Exploring the place knowledge and social values of Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn
Three researchers from the University of Stirling – Ruth Olden, Tânia Manuel Casimiro and Elizabeth Robson – are collaborating in an exciting new project exploring the place knowledge of Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn (or Balnagown), on the isle of Lismore in Argyll and Bute (August 2025 – May 2026).
The Loch is a rare type of freshwater lake with very clear water, known as a marl lake. Less than 1% of lakes in the UK are marl lakes and those in Scotland are amongst the most pristine.
Marl lakes provide unique habitats and Lismore’s three lochs (including Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn) are listed by Nature Scot as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. While it is recognised that these habitats are the product of social as well as environmental factors, research and conservation to date has tended to focus on the geology and ecology of the lochs. Our project is seeking to address this gap in understanding.
We are interested in the memories, embodied experiences, heritage, and values that communities associate with Lismore’s lochs and how change at various scales is perceived and remembered. We will also be searching for historic records related to the lochs. Our interdisciplinary approach integrates contemporary archaeology, critical heritage studies, and cultural geography, more commonly deployed in urban, built environment contexts, to explore a rural, natural feature, the significance of which is traditionally understood in ecological terms.
It is our hope that this innovative work will support the sustainable management of marl lochs and inform future research.
If you are familiar with Lismore’s lochs, we would love to hear from you! Perhaps you live or work nearby, visit regularly for leisure purposes, have a personal connection to the area, associate it with particular activities, memories, or people, or perhaps you don’t or wouldn’t want to go there for some reason. Whatever the nature of your experiences and feelings, we are keen to speak to you.
To find out more about getting involved, or if you have questions about the project, please contact Elizabeth on e.m.robson@stir.ac.uk.
Please note that participants must be aged over 18 years old. Participation is entirely voluntary and there is no payment for taking part. Participants will not be identified by name in any resulting reports or publications.
This research is generously supported by a seed grant from the Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory at the University of Stirling. The ethical approaches have been approved by the University of Stirling General University Ethics Panel.
Dr Elizabeth Robson 