Mccaig's Tower, Oban is a Grade B listed building in the Argyll and Bute local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 20 July 1971. Monument.

Mccaig's Tower, Oban

WRENN ID
vacant-flint-frost
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Argyll and Bute
Constituency
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber MP: Brendan O'Hara (SNP)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
20 July 1971
Type
Monument
OS grid reference
NM 861 302
Coordinates
56.41568, -5.46917
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Mccaig's Tower in Oban was begun by John Stuart McCaig in 1897. It features a circular screen made up of continuous pointed-arch arcading in two tiers, built on a partially exposed foundation tier that is set into the rock. The exterior is constructed from Cruachan granite, which is bull-faced squared and snecked, while the interior uses hammer dressed random rubble. The main entrance is round-arched and includes a keystone in a crenellated raised section on the east side, with two pointed windows above the arch and a commemorative plaque situated between them. There is a continuous band course cill at the lower arches, along with a continuous moulded string course cill and eaves detail above. The interior features a natural rock floor.

Local climate

Mccaig's Tower, Oban sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 2,230 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 55% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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