Aerial view of town

Description Aerial view of town

Date 1991

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number B 49557

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 872946, SC 1676715

Scope and Content Brora, Sutherland, Highland Brora is situated on the east coast of Sutherland at the mouth of the River Brora. In the 19th century, it was a thriving industrial town with boat building, fishing, salt production, a distillery, a woollen mill, coal mining, a brickworks and a quarry. Stone quarried from Brora was used to build London Bridge, Liverpool Cathedral and nearby Dunrobin Castle. This view shows the river, the railway and road bridges (centre) and the rectangular harbour at the river's mouth. Brora harbour was built by the Sutherland Estate in 1814 to facilitate the export of coal from nearby mines. The railway arrived at Brora in 1871. There is evidence that the open cast mining of coastal coal seams near Brora first began in 1529. In the early years, the coal that was extracted was used for salt production and it was the salt that was traded. In the early 19th century, with the advent of the Industrial Age, coal extraction at Brora intensified. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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