Archaeology Notes

Event ID 815905

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/815905

NN07NE 9.02 09589 76633

Lock [NAT]

OS (GIS) AIB, May 2006.

Location formerly entered as NN 0956 7663.

Not to be confused with Corpach Locks (centred NN 09870 76622), for which see NN07NE 9.04.

ARCHITECT: John Simpson.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

The original gates were made of Welsh oak, and the lock itself held 18 feet [5.5m depth] of water. However, between 1890 and 1906 the original gates were replaced by new ones constructed from oak and steel. By the mid 20th century the lock was mechanized and in 1964-5 the whole lock was adapted in order to accommodate vessels of 1000 tons.

J Lindsay 1968.

The sea lock has been enlarged to accommodate vessels serving the large wood-pulp mill (NN07NE 10.00) recently constructed beside Loch Eil.

H McKnight 1975.

Access to the canal is through this sea lock.

A Burton 1983.

This sea lock constitutes the southern or western terminal of the canal. Situated three miles to the NW of Fort William at Corpach it is at the point where Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil meet. Built to permit vessels in the basin (NN07NE 9.06) to load and unload, it was opened in 1819 and enlarged in the 1960s as an adjunct to the development of the Corpach pulp mill, now closed.

G Hutton 1992.

This lock is clearly visible on the 2nd edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire 1904, sheet cl), on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1975) and on the OS Basic Scale raster map (ND).

Information from RCAHMS (MD), 23 August 2001.