Lossiemouth, Branderburgh Harbour, Outer Basin

Branderburgh Harbour, Outer Basin, Lossiemouth (Historic Engineering Works no. HEW 2528)

This multi-basin harbour, built on a headland at Lossiemouth at a site sheltered from northerly winds, became the port for the town of Elgin after the former port at the mouth of the Lossie had become inoperable due to silting.

The new facility, designed and constructed in 1837–39 by James Bremner and superintended by Alexander Gibb, comprised a single basin mainly cut in solid rock protected by state-of-the-art seawalls.

After completing the seawalls it proved impracticable to excavate the rock within the basin by traditional techniques and Bremner, who became a notable wreck-raiser, showed his customary ingenuity. He caulked and shored the inside face of the seawalls, closed the 70 ft or 80 ft wide basin

entrance with boom gates and pumped the entire area dry for four months while he excavated the basin floor to 3 ft below low water spring tide. At low water the rock, on which the masonry

walls are founded, is visible. By 1847 the harbour had been enlarged and had an inner and outer basin with 660 ft of quays, an area of 2 acres and a depth of 12 ft at high water.

R Paxton and J Shipway 2007

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.