Village in Scotland
Human settlement in Scotland
Portmahomack
(
Scottish Gaelic
:
Port Mo Chalmaig
; 'Haven of My [i.e. 'Saint'] Colmoc') is a small fishing village in
Easter Ross
,
Scotland
. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of
Tarbat
.
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse
is about three miles (five kilometres) from the village at the end of the Tarbat Peninsula. Ballone Castle lies about one mile (1.5 kilometres) from the village.
There is evidence of early settlement, and the area seems to have been the site of significant activity during the time of the
Picts
, early Christianity and the
Vikings
. The village is situated on a sandy bay and has a small harbour designed by
Thomas Telford
: it shares with
Hunstanton
the unusual distinction of being on the east coast but facing west. Portmahomack lies inside the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation
[1]
with the associated dolphin and whale watching activity.
The village has a primary school, golf course, hotel, a number of places to eat and a shop with a sub-post office. The nearest rail access is at
Fearn railway station
and the nearest commercial airport is at
Inverness Airport
. The nearest town with full services is
Tain
lying approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) west. Tain also has rail access. The hamlet of
Rockfield
is nearby and is accessed via the village of Portmahomack.
History
[
edit
]
Situated nine miles (fourteen kilometres) east of
Tain
on the northern coast of the Tarbat Peninsula, Portmahomack has long been known to be on the site of early settlements. The earliest evidence of habitation is provided by
shell middens
pointing to settlement as early as one or two thousand years BCE.
[2]
There are the remains of an
Iron Age
broch
a little to the west of the village. Finds of elaborate early Christian carved stones dating to the 8th?9th centuries (including one with an inscription), in and around the churchyard, had long suggested that Portmahomack was the site of an important early church in the sixth-seventh century.
[2]
Possible Roman camp
[
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]
In 1822 Rev Grant, minister of Boharn, described "a beautiful square fortification of about 100 paces of a side" near Blar a' Chath, north of the village.
It was tentatively identified as a Roman camp in 1949 by
O. G. S. Crawford
although he did not visit the site and no trace was found of its existence during a later visit.
[3]
It had apparently been defaced by 1872 during land reclamation, but in Crawford's opinion there may be some traces of the Roman camp still visible or to be discovered.
[3]
It has been suggested that the supposed camp was visited by emperor
Septimius Severus
, based on remarks made by the Roman historian
Cassius Dio
: "Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island".
[4]
Monastery
[
edit
]
Portmahomack is the site of the first confirmed
Pictish
monastery and the subject between 1994 and 2007 of one of the largest archaeological investigations in Scotland directed by
Martin Carver
(b. 1941). The fields surrounding the redundant St Colman's church were the focus of the 13-year investigation. What the archaeologists uncovered were: an early medieval enclosure ditch, burial ground, remnants of a stone church, and carved stone fragments in the Pictish style.
[5]
The monastery began around 550 AD and was destroyed by fire in about 800 AD. It had a burial ground with cist and head-support burials, a stone church, at least four monumental stone crosses and workshops making church plate and early Christian books. The making of
vellum
in an early medieval site was detected for the first time here by Cecily Spall of FAS Ltd.
[5]
Over two hundred pieces of sculpture have been found, some of it broken up in a layer of burning suggesting that the monastic buildings were violently destroyed, possibly in a
Viking
raid, about the year 800.
[6]
The present restored building, adapted to house a museum after lying empty for a number of years, has been shown by archaeological investigation to be itself a monument of great interest, of multi-phase construction, the oldest part (the east wall of the crypt) having been built as early as the 9th century. The museum and visitor centre in the remodeled parish church is managed by the Tarbat Historic Trust.
[7]
Recent research on the ancient trench around the local monastery found organic samples in the date range from 140 AD to 590 AD. The area enclosed by the ditch may have been a "settlement, craft-working centre and/or hub of a Pictish community", connected to the possible Roman fortification in Port a Chaistell.
[8]
Local battles
[
edit
]
The
Battle of Tarbat Ness
was a land battle fought (c 1030?1040) between
Thorfinn the Mighty
, Earl (Jarl) of Caithness and the King of Scotland.
[9]
In the
Battle of Tarbat
in the 1480s, a raiding party from the
Clan Mackay
of
Strathnaver
were cornered in the Tarbat church by the
Clan Ross
, who killed many of them before setting fire to the church.
Fishing and shipping
[
edit
]
During the 17th century,
cod
,
skate
ling
,
halibut
,
lobsters
and
turbot
were fished in great quantities until the end of the 18th century. Over 100 ships are reported to have exported grain from the harbor. Herring exports peaked between 1850 and 1890, and brought increased employment and prosperity to the region. At the end of the 19th century, the growing number of steam trawlers in the area led to the decline of the herring industry. The construction of the
Balintore
harbour, south of Portmahomack, also contributed to reduced shipping activity at Portmahomack. The export of grain from the harbor ended during the 1930s.
