Scanned image of photograph showing oblique aerial view of Fort Augustus Locks, village and abbey

Description Scanned image of photograph showing oblique aerial view of Fort Augustus Locks, village and abbey

Date 1985

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 799690

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 36829

Scope and Content Aerial view, Fort Augustus Locks, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from south-west This aerial view from the south-west shows the River Oich (left) and the five locks which were rebuilt in 1837 and lie in the centre of Fort Augustus. Initially the river flowed into Loch Ness beside Fort Augustus Abbey (top right) but a new channel was created so as the canal could have a straighter route into the loch. The piers of the viaduct which carried the Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway over the river are shown in the foreground (left). The stone which was dug out of the new cutting for the river was used to construct the locks. However, better quality Redcastle or Tarradale stone was used when the locks were rebuilt. The top lock was reconstructed first with the bottom lock, nearest Loch Ness, being repaired last. This lock was much more difficult than the others because of the large amount of water seeping through the old walls. Steam engines were used to pump this water out of the lock. 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/799690

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap