Archaeology Notes
Event ID 856323
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/856323
NT08SE 31.00 centred 06604 83469
Harbour [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1975.
NT08SE 31.01 NT 06473 85503 Inner Basin
NT08SE 31.02 NT 06456 83417 Outer Basin
NT08SE 31.03 NT 06416 83442 to NT 06313 83467 NW pier
NT08SE 31.04 NT 06419 83363 to NT 06293 83398 SW pier
NT08SE 31.05 NT 06471 83471 to NT 06506 83484 to NT 06589 83468 NE pier
NT08SE 31.06 NT 06465 83351 to NT 06547 83326 S pier
NT08SE 31.07 NT 06730 83350 to NT c. 06648 83302 SE pier
NT08SE 31.08 NT 06412 83364 Beacon
Location formerly entered as NT 064 834.
For (adjacent and associated) Charlestown limekilns, see NT08SE 32.
Not to be confused with Limekilns Harbour (centred NT 0755 8330), for which see NT08SE 23.00.
(Location cited as NS 065 835). Charlestown, Fife: neither Roy's map of Scotland (1747-55) nor Ainslie's map of Fife (1775) marks a harbour at Charlestown, but the Statistical Account credits the 5th Earl of Elgin with having built one as part of his programme of industrial development. The date given in this source for the Earl's nine draw-kilns (NT08SE 32), which face what is now the inner basin of the greatly enlarged harbour is 1777 or 1778, but the kilns must have been standing as early as 1772, as they were visited by Pennant in that year and described by him as 'perhaps the greatest in the world'. Consequently, even if the kilns were new when Pennant saw them, the harbour's origin may be dated to the early 1770's.
The identity of the 5th Earl's works may also be inferred with confidence. The OS 6-inch map (surveyed in 1854) shows that, at that date, neither the SE portion of the existing outer harbour nor the block of made ground to the E of it had come into being, with the result that the pier that encloses the inner basin on the S fronted on the open Firth. Again, the NW portion of the outer harbour bears every appearance of 19th-century work, and should probably be dated to the years before 1844, when improvements are on record.
The main feature of interest is thus the pier enclosing the inner basin. It consists of two sections, of different build and alignment, and on plan resembles a sickle. The E portion, or so much of it as has escaped the encroaching made ground, is curved, is battered externally in steps, and measures 275ft [83.8m] in length by 12ft [3.7m] in width on the top; its general alignment is approximately from E to W but the part that originally formed the E end of the basin lies more nearly N and S. The W portion is straight, is less heavily battered, has a smooth outer face, and measures 132ft [40.2m] in length by 18ft [5.5m] in breadth on top. Apart from some patching in vertically set masonry, the slabs used in the curved portion seem longer and thinner than those in the straight stretch. The W end contains some very large blocks. The whole upper surface is provided with numerous mooring-rings, and that of the curved part has been partially paved with old chair-blocks from a demolished railway. The E end of the basin is neatly faced with coursed blocks, and is pierced by a large arched culvert, the stream from which must have served to scour out silt. The W end is of similar construction, but the N side, which must have constituted the wharf serving the Earl's kilns, has been obliterated by a railway embankment. The entrance, which opens between the pier-head and the land opposite, is 120ft [36.6m] wide. The enclosed area is 635ft [193.6m] long and from 100ft [30.5m] to 180ft [54.9m] wide. In 1844 the greatest depth of water at spring tides was 16.5ft [5m].
The peculiar plan of the pier, and the structural differences between its E and W portions, suggest that it may embody work of two periods. If so, the earliest harbour would have been a small U-shaped pocket open towards the W; its entrance, about 100ft [30.5m] wide would have partially sheltered by the land W of the basin.
A Graham 1971.
(Location cited as NT 064 833). Charlestown Harbour, 18th century and later. The inner basin was formed by the 5th Earl of Elgin c. 1770 and the outer basin added later, the NE pier dating from c. 1840 and the SE pier from the late 19th century. Built for coal and limestone shipment.
J R Hume 1976.
At the end of East Harbour Road, the harbour, its inner basin begun in 1777-8, the outer basin made in the 19th century.
J Gifford 1988.
(General history of shipbreaking at Rosyth and Charlestown).
Table of operating statistics (p. 49); list of ships broken at Rosyth and Charlestown 1923-63 (pp. 61-100).
I Buxton 1992.
Site recorded by Maritime Fife during the Coastal Assessment Survey for Historic Scotland, Kincardine to Fife Ness, 1996
This harbour is silted-up, and dries at Low Water; the piers and other masonry structures are in a poor state of repair. It remains in limited use by recreational sailors, and also contains several derelict vessels.
The harbour is commonly known as 'Limekilns Harbour' causing confusion with NT08SE 23.00.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 30 March 2006.