[11]
Tourist site
[
edit
]
Today, Portmahomack is a tourist destination with its traditional harbour, swimming beach, golf, dolphin watching, fishing and other watersports. It has a permanent population of between 500 and 600 residents. In the former parish church the Tarbat Discovery Centre, designed by exhibition consultants
Higgins Gardner & Partners
, houses displays on local history, and many of the finds from several seasons of excavation within the church itself, and in the fields surrounding the churchyard.
[12]
It also houses the Peter Fraser Archive of memorabilia relating to
Peter Fraser
, wartime prime minister of New Zealand, who was born and grew up in
Hill of Fearn
, seven miles (eleven kilometres) distant from Portmahomack.
[13]
Notable among these are a large collection of fragments of Pictish stone sculpture, many of them superbly carved with figures of ecclesiastics, fantastic and realistic animals, 'Celtic' interlace and key-pattern, and other motifs. The large elaborate late seventeenth- or early eighteenth-century bell-turret on the west gable of the church is an unusual and distinctive feature.
[
citation needed
]
Some important Pictish carved stones from Portmahomack are on display in the
Museum of Scotland
,
Edinburgh
with replicas in the Tarbat Discovery Centre.
Two other important historic buildings in Portmahomack are adjoining 'girnals' (storehouses), built in the late 17th century and 1779, overlooking the harbour (restored as housing). The former is one of the oldest such buildings to survive in
Scotland
. The village also features a number of attractive 18th/early 19th century houses lining the shore.
Notable people
[
edit
]
Portmahomack was a favourite holiday location for Lord Reith (
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
), Director-General of the BBC, who holidayed in the Blue House, still aptly painted blue and located on the seafront, near the harbour.
[
citation needed
]
The murder-mystery writer
Anne Perry
lived adjacent to the village for a number of years.
[14]
John Shepherd-Barron
, the inventor of the
ATM
(Auto-Teller Machine), lived in the nearby community of Geanies until his death in 2010.
[15]
Professor
Thomas Summers West
, was a famous son of the Village with an Exhibition held in his name at the Tarbat Discovery Centre in 2011.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Recovered 2011-02-12
- ^
a
b
Carver, Martin; Garner-Lahire, Justin; Spall, Cecily.
Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness: Changing Ideologies in North-East Scotland, Sixth to Sixteenth Century AD
. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. pp. 1?10.
ISBN
978-1908332097
.
- ^
a
b
"Port A' Chaistell" RCAHMS. Retrieved 6 July 2010
The tentative identification was by Crawford, O.G.S. (1949)
Topography of Roman Scotland north of the Antonine Wall
. Cambridge. p. 148
- ^
"Aros"
The Romans in Caledonia
. Retrieved 30 November 2019
- ^
a
b
"Portmahomack monastic settlement, 95m SSW of Tarbat West Church"
.
Historic Environment Scotland
. Retrieved
13 December
2023
.
- ^
"Portmahomack, Tarbatness Road, Tarbat West Church"
.
Canmore: National Record of the Historic Environment
. Retrieved
4 January
2024
.
- ^
"Tarbat Discovery Centre"
.
Portmahomack.org
. Retrieved
4 January
2024
.
- ^
Archaeology on Monastery trench
- ^
Carver, Martin (2004). "An Iona of the East: The Early-medieval Monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbat Ness".
Society of Medieval Archaeology
.
48
(1): 1?30.
doi
:
10.1179/007660904225022780
.
- ^
"History of Portmahomack Harbour"
.
Portmahomack Harbor
. Retrieved
3 January
2024
.
- ^
Carver, Martin.
"An Iona of the East: The Early-medieval Monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbat Ness"
(PDF)
.
White Rose Research
. University of York
. Retrieved
26 February
2019
.
- ^
Ross, David.
"Tarbat Old Parish Church, Portmahomack"
.
Britain Express
. Retrieved
26 February
2019
.
- ^
"My Home: Anne Perry, novelist"
.
Independent
. Retrieved
4 January
2024
.
- ^
Montreal Gazette, Retrieved 2011-02-12
[
permanent dead link
]
References
[
edit
]
- Carver M.O.H., 1999.
Surviving in Symbols. A Visit to the Pictish Nation
(Birlinn).
- Carver M.O.H., 2004.
An Iona of the East: The Early-medieval Monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbat Ness
in
Medieval Archaeology
48 (2004): 1?30.
- Carver, M.O.H., 2006. "A Columban Monastery in Pictland" in
Current Archaeology
205
: 20?29.
- Campbell George F, 2006.
The First and Lost Iona
(attributing the name Portmahomack to St Cormac).
- Carver, Martin (2008).
Portmahomack: Monastery of the Picts
. Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN
978-0748697670
.
- Carver, M., Garner-Lahire, J. and Spall, C., 2016.
Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness: Changing Ideologies in North-east Scotland, Sixth to Sixteenth Century AD
, Historic Scotland / FAS Heritage / University of York.
External links
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