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Some four miles from Rothesay, heading south along the A844, lies the tiny coastal village of Kerrycroy. The village sits just outside the northernmost gate to the Marquess of Bute's Mountstuart Estate. It is at Kerrycroy that the road south turns inland in order to skirt the Mountstuart Estate, and the waters of the Firth of Clyde remain out of sight until the road approaches Kingarth.

The entrance to Mountstuart Estate and the lodge at Kerrycroy.

Although there had been a community at Kerrycroy before, it was in 1803 that it took its present form, when the first Marquess of Bute rebuilt it as a model village. Five buildings were built along the arc of the bay; four U-plan single-storey cottages, and an inn set in the middle of the arc. The inn was later transformed into a schoolhouse, and served as the village school for many years.

The old quay was rebuilt at the same time, planned along a gentle curve that provided a more sheltered anchorage. Kerrycroy had a daily post-boat ferry which connected to Largs during the nineteenth century, and was thus the most important link to the mainland before the new pier at Rothesay was built in 1822. Even earlier, in the sixteenth century, there had been a ferry to Portincross on the Ayrshire coast.

One of the 1890s half-timbered Tudor villas and one of the original U-plan cottages.

The first motor-bus service from Rothesay to Kerrycroy ran in 1909, and before that, in the days of the horsedrawn trams between Rothesay and Port Bannatyne, Kerrycroy was served by two-horse brakes, along with Craigmore and Ascog.

In the 1890s, two Tudor Revival semi-detached villas were added to the village which completed the transformation of Kerrycroy into a transplanted English village. The buildings sit around a village green which runs to the shore, and in the middle of the green is a maypole.

In the heydey of Bute's time as a holiday destination, cruises from Rothesay to Kerrycroy were very popular. Nowadays you'll have to go by car or bus. Take note if driving that the little road around the village green is strictly private and you must park before it starts.

Visitors cars parked up before the village road starts.

The final element in the eclectic mix of Kerrycroy is the bus shelter where you can catch the bus back to Rothesay. It has a definite Swiss feel to it. Scottish countryside - English village - Alpine bus shelter!

The road north to Rothesay and THAT bus shelter.