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 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).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17569482

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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