Object: Port Bannatyne 

Date: 19th century

Description : The photograph of Port Bannatyne was taken around 1878 and shows Marine Road before the construction of the sea wall.  To the far left can be seen the spire of St Mary’s and the other church is St Bruoc’s which was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.  On the hill above is Swanstonhill House which when sold in 1879 became Swanstonhill Sanatorium and later became Kyles of Bute Hydropathic.  The building burnt down in 1909 but was rebuilt in 1911.  During World War Two the Hydro was requisitioned by the navy and renamed HMS Varbel, acting as headquarters for the midget submarine flotilla.  After the war the building reopened as a hotel but was closed in the late 1960s and demolished in 1989, now nothing remains except the gateposts.  (Port Bannatyne), P03-2788, B17.13)