Inverkip

Map sources for Inverkip at grid reference NS205725

Inverkip (Gaelic: Inbhir Chip) is a village and parish (which was also known as Innerkip) in Inverclyde, Scotland. It lies about 4 miles south west of Greenock on the A78 trunk road. The village is served by Inverkip railway station, on the Inverclyde Line.

Inverkip's Main Street features mostly traditional buildings. Newer developments exist elsewhere in the village.

History

Innerkip was made a burgh of barony before the Act of Union in 1707, with the parish containing all of Gourock, Wemyss Bay, Skelmorlie and part of Greenock. Inverkip Parish Church dates from 1804 and is on the site of an earlier (twelfth century) kirk. The graveyard contains the tomb of the chemist Dr. James Young who was nicknamed 'Paraffin' because of his pioneering work in oil technology. He lived at nearby Kelly House, which burnt down in 1913, the report laying blame with the suffragettes.

The parish of Inverkip's chief claim to fame (or notoriety) was in relation to witches in the mid seventeenth century. A local verse recalls "In Auld Kirk the witches ride thick/ And in Dunrod they dwell/ But the greatest boom amang them a'/ Was Auld Dunrod himsel'."

'Auld Dunrod' was the last of the Lindsay family of Dunrod Castle. As the result of a dissolute life he lost all his possessions and fell into the black arts. Local reputation had it that he was in league with the devil, and he died in mysterious circumstances in a barn belonging to one of his former tenant farmers. Nothing now remains of the castle which stood at the foot of Dunrod Hill.

Places of interest

Today Inverkip is mainly of significance because of the large marina which has grown steadily since the 1970s and now boasts a small community of its own called Kip Village. Nearby the flue of the mothballed oil-fired Inverkip power station – another creation of the 70s – looms large.

Lunderston Bay is a popular picnic spot nearby and the classical Ardgowan House, built for Sir John Shaw-Stewart in the seventeenth century stands outside the village. It occasionally has open days and charity fêtes. The late fifteenth century Ardgowan Castle is a ruin within the estate.

Coordinates: 55.91201° N 4.87350° W

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