Lost Dunoon

Grid Ghosts

Dunoon through the maps — a dedicated area for historical OS comparison, growth tracking, and map-led detective work.

How to use this room

Grid Ghosts is built to show growth rather than just list facts. Start with the historic OS viewer centred on Castle Hill, then work outward through the centre, the bay, Bishop’s Glen, and the Holy Loch orbit.

Historic OS anchor

Open the Dunoon historic side-by-side viewer

This bookmark is already centred on Dunoon. Use the layer controls in the NLS viewer to step backwards and forwards through the available mapping series.

What to watch for

Old core and Castle Hill

Watch how limited the early recognisable settlement is compared with later spread along the shore and through the centre.

Victorian fill-in

Track Argyll Street, Edward Street, and the shorefront as they become denser and more continuous.

West Bay leisure build-out

Compare where resort infrastructure thickened, then thinned or vanished.

Bishop’s Glen engineering

Read the glen as designed infrastructure as well as scenery.

Holy Loch military footprint

Use later layers and aerials to understand Cold War change.

Recommended map route

1. Castle HillStart with Dunoon Castle, Castle Gardens, Black Street cottages, and the lost wells.
2. Central DunoonMove to Old Argyll Street town form and Edward Street open ground.
3. West BayCheck the Lido, bathing station, rowing boats, and holiday culture pages together.
4. Bishop’s GlenCompare the visible reservoir with the fuller earlier waterworks system.
5. Holy LochFinish with American years infrastructure and military pages.