Monument record MHG11748 - South Pier, Littleferry

Summary

No summary available.

Location

Grid reference Centred NH 8049 9530 (40m by 40m) (Buffered by site type)
Map sheet NH89NW
Geographical Area SUTHERLAND
Old County SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish DORNOCH

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

The North pier and boathouse (main structure) is NH89NW0036. all that is apparently left of the South Pier from the north is a series of upstandig timbers in the beach edge. Photo HAW 3/2004

NH89NW 24 805 953
For North pier see NH89NW 19.

Both the surviving jetties are of timber. Of the main jetty to the east, 13 rows, each of three uprights, remain standing, projecting into the mouth of the estuary. The shorehead bank, which has been cut back in a few places, is lined with posts as far as the lesser jetty to the west. Here, a much newer looking structure of two lines of uprights, with three cross pieces in place, has beneath it the remains of a much lower timber jetty. There are two warping posts near the head of each jetty, and one to the east and one to the west further inshore from the head of the main (east) jetty. A track runs from these jetties south westwards to the T-junction of the road from Embo to Skelbo Castle with that from Skelbo Street. From the roadside (NH 801 953) a wall runs parallel to the west side of the track and continues down to the shore at the foot of the dunes and out into the tideway. The wall, which may once have been a facing of dunes since shifted landwards, makes an angle with rough masonry embanking the southern edge of the bay (illus 12). These works may have been intended to stabilize the shoreline at a point where a disused railway line runs quite close, but the fact that the wall runs out into the tideway suggests that assistance to the working of small boats on this sheltered corner of the shore was an objective. Some ribs of boats remain, partly engulfed in sand, on the shore beyond the mouth of the burn to the westward. A castle landing for Skelbo may have been the origin of a small-scale fishery development, perhaps also providing the nearby ferry with shelter in rough weather. <1>

Structural timber frame remains of Littleferry S pier. Situated opposite N pier at Littleferry. Three lines of posts with some cross beams present. Preserved to over 2 m in height at N end but only stumps remain at landward side. Mid tide at time of survey, therefore, not full extent surveyed but extended c. 40 m from the coast edge. <2>

Sources/Archives (2)

  • <1> Text/Publication/Article: Graham, A and Gordon, J. 1988. 'Old harbours in northern and western Scotland', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, Vol 117 (1987), pp 265-352. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Digital. 288-9.
  • <2> Text/Report/Fieldwork Report: Sneddon, D, Gheorghiou, D, Hansom, J and Sherarer, I. 03/2010. East Sutherland Coastal Zone Assessment survey: Data Structure Report. Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD). 12/9/10. Digital. Site 93.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Sep 17 2010 3:15PM

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