Places ⋆ Ross and Cromarty Heritage

Nigg and Shandwick Places

Attribution: Anne Gordon & Barbara Scott (Nigg Old Parish Church)

Churches

Attribution: unknown

Features

Attribution: unknown

Place Names of Nigg Parish

This extract was taken, with the permission of the Trustees, from Prof. W.J. Watson’s – ‘Place Names of Ross and Cromarty’. The most recent edition of this work was published by HIGHLAND HERITAGE BOOKS Tir nan Oran, 8 Culcairn Road, Evanton IV16 9YT

Place Names of Ross and Cromarty p 50 onwards

Photographs of Places

Welcome to this collection of photographs from Nigg Parish. The originals are held by Mrs Liz Whiteford. The photographs were presented in three albums on the original RCHS website, but as the topics are similar in each album it has been decided to amalgamate them under the headings formerly listed. The full set of photographs can be viewed in the Nigg Library page of this website, but we have also included the photographs that relate to places on this page.

Click on photo album to view thumbnails and then click thumbnail to see the full size images

Nigg » Nigg History » Nigg Places 1

Balnapaling, Nigg.

View from Castlecraig Hill showing accommodation ships and caravans.

Nigg Old Parish Church.

Dunskaith House, 1937.

Dunskaith House from Nigg jetty, 1937.

Dunskaith House from Nigg jetty, July 1935.

Front of Castlecraig House, c.1913.

Nigg House when owned by Mr & Mrs Douglas, c.1940s.

Nigg House when owned by Mr & Mrs Douglas, c.1940s. (Photo from Catherine Macdonald, Hilton, who worked in house and whose father was gardener.)

Nigg beach with North Sutor in background, c.1904.

Old Shandwick House (AG lists this as Old PO House)

Middle Church / Nigg Hall.

Ivy Cottage, Balnapaling,

Ivy Cottage, Balnapaling, lately the home of Helen Macleod, taken before the 1914-18 War. The thatch was later on covered with corrugated iron.

Nigg Ferry pier and a stony Nigg beach.

Nigg House.

Hi-Fab site.

The accommodation ships, Highland Queen and Hermes.

Site before Hi-fab

Industrial Nigg

Industrial Nigg shows two Greek ships used for accomodation for Hi-fab workers. Also caravans on dunes - with no planning permission!

Cromarty Ferry (ie Nigg Ferry) taken from the roof of Dunskaith House, at the end of the 19th century.

Cromarty Ferry (ie Nigg Ferry) taken from the roof of Dunskaith House, at the end of the 19th century. The road to the ferry passed just east of Dunskaith, not directly to the inn as now. The cottages stand where the mine base and Highlands Fabricators Training School was later to be sited. Jessie Munro had a shop in the left hand cottage in the row facing the camera in the days of the father of Mary Ann Macdonald, The Bungalow, Nigg Ferry. The Aunts of Geordie Gibson, the ferryman, had a shop in the cottage nearest the camera, selling, tea, sugar, bread, etc. Ferry Inn to right. The old pier is that nearest the camera.

BP site before construction.

Woodside Cottage, Nigg Ferry

Woodside Cottage, Nigg Ferry, showing the little window in the upper part of the gable. Cottage was occupied until 1960/70s.

Nigg Old Church, c.1907.

Ruined cottage at Balnapaling, 1968.

Ruined cottage at Balnapaling, 1968. Cabers and mott used in construction, as well as turf.

Dunskaith House

Dunskaith House, old and new parts before the fire. Old part is on extreme left and the ornate building on the right is the new part built early 20th century. It was burnt down in 1960, leaving the servant's quarters of the new section standing.

Golf clubhouse at Nigg

Golf clubhouse at Nigg which formerly stood at the edge of the golf course.

New Street, Shandwick, 1928.

New Street, Shandwick, 1928. Andrew Ross in doorway at 3 New Street, with Thomas Vass, Park, standing holding horse and cart (not in picture). Notice thatch, water pails, and on ground a "gird " for carring pails.

