General view looking along shore towards pier.

Description General view looking along shore towards pier.

Date 9/1883

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 746279

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of IN 901

Scope and Content Pier, Fort William, Highland Fort William, a town at the south-west end of the Great Glen, lies on the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe, on a thin edge of land between steep hills and the loch. The 19th century brought moderate prosperity to the town before it developed in the late Victorian era with the arrival of the railway. Erskine Beveridge photographed the pier c.1890. The pier, constructed from large stone blocks laid in horizontal courses, was the main arrival and departure point for the large, open, single-masted vessels that carried mail, goods and passengers to and from the town. The end of the pier, lit by a single gas lamp, has a crane for hoisting goods ashore, and a small wooden hut which is possibly a bothy for the horse-cab drivers who transported passengers to and from the pier. The large rowing boat (centre) is full of passengers, either waiting to be ferried across the loch, or transferred to a larger boat anchored offshore. The 'Port of Fort William' is mentioned in the 1793 Statistical Account, but it seems to have had no particular connection with the Fort, and had only civilian status as the place had a Customs House. A considerable list of imports is given, and wool is noted as an export. The stone-built pier probably dates from the early 19th century, providing a point of embarkation for sailings across the loch to the safe anchorage at Camusnagaul on the Ardgour peninsula. In the late 19th century, it became a popular point of arrival and departure for the paddle steamers that provided 'sea excursions' on Loch Linnhe. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/746279

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap