Old travel Blog photograph of the road to McCaig's Tower on Battery Hill in Oban, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive. John Stuart McCaig was his own architect. The tower was erected between 1897 and his death, aged 78 from cardiac arrest, on 29 June 1902 at John Square House, Oban, Argyll. McCaig's intention was to provide a lasting monument to his family, and provide work for the local stonemasons during the winter months. McCaig was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome. His plans allowed for a museum and art gallery with a central tower to be incorporated. Inside the central tower he planned to commission statues of himself, his siblings and their parents. His death brought an end to construction with only the outer walls completed.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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