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MHG8762 - Early C19 pier - former Invergordon Ferry pier

Summary

An early C19 slipway pier constructed by Thomas Telford. Now subsumed (or replaced) by C20 development.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

An early C19 slipway pier constructed by Thomas Telford. Now subsumed (or replaced) by C20 development.

NH76NW 23 7101 6841.

ARCHITECT: Thomas Telford (1803-21)

Location formerly entered as NH 7101 6841. For (associated) pier at Inverbreakie (NH 70240 67150), see NH76NW 18. [No location specified]. To the East [of the harbour NH76NW 21] is a ramped ferry pier, built 1817 [by] engineer Thomas Telford, used by the ferry to Inverbreakie on the Black Isle. J R Hume 1977

In daily use, stable condition. CFA/MORA Coastal Assessment Survey 1998.

The structure was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. A ferry ran from Invergordon to Balblair on the Black Isle until the 1960s. When Thomas Telford built the piers on both shores, the Black Isle settlement was confusingly called Inverbreckie (the old name for Invergordon). It is now known as Balblair. Local people remember that during WWII seaplanes were pulled up alongside the slip, and wartime plans in private possession show mesh near the pier. The pier has been engulfed by development in the port; it is not known whether anything of the Teford pier survives. <1>

Note: Canmore and PastMap currently have this site confused with the later, WWI pier on the east side of the current harbour. This may have been mistakenly informed by the CFA/MORA assessment as the original Telford Pier had already disappeared by the time the survey was carried out [IS-L 20/04/2016].

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 7073 6828 (47m by 109m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH76NW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY

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