Inverness, Clachnaharry, Caledonian Canal, Clachnaharry Sea Lock View from the west-north-west looking away from the Beauly Firth and up to the bottom lock gates of the Sea Lock. The Kessock suspensi ...

Description Inverness, Clachnaharry, Caledonian Canal, Clachnaharry Sea Lock View from the west-north-west looking away from the Beauly Firth and up to the bottom lock gates of the Sea Lock. The Kessock suspension bridge is visible in the distance in the top left corner Digital image of D 64151.

Date 30/3/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 799632

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 64151

Scope and Content Clachnaharry Sea Lock, Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Highland, from west-north-west This shows the entrance to the sea lock, built between 1810 and 1811, from the Beauly Firth. A railed walkway surmounts the top of the lock gates which control the water level in the lock. A mooring post with a white-painted top can be seen between two winches (right foreground) which were used for winching boats. The lock-keeper and his family would have occupied the cottage on the right. The original lock gates were constructed with Welsh oak because it was more resistant to salt water. These gates lasted for around 80 years but were replaced by new gates built from oak and steel between 1890 and 1906. The lock gates were fully mechanised by the mid-20th century. 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.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799632

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap