Description

The monument consists of the remains of a mid-17th century military fort. The remains of the fort consist of a single earthwork bastion and stretches of earth ramparts on each flank. The remains of the fort are now located within an industrial estate, around 250m east of the River Ness.

The fort consisted of a five cornered defensive structure with a wet ditch on four sides and the River Ness on the fifth side. The remains of only the east bastion and sections of the north and east ramparts are now visible. The bastion acted as a firing platform for cannon and covered the landward side of the fort. The bastion stands about 3.5m high with no surviving masonry evident. The banks on each side of the bastion, surviving from the ramparts, are approximately 5m wide and 1.5m high. The fort was built as part of the English Commonwealth's occupation of Scotland in the 1650s. Construction began in 1652 and it took five years to complete the fort, which along with the fort at Fort William, served as a base for controlling the Highlands.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which related material may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area excludes the above ground elements of; the metal footbridge and pipework crossing above the monument, all fences and fenceposts.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

This monument is of national importance because it is the last major fragment of the fort which Oliver Cromwell built in Inverness to control the Highlands. Unlike previous artillery fortifications in Scotland, this was not an adaptation of an earlier defence but rather a 'text-book' example of fortification design. Slighted after the Restoration, there were plans to rebuild it after 1746 but Fort George, Ardersier was built instead. Since that date the remains have been continually eroded by encroaching development. The remains have the potential to add to our knowledge of the development of fortifications and the English occupation of Scotland which also being the principal relic of this remarkable period of the history of the Highlands.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NH 64 NE 4.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/13392/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland