Clyne Heritage Society

Adam Brown

This article can be found on the INVERNESS FIELD CLUB website

It is the notes from an IFC trip to Brora in July 2002

http://www.invernessfieldclub.btinternet.co.uk/excursions/2002/July.htm

IN AND AROUND BRORA

Inverness Field Club members travelled to Brora in July to see and hear the fascinating story of this one-time small enclave of early industrialisation in Sutherland - all stemming from the discovery and use of deposits of Jurassic coal, the oldest such substance in the world.

The area had been inhabited since the earliest times. In Strath Brora are many traces of human settlement - hut circles, many cairns, hill forts and brochs. The substantial remains of a broch known as Carn Liath (the grey stone), well preserved in the care of Historic Scotland, stand beside the road from Golspie. Here a stop was made to examine the area, the site and the structure, and to admire the expertise of the early builders.

At Brora, the clock-tower on the bridge over the river is a most impressive feature. The original bridge was one of the first in the North. In fact, the name Brora is said to be of Norse origin - Brua-a - meaning Bridge and river. Crossing the bridge, club members made their way up to the Heritage Centre at Fasnacally. This is a new building in an attractive setting overlooking the town and features a 'hands-on' display of local history, with many artefacts, photographs, printed records and a play area for young visitors, with mock dinosaurs.

A special exhibit is in a darkened section, where illuminated tableaux show how coal was extracted at different times - pulled up from a 'pit' in a pail on a rope, dragged up by a horse-drawn winch or dug by men lying prone. This display brings the reality of coal-mining to life - the exhausting and perilous nature of the work. But it was the coal that made the subsequent development of Brora, with its salt-pans, its brick-works, its textile industry, its distilling.

After looking at the exhibits, which included a colourful selection of Hunters' textiles and yarns, the party gathered to hear an interesting presentation on the industrial history of Brora by Jacqueline Aitken of Highland Council who belongs to Brora and is a member of the local Clyne Heritage Society.

The coal is found in a pocket of Jurassic rocks which are about 160 million years old. Mined intermittently for nearly 400 years, it was initially discovered in outcrops on the seashore and was used to heat sea-water for the extraction of salt, the essential ingredient in the preservation of fish for winter use. Salt herring is still a mainstay of life still today. This use is recorded as early as 1529.

In 1598, Jane, Countess of Sutherland, opened the first 'bell-pit' type of mine. With the coal mining and the salt industry in good heart, in 1601 Brora became a 'Burgh of Regality'.

In 1610 the Countess's son, Earl John, opened up more mines. Some Cornish and, later, Welsh miners were brought in to supplement local labour force.

Mining was a skilled and dangerous business. Fifteen men were killed in a roof fall in the 18th century. Spontaneous combustion occurred frequently, causing fires in the mine. To avoid the risk of explosion, the miners used the phosphorescent heads of fish, instead of candles, attached to their caps.

In spite of problems, new shafts were sunk and rails built to convey coal to the salt-pans. The import duty on salt made it a valuable commodity at the time of the European wars.

As the supply of coal at accessible levels diminished, a deep pit was sunk at Fasnacally in 1810. An associated brick and tile factory, using local coal, was by then established. Brora bricks were of good quality and were widely used. Some can be seen in the buildings of the Cameron Barracks in Inverness.

At this time, crofters were being cleared from their holdings to make way for sheep and were being offered work in the burgeoning industries.

In June 1814, a notice headed 'Brora, New Town' appeared in the local press, intimating that 'the Marquis of Stafford is ready to grant feus for house and garden ground, on moderate terms, for persons wishing to settle in that part of the country, either for business or for cheapness of living' - a 'planned village', a seaside resort?

In 1817, Lady Stafford set up a brewery near the harbour. This was to discourage the illicit distilling of whisky and also in the hope that the workers would acquire a taste for beer rather than spirits. In fact, they acquired a taste for combining the two!

A year later the Marquis established the distillery at Clynelish where the grain crop could be used to produce whisky for export.

In 1871, the big event was the opening of the Duke of Sutherland' railway. This allowed Queen Victoria to visit the colliery when she travelled in a train pulled by a small steam engine name the 'Florence'.

The Duke had set up an engineering shop in Brora to build and maintain locomotives for the railway. In 1872, he also reopened the colliery and the brick-works, taking them under estate management.

Drain pipes and fire-bricks were to be produced, in addition to the building bricks and tiles. Examples of all these can be seen at the Heritage Centre.

