Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

NORTH QUEENSFERRY, BATTERY ROAD, EAST AND WEST BATTERY PIERS INCLUDING SHORING AND VIEWING AREA BELOW FORTH BRIDGE NORTH CANTILEVER, AND BOUNDARY WALLSLB43862

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000019 - (see NOTES)
Date Added
27/11/1996
Supplementary Information Updated
27/03/2003
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Parish
Inverkeithing
NGR
NT 13387 80174
Coordinates
313387, 680174

Description

John Rennie, 1810-1813; with later improvements. WEST BATTERY PIER: 98m long jetty, approximately 8m wide at narrowest point, running NS. Flanked on E by rising ground of N cantilever of Forth Bridge. Coursed rubble masonry; setts; large widely droved slabs along W margin. EAST BATTERY PIER: 70m long jetty, approximately 9m wide at narrowest point. Flanked on N by dry land, running eastward from point E of landward end of pier to W; flanked on S by short, narrow pier with rounded E end. Jetty with coursed, droved rubble masonry; setts (smaller than W pier) with later track marks (for cradle used during building of Forth Bridge); marginal slabs keyed with oblong blocks in pairs. Short pier with coursed, droved masonry blocks to end, drystone rubble, slabs keyed with single blocks. Setts extended over ground approaching both E and W piers.

SHORING: sloping coped wall shoring ground under N cantilever; coursed dressed rubble. VIEWING AREA: raised open viewing area of irregular shape to NW of cantilever, surrounded by flat-headed coped random rubble walls, straight modern railings to SW; central square-plan entrance pier with square stepped capital and commemorative plaque. BOUNDARY WALLS: long round coped random rubble walls along shore from Battery Road leading to NW end of West Battery Pier.

Statement of Special Interest

A-group with Town Pier, Lantern Tower and Signal House (see separate listings). These piers were crucial in allowing easy access to the Forth Bridge during construction, 1881-1890. They also form an historic association with the Ferry Passage as a possible landing point during the medieval period and are linked to the contemporary re-construction of the Town Pier (see separate listing). In 1809, the Forth Ferry Trustee Company was established and subsequently an Act of Parliament was passed in 1810 by which the former proprietors of the Ferry Passage were compelled to sell their rights to the Government at the price of #10,000. Facilities related to the landing at North Queensferry were in much need of upgrading and engineer, John Rennie, was commissioned to provide improvements to the existing slip landings and piers at North and South Queensferry at a final cost of #33,825. The building of the West Battery Pier, at a cost of #4,206-19-6, also consisted of a home for boatmen to wait in and a shed for the shelter of foot passengers together with a road of communication from this pier to the turnpike road. Although the Town Pier became the main landing point for the ferryboats crossing from South Queensferry, the East and West Battery Piers were used during low tide conditions. The jetty of the East Battery pier also functioned as a pilot boat slipway for the Coastguard whose post was originally located on the site of the Fife cantilever and was removed to Battery Hill (Castle Hill) once the construction of the bridge commenced in 1883. Remains of tracks in setts (now in disrepair) indicate the site of a former cradle on the East Battery Pier, which would have been used to assist in the construction of the Forth Bridge. With the opening of the Forth Bridge (see separate listing) in 1890, the Railway Pier (see separate listing) built in 1877 at West Bay became the usual pier for road traffic. The ferry passage ceased altogether with the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964. Photographs contemporary to the building of the Bridge show the walls surrounding the present viewing area formed an enclosure where temporary buildings related to the Bridge construction stood (Murray).

References

Bibliography

Office Papers of John Rennie, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND. W Westhofen, THE FORTH BRIDGE Centenary Edition (1989), first published as a supplement to ENGINEER MAGAZINE (28 February 1890). T Sharp, C Greewood, W Fowler, MAP OF FIFE AND KINROSS (1828). 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1856). Rev W Stephen, HISTORY OF INVERKEITHING AND ROSYTH (1921) p317. A Graham 'Archaeological Notes on some Harbours in Eastern Scotland,' PROCEEDINGS FROM THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, Vol 101 (1968-1969) pp259-260. A Murray, THE FORTH RAILWAY BRIDGE: A CELEBRATION (1983) p49.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 09:14