Fort Augustus
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Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
History
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Some historians like G. Mcdonalds -after the finding of a roman coins hoard in 1767 near the city's ancient benedictine abbey- wrote about the possibility that Fort Augustus was built on a roman small fortification built under Diocletian rule<ref>"A letter from an officer at Perth, dated May 2, 1767 says: "Last week I was out with a command to Fort Augustus, where some part of the fortifications are repairing. Whilst there, some labourers in digging a trench, found an earthen urn, of a blue colour, with about 300 pieces of coin, of mixed metal, some a little larger than our halfpence, and the others the size of farthings. They appear to me to be all of the Emperor Dioclesian" ([1])</ref>
The Gaelic name for the modern village is Template:Lang (Template:IPA) and until the early 18th century the settlement was called Kiliwhimin. It was renamed Fort Augustus after the Jacobite rising of 1715. The accepted etymology is that the settlement was originally named after Saint Cummein of Iona who built a church there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other suggestions are that it was originally called Template:Lang after one of two abbots of Iona of the Comyn clan, whose badge Template:Lang refers to the cumin plant,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or that it was called Template:Lang ("Comyn's Burialplace") after the last Comyn in Lochaber.<ref>MacMillan 3 Template:Webarchive</ref>
In the aftermath of the Jacobite rising in 1715, General Wade built a fort (taking from 1729 until 1742) which was named after Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Wade had planned to build a town around the new barracks and call it Wadesburgh.<ref>Caledonian Mercury 1 August 1727</ref> The settlement grew, and eventually took the name of this fort. The fort was captured by the Jacobites in March 1746, just before the Battle of Culloden.
A hoard of Roman coins was unearthed in 1767 near the ancient Benedictine abbey that are thought to be from Roman to Late Iron Age - 79 AD to 560 AD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1867, the fort was sold to the Lovat family, and in 1876 they passed the site and land to the Benedictine order. The monks established Fort Augustus Abbey and later a school. The school operated until 1993 when it closed owing to changing educational patterns in Scotland causing a decline in enrollment. The monks employed Tony Harmsworth<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to devise a rescue package which saw the site converted into the largest private heritage centre in Scotland which operated between 1994 and 1998;<ref>Loch Ness, Nessie & Me (2011)</ref> however, the heritage centre failed to generate sufficient profit to maintain the buildings. In 1998 the monks abandoned the site, and it reverted to the Lovat family which in turn sold it to Terry Nutkins. He also owned The Lovat Hotel<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> that stands on the site of the old Kilwhimen Barracks, one of four built in 1718. This site houses the west curtain wall of the old Fort, intact with gun embrasures. The Lovat was originally built as the local Station Hotel.
Infrastructure
[edit]The village is served by the A82 road and lies approximately midway between Inverness (56 km) and Fort William (51 km).
The village was served by a rail line from Spean Bridge to a terminus on the banks of Loch Ness from 1903 until 1933, built by the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway in the hope of eventually completing a line to Inverness and latterly operated by the North British Railway and its successor, the London and North Eastern Railway, but initially operated by the Highland Railway. The Caledonian Canal connecting Fort William to Inverness passes through Fort Augustus in a dramatic series of locks stepping down to Loch Ness.
The village is served by the Cill Chuimein Medical Centre.<ref>ICSH – Home Template:Webarchive</ref>
The village has both a primary school and a secondary school – Kilchuimen Primary School and Kilchuimen Academy – which share a campus.
Climate
[edit]As with most of the British Isles and Scotland, Fort Augustus has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with cool summers and mild winters. Like a lot of the surrounding area, sunshine levels are low at around 1,000 hours per annum and temperatures are unpredictable – Fort Augustus holds the UK's joint lowest May temperature record of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This is the latest point in the run-up to summer that such a low temperature has been recorded, suggesting it can become a frost trap on calm clear nights due to its valley location. That same low-lying topography can also give rise to some high temperatures on occasion – Fort Augustus held the UK daily high temperature record for 16 December for almost 80 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable people
[edit]- Guy Prendergast (1905–1986), explorer and soldier. Buried in Strathoich cemetery.