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Archaeology Notes

Event ID 661602

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/661602

NH64NE 4 NH 6650 4635.

Also see:

NH64NE 132 NH 66445 46394 Clock Tower

(NH 6650 4635) Cromwell's Fort {NR} (Remains of)

OS 6" map, (1938)

The fort of which these are the remains was built by Oliver Cromwell in 1653-8 from material obtained from the Greyfriars Church and St. Mary's Chapel, Inverness, and from monasteries of Beauly and Kinloss as well as the episcopal castle of Chanonry all of which he demolished for that purpose. The timber obtained was partly from the fir woods of Strathglass and the remaining part, the oak, was brought from England. In form it was pentagonal with ramparts and bastions, having a wet ditch on four sides and the river washing it on the fifth, the western.

A large, square, three-storied building which served as a magazine, stores and church occupied the centre, while two large four-storied buildings on opposite sides within the ramparts furnished accommodation for a thousand men.

On the restoration of Charles II it was demolished at the request of the Highland Chiefs in 1662. A portion of the factory since erected there still remains and is used as a drill hall, as also the clock tower of the same building: but whether this tower formed part of Cromwell's original buildings or not cannot now be ascertained."

A dock is constructed at the southern entrance of the once wet ditch of Cromwell's Fort.

Name Book 1868; Information from the Admiralty chart 1846 & Inverness Directory & from a plan of Inverness by I Wood. New Statistical Account (NSA, Rev A Rose, A Clark and R Macpherson) 1845.

Of the four citadels built in Scotland by Cromwell, the Inverness one, locally known as "the Sconce" is the only one of which any considerable remains are to be seen. The clock-tower, with the ruins of the rampart and a fragment of the barracks, still stands to witness to what was once a formidable fortress.

G Eyre-Todd 1923.

There also remains the bottom part of the clock tower, re-roofed, and re-furnished with a clock.... this tower was extant in 1693....

J Fraser 1910.

The NW and NE bastions with part of the North rampart running between them are all that remain of Cromwell's Fort.

The NE bastion, a large flat-topped mound of earth c. 3.5m high, has the remains of three gunplatforms on top. A much mutilated mound of earth c. 3.0m high is all that remains of the NW bastion. The part of the earth rampart left between the bastions, is 8.0m broad overall and 2.0m wide on top. It is c. 1.3m high on the inner slope and c. 2.3m high on the outer. The whole is in a very mutilated condition; the interior of the fort and the south bastions are completely destroyed and the area is now covered with petrol and oil installations.

The clock tower still stands, in a good state of repair. It is an almost square tower (3.1m x 3.2m) of ashlar masonry with a string course c. 3.0m above ground level and is surmounted by a slated belfry with weather-vane. There is a small rectangular doorway in the SE side. The clock and the bell are in good working order. The tower would appear to date from the 18th Century.

Visited by OS (W D J) 31 March 1960.

NH 666 464. Two archaeological watching briefs were carried out during the construction of new buildings and associated services on the site of Cromwell's Fort, Inverness. No archaeological features or layers were recorded, though excavation reached underlying subsoil 0.8m below present ground level.

Sponsor: BP Oil.

J Kendrick 1999

NH 6639 4626 A watching brief was maintained on the groundworks for the replacement of the existing Citadel Quay on the site of the Cromwellian fort at Inverness Harbour. Though the site was heavily disturbed during the building of a quay in 1901, traces of an earlier 19th-century quay were revealed, utilising blocks from the 17th-century fort. Part of the citadel fort was also revealed at the edge of the excavation. A block of stone with a mason's mark was found. No archaeological deposits relating to the occupation of the fort were revealed.

Full report lodged with Highland SMR and the NMRS.

Sponsor: A F Cruden Associates for Inverness Harbour Trust.

S Farrell 2001

Watching brief NH 6648 4634 The fragmentary remains of Cromwell's Fort (NH64NE 4) lie on the E side of the River Ness in the present area of Inverness Harbour. They are now occupied by an oil storage and distribution depot. Only one bastion and a short section of rampart are visible. An archaeological record was made of postholes excavated for a replacement security fence, in response to a requirement of Scheduled Monument Consent. The remains of a stone wall were encountered running along the present boundary line on the SE site boundary. The date is uncertain, but it probably

post-dates the demolition of the fort rampart in this area.

Report and archive deposited in Highland SMR and NMRS.

Sponsor: BP Oils UK.

J Wood 2005

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