When the engineering plant moved to a smaller building, the premises were leased to a Yorkshire weaving company. In 1901, the mill was taken over by Captain T.M. Hunter from Wick who installed new machinery, with carding and spinning plant, and began the production of woollen goods 'From Fleece to Fabric'.

From small beginnings, with a staff of 20, the business grew into the firm we know still today with its world-wide reputation for unsurpassed quality.

In 1913, Captain Hunter set up the Brora Electricity Supply company which provided lighting for the houses, shops and streets. It was then that Brora became known as the 'Electric City'. It had become a bright enclave of industrial activity.

The Mill Company took over the brick works and the coal pit, using coal for powering the plant until 1949. Captain Hunter - he commanded the Clyne Company of Rifles - was a School Board member and took a great interest in the social welfare of the village.

In 1998, the Mill moved to new premises on the southern entry to the town. The distillery also used Brora coal until it converted to electricity in 1960.

Following a fire and flooding in July 1960, the coal mine was forced to close. Then the miners took a bold step and bought the mine themselves, with money from the 'Highland Fund'. This kept the colliery in business until 1974 when the import of cheap coal brought about its final closure. The site was filled with rubble and landscaped so that no trace of this busy industry on which the one-time prosperity of Brora so largely depended, now remains.

Club members set off on a 'town walk' following guides Jacqueline Aitken and Dr Nick Lindsay. The first stop was at the building which had housed the engineering works and then the woollen mills.

Sadly, this beautiful structure of red Brora brick, is falling into disrepair. It is ardently hoped that it can be saved from demolition. It is still part of the lives of so many Brora people, people who remember the sound of the hooter calling the workers to day and night shifts.

The red-brick terraced houses adjacent to the mill, with the large 'S' for Sutherland on the gable wall, stand out as a typical northern England dwellings. Built originally for workers, they are now in private hands.

At the War Memorial on the bridge, a most impressive monument, the group admired the Clynelish sandstone with which it is built, a large fossil ammonite clearly seen in one of the dressed blocks. This Jurassic stone from the Clynelish quarry was used for extensions to Dunrobin Castle, for the Ben Bhraggie monument and even for the construction of London Bridge.

Walking down to the harbour members stopped to admire the large ice-house built in 1820 for the Duke's salmon industry. The young people of Brora have lately won an award for the work on restoring this structure. The salmon were netted and sold to southern markets.

A special tower was built at the mouth of the river, where a 'look-out' could signal the arrival of the shoals. From Brora harbour, in 1839, Highlanders from cleared settlements set sail on the first stage of their journey to New Zealand.

The walk then took members through 'Fishertown' and along the links to the site of the first coal mines and also of the salt-pans, the earliest dating from the 16th century, the latter being connected by a miniature railway to the coal-mine and the harbour.

Lastly, in this area, is the former Radio Station, or Listening-Post, originally set up by the Post Office and later taken over by the Ministry of Defence.

After returning to the Heritage Centre, where the group enjoyed a picnic lunch and another view of the artefacts and photographs, a coach took the party to the church and churchyard of Clynekirkton. The large church was built in 1775 and was later extended to accommodate up to 1000 people. After the disruption of 1843 and the clearance of crofters from the strath, the congregation declined and, in 1906, the kirk was closed after a new church was built in Brora.

Thereafter, the building was allowed to deteriorate. The roof was stripped and the timbers and furnishings removed. It is likely that a religious site had been here in very early times, for two type '1' Pictish stones were found in the graveyard and a type '3' in the east wall of the church. These are now in the museum at Dunrobin.

In the graveyard many interesting gravestones were examined, in particular one inscribed in French, which reads 'Isit corps de John Mackay, Dalvait, mort l'annie 1779'. The reason for the inscription being in French is not known.

Speculation suggest that it might have been asked for by a French lady's maid at the Castle who had married a local man. It came to light during clearance of the graveyard by volunteer members of the Clyne Heritage Society, acting with the support of Historic Scotland and Highland Council.

As well as clearing the graveyard they have also cleared the Bell Tower which stands on a nearby hillock. One of only three known in Scotland, the Tower was almost completely obscured by rank vegetation.

It now stands clear and is a most distinctive landmark. The bell had been removed in 1826 and installed in the church belfry.

Taking the coach to the beach at Kintradwell, Field Club members were met by Dr Phil Gurr who explained the geological formation of the area, from the earliest times. Here the group saw and walked among the Jurassic rocks.

Some fortunate members picked up a small slab containing an embedded fossilised shell. This is indeed Hugh Miller country!