The Caanruidh layout

The Caanruidh layout is very similar to that at Mullineoin (Mount Canisp), now modernised, where two wings were joined by a rear wall, making a convenient yard.

Side view of Ankerville House,

Side view of Ankerville House, which has now been converted into a tractor shed.

Rear view of the old Ankerville House, 1976

Old Manse privy

The small building , front left, is the Old Manse privy, showing its slab stone roof and the opening at the base of the wall for the outflow.

Shore Street, Shandwick, 1970s

Shore Street, Shandwick, an occupied cottage, showing the upper window in the gable, 1970s.

"office wing" of the Old Manse

The low "office wing" of the Old Manse, also showing crow-stepping on the main part of the building.

Old Shandwick House, 1976

Taken in 1976 at Caanruidh on Wester Rarichie overlooking the Moray Firth.

Taken in 1976 at Caanruidh on Wester Rarichie

Taken in 1976 at Caanruidh on Wester Rarichie overlooking the Moray Firth. The lower part of the wall is built of even stones held together with clay.

Taken in 1976 at Caanruidh on Wester Rarichie

Taken in 1976 at Caanruidh on Wester Rarichie overlooking the Moray Firth. This small farm steading consists of a rear wall and two wings. The upper part ofthe wall is made of mott-clay mixed with grass, stones, etc.

The Shandwick Stone

View from the Hill of Nigg

View from the Hill of Nigg westwards towards Invergordon, with Ben Wyvis in the Background. Note the fael dykes in the foreground.

The building is Ankerville Storehouse.

Ankerville crossroads photographed about 1969. The sign to Ankerville is a relic of the days when there was a village there. This part of the road has been altered due to the building of the new road to Nigg Ferry in the early 1970s. The building is Ankerville Storehouse.

Old Post Office House, Bayfield shepherd's house shoemakers workshop

Close by to Old Post Office House, but a little lower down, lies a group of buildings, from left to right - the Bayfield shepherd's house, formerly Danny the shoemaker's with his workshop at the left of it; the mid Manse in the trees; Burnside, formerly the shop and cellar, now the Post Office.

The Old Post Office House

The Old Post Office House, the top floor of which was the original Nigg School. The rockery in the foreground covers the site of the water pump used till 1966. Culnaha Smiddy lay a little to the front of this house.

Dunskaith House (after the fire)

A view of the sands in front of Dunskaith House (after the fire). The dunes at the far end are now under Highlands Fabricators site.

The pier at Nigg Ferry

The pier at Nigg Ferry, with a view from the Inn towards Cromarty, showing the tip of the 1912 jetty, and pier built in 1914 and extended at a right angle in the 1939-45 war.

Pier at Nigg ferry

Pier at Nigg ferry, showing the jetty built in 1912, and to the right of the picture, some of the large sanstone blocks that are all that remain of an earlier pier. In the background is Nigg Ferry Inn; the building to left of sun lounge with a low door and small window, is part of the old Storehouse, and has the date 1712 above the door.

Balintore looking towards Shandwick Bay

The view was taken from Balintore looking towards Shandwick Bay and the northern part of the Hill of Nigg, showing a schooner beached on the shore and at the extreme right, a long building which housed the herring yard.

The former Free Church

The former Free Church, later the United Free Church, now the parish hall, 1909.

The shore below the castle, showing the ruin of a cottage

The shore below the castle, showing the ruin of a cottage which came to light during bracken-burning there in 1958 (site of original colony of fishermen later at ferry?). Nigg ferry shows in the distance, 1968.

The site of Dunskaith Castle, 1968.

Shop house, Balnabruach.

Looking from dunes, where Hi-Fab is, to the White House and Balnapaling.

Nigg and Shandwick Places

Churches

Features

Place Names of Nigg Parish

Photographs of Places

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Nigg Features

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Nigg Places 2

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Nigg Schools

The Secretary, Ross and Cromarty Heritage Society, Tigh na Cadalach, Hawthorn Road, Muir of Ord. IV6 7RL.

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