Doors Open Days | Argyll & Bute

Bute Community Forest

new

20 September 2026

The forest is on the north end of Bute, near to the Colintraive-Rhubodach ferry terminal.

Facilities
WC
Parking
Events For Children

Cove Park

19 September 2026

Cove Park is an international artists residency based on a 50-acre site on Scotland’s west coast, just over one hour north west of Glasgow on Argyll’s Rosneath Peninsula.

Facilities
Disabled Access
WC
Disabled WC
Parking
Refreshments

Helensburgh Outdoor Museum is a public art and heritage initiative celebrating the people, places and stories of Helensburgh. Through community engagement, creative interpretation and contemporary design, the project transforms local heritage into a series of outdoor experiences across the town. Led by Lateral North in partnership with Argyll and Bute Council, the museum connects Helensburgh's history with its future through community-led design.

Facilities
Events For Children
Disabled Access

Argyll & Bute

Helensburgh Parish Church

20 September 2026

A Victorian Gothic building designed for the Free Church of Scotland by John, William Hardie & James Murdoch. Hay, and constructed 1853 by builder Thomas Bonnar. Architects Campbell Douglas and James Sellars added the vestry and session house in 1878 and William Leiper designed the porch, a new hall and redecorated its interior in 1892. Following a disastrous fire in 1924, that almost destroyed the building, the cruciform-plan church was fully restored by architect Robert Wemyss, with an impressive panelled interior, with fine woodwork and a half-timbered ceiling supported on stone corbels. There is a gallery in each transept and stencil and gold leaf decoration throughout the chancel. The 1894 pipe organ is by Hill and was rebuilt by Hill, Norman & Beard. Helensburgh Parish Church also has exceptionally fine stained glass, by artists such as Gordon Webster and Guthrie and Wells, and includes memorial windows to Andrew Bonar Law, one-time Prime Minister, and John Logie Baird, inventor of television and son of the manse in Helensburgh. Many of its windows had to be heavily restored following the fire. It continues to serve as a place of worship and community gathering, offering a variety of services and activities for all ages. The current since February 2025 Parish Minister is Reverend Susan Campbell MacGregor.

Facilities
Disabled WC
Disabled Access
WC
Refreshments
Events For Children
Parking
Hearing Loop

Argyll & Bute

Hill House

new

19 September 2026

20 September 2026

The Hill House is considered to be Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s domestic masterpiece. Commissioned by Glasgow book publisher Walter Blackie, architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and artist Margaret Macdonald worked collaboratively to create almost everything in the house, from the building itself to the fixtures, fittings, furniture and textiles.

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Refreshments
Events For Children
Parking

Argyll & Bute

Historic Kilmun

19 September 2026

20 September 2026

Historic Kilmun is an ancient site in Kilmun; the site of religious worship since the early 7th century. We have a ruined collegiate tower; morte safes; a 19century church with stunning stained glass and a unique water power organ and the Argyll Mausoleum where the heads of the Clan Campbell are buried. We have an interpretation visitor centre with further information on the interactive screen within the building.

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Refreshments
Parking

Argyll & Bute

Jean's Bothy, Helensburgh

19 - 20 September 2026

20 September 2026

Jean’s Bothy operates out of a 1930s cottage in the east side of Helensburgh, the cottage and surrounding garden space is looked after by members volunteering their time to develop and learn new skills. The cottage has been in the community since it was transferred from private ownership in 1950s. Since then it’s had many different uses and whilst the cottage itself blends into the street, behind it’s front door there is lots of activity.

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Refreshments
Parking

Argyll & Bute

Mount Stuart Trust

19 September 2026

Mount Stuart is a Victorian Gothic mansion which was rebuilt from 1880 under the direction of John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900). Mount Stuart is owned and managed by Mount Stuart Trust, a Scottish Registered Charity (SC009584), founded in 1989 by John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute (1933-1993).

Facilities
Disabled Access
WC
Refreshments
Parking
Events For Children
Disabled WC

Argyll & Bute

Rothesay Pavilion

19 September 2026

20 September 2026

Rothesay Pavilion is a Category A listed Modernist building on the seafront of Rothesay, Isle of Bute, designed by James Carrick and opened in 1938. One of Scotland’s finest examples of inter-war public architecture, the Pavilion served Bute’s community for generations before falling into disrepair. Now the subject of one of Scotland’s most significant heritage restoration projects, the building is set to reopen in 2027, returning to community hands as a civic cultural and creative industries hub and visitor attraction.

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Events For Children
Parking
Refreshments

Argyll & Bute

The Skerryvore Lighthouse Shore Station

new

19 September 2026

20 September 2026

The Skerryvore Lighthouse Shore Station at Hynish is a historic maritime heritage site on the south coast of Tiree. Built in the 1830s as the shore base for constructing the Skerryvore Lighthouse, the site includes former barracks, workshops, lighthouse keepers’ cottages, a signal tower and related buildings. Now community owned and cared for by the Hynish Trust, it preserves the story of one of Scotland’s most remarkable lighthouse engineering achievements and remains an important place for local heritage, learning and community life.