Isleornsay Inn

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Sleat War Memorial, Kilmore
Ardvasar Smithy
History of Churches in Sleat
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Ardvasar Smithy

The Smithy was originally located on the site where Ardvasar School now stands. When the school was built in 1877, the Smithy was shifted to a new site on the hillside behind the Shop. At that time the smith was a man called MacInnes. It is said that there was a smithy on the original site for over 100 years. There were a number of smithies in Sleat at that time - one at Ord, another at Isleornsay, while there is a hill on the Ardvasar side of Mill Bridge which is called Cnoc na Ceardaich (Smithy Hill). The last blacksmith to work at the Ardvasar Smithy was John Macdonald (Iain a Ghobha). His father was a blacksmith who came to Ardvasar in 1880. The main work was with horses and ploughs and cas chrom, also putting iron rings on cart wheels and wheelbarrows. The iron came from Glasgow by steamer and then by horse and cart from the pier. ardvasar_smithy_440 John retired from full time work as a blacksmith when people stopped keeping horses. After he retired he continued to make fine iron pieces such as log baskets, griddles, gates, paper knives with Celtic designs and even a weather-cock. Holidaymakers would visit the Smithy and buy or commission specific pieces.