The Great Flood of 1849 that swamped Inverness and made hundreds homeless is remembered
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A DRUNK man had a sobering experience as the last person to cross the seven-arched stone Ness Bridge seconds before its collapse, when Loch Ness rose 14 feet and sent a torrent down on Inverness.
Our Trip down Memory Lane highlights that January 25 is the 173rd anniversary of the Great Flood which ripped away the town centre crossing that had stood since 1685.
Strathglass and Strathconon were also swamped by floods the Courier labelled “the most unexampled and disastrous ever experienced in the North and West Highlands.”
A week of rain preceded the January 4 flooding which submerged Huntly Street, King Street, Ness Bank, Douglas Row and the Haugh area under four feet of water. Next day, at 6.30am, the Courier reported, “a slight groaning sound was heard as the centre arch gave way” followed quickly by the rest.
Sailor Matthew Campbell had been “two sheets in the wind” when the collapse began and had barely reached the King Street side when it concluded. He stayed to help people as ladders and boats rescued folk from the one-third of Inverness underwater.
Minister Dr Rose was trapped on the Bridge Street side, having sent his four grandchildren and a servant across minutes before.
Some 90 minutes after the collapse, the iron footbridge at the Islands followed suit and ended up making landfall at Capel Inch!
Engineer Joseph Mitchell ordered stone to be dumped by the supports of the Black Bridge to save it.
That afternoon, Merkinch flooded, triggering a rush for the safety of Clachnaharry, some taking refuge in a moored steamer.
Dr Bell’s School in Farraline Park was used to shelter those left homeless.
Next day the Ness began to subside and by the 31st was at normal winter level.
Provost William Simpson and the town council were in session for three days finding accommodation for evacuees. Despite causing major damage the only flood-related death was a cow drowned in the Haugh.
Fearing further flooding, many residents fled to higher ground at Leachkin and the bedridden people were carried to safety on the backs of family or neighbours.
Within a month a ferry service, using a fixed rope system, began on the bridge site, with another set up across from the Royal Northern Infirmary.
Ironically, by April the ferry could hardly float the Ness was so low, reaching only to the ankles of children. This was because Loch Ness had been gradually lowered by running water through the broken canal bank at Dochgarroch.
A temporary wooden footbridge was erected.
Mr Bain, the contractor for the jail, was instructed to remove the stones of the tumbled bridge. His men discovered at the foot of Bridge Street a six-feet wide flight of steps leading to the river bed, while directly opposite was “an ancient gateway”, with two towers, leading to the river. These were thought to be older than the wooden bridge, which fell in 1664, and were surmised to be the work of Dominican monks.
Stone retrieved was used to erect the Mercat Cross, which stands outside the town house. The Cross carries the burgh coat of arms which may have been salvaged from the bridge.
In May, Joseph Mitchell’s report to the council blamed canal works by engineer James Walker several years earlier to deepen the Dochgarroch channel for larger craft. He judged this had dangerously increased the Ness level and that the council had a good claim for the bridge loss.
Provost Simpson hoped a new bridge could be speedily erected. However, as we shall see next week, the saga would drag on for years.
n Sponsored by Ness Castle Lodges.
