Gaelic poet Dugald MacPhail (1818-87) at the Strathcoil road junction in Ardura that connects with Lochbuie.^[6][7] The statue was unviled by Mrs Murray Guthrie, a female banker and chairman of the Parish Council at the time.^[6] It can still be seen. Dugald lived at the now ruined Strathcoil settlement in Ardura and wrote several Gaelic songs and poems including An t-Eilean Muileach (The Isle of Mull).^[8]

In April 2025, the Ardura Community forest park and nature trail were the site of a royal visit by William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales.^[9][10][11]

Buildings

Ardura Farm

Ardura lodge is a hunting lodge on the Ardura Estate.^[6]

There is a farm at Ardura.

Community facilities

There is a community forest park at Ardura that is managed by residents of the Mull and Iona Community Trust.^[12][13][14] It was purchased and restored by the trust with the aid of grants in 2019.^[15] The oldest known tree in the forest is a holly tree dated to 1733 and much of the woodland contains ancient oaks. ^[12]