Inverness, Clachnaharry, Caledonian Canal, Sea Loch Basin View from the ESE looking out across the sea lock basin, with the Sea Lock in the distance. In the immediate foreground is part of the rivett ...

Description Inverness, Clachnaharry, Caledonian Canal, Sea Loch Basin View from the ESE looking out across the sea lock basin, with the Sea Lock in the distance. In the immediate foreground is part of the rivetted iron work of the swing railway bridge

Date 30/3/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 64139 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 799577

Scope and Content Clachnaharry Sea Lock Basin, Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Highland, from east-south-east This view looking west-north-west from the railway swing bridge shows the sea lock basin which was built between 1810 and 1811. The curved and pier-shaped structure (right) supports the bridge when it has been opened to allow boats to pass. The Beauly Firth surrounds the basin and part of the bridge parapet is visible in the foreground. The northern end of the Caledonian Canal is at Inverness, but unfortunately the soft mud on the shores around this point meant that it would be very difficult to construct a sea lock for access to the canal. The best way for the canal to reach the deep water of the Beauly Firth, about 365m away from the shore, was to construct two large parallel embankments with bases built from quarry waste. The basin could then be formed in the space in between. The Caledonian Canal was designed by Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and built between 1803 and 1822 at a cost of £840,000. It was the first example of a transport network funded by the government in Great Britain. The 96.5km-long canal provides a route for boats travelling between the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean as it runs from the Beauly Firth at Clachnaharry, Inverness, to Loch Linnhe at Corpach. Only 35.4km of this length is man-made while the other 61km runs through four lochs: Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Unfortunately at 4.2m deep the canal was too small for most sea-going ships which led to it being altered and deepened between 1844 and 1847. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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