Balloch Village

Local history of the village and area

Who were the first people in Balloch? 

We have no evidence but can conjecture that people first set foot here, or saw what was to be Balloch from the shore, around 8000 years ago. Mesolithic sites (but no earlier finds) have been found nearby along some of Scotland’s rivers and coast line with evidence of habitation on the coast to the North and South of here. A Mesolithic site has also been discovered in what is now Castle Street, Inverness so it is likely that these were the first people to arrive in our area.

(http://www.scotlandspast.org/mesolith2.cfm )

We have much more solid remains to show that Balloch was settled by later folk some four and a half thousand years ago. Of course we must remember that Balloch is a relatively recent concept and what we are talking about at this time is a much wider area that shared common features.

There are three cairns in, or adjacent to present day Balloch, all situated near the A96 in farmland fairly near to the Moray Firth shore. One is just a remnant of a chambered cairn, the other two are Clava type ring cairns. 

The cairns at Balnuaran of Clava give their name to a set of thirty monuments which are distributed up and down the rivers around Inverness.

There are two types of Clava cairn, ring cairns, which are a ring of loose stones with kerbing inside and out, and chambered cairns, which have an access passage into the central area. Both types have circles of standing stones around them.

All the cairns, including the ones  at Clava itself, have been robbed of some of their covering of stones. The chambered cairns would originally have had corbelled roofs, and the central chambers would therefore have been enclosed.  No published excavations have established the dates for the Clava monuments, but they are thought to belong to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (about 2500 - 1700 BC).

A major find of great importance was made recently  (2006) in Inverness showing the importance of the site around the year 0 AD.  This site must have had significant influence over what is now Balloch and the surrounding area.

19 October 2006
Iron Age city discovered under Inverness
The remains of a 2000-year-old city have been discovered under Inverness and it is being hailed as one of the most important recent discoveries in Scotland. The find near Inverness Royal Academy was uncovered by a team who spent almost a year excavating the remains of seven large roundhouses and almost a dozen iron kilns.
Last year The Inverness Courier revealed the team from Headland Archaeology had uncovered the ancient city's 'industrial estate' where iron was smelted, bronze was cast and glass was produced. But at the final event of the Highland Archaeology Fortnight, archaeologist Ross Murray gave further details about what he and his colleagues had discovered so far about the city that once stood at the eastern end of the Great Glen.
"They had a large industrialised production setup and would have been producing goods for trade with other countries."
Among the items found below a site near Inverness Royal Academy were part of a bronze horse harness, an enamelled bronze brooch, dozens of woodworking tools and a large iron sword. "We found boxes upon boxes of iron and bronze objects and these are all at the National Museum of Scotland being analysed. What is already obvious was the wealth of this settlement and we have just clipped the industrial part of it. The rest is now covered by earlier development at Culduthel." Mr Murray said.
Over the next few months experts at the National Museum will analyse samples to assess where the iron ore used in the kilns came from and study fragments of ancient wooden beams to provide an accurate date for some of the buildings in the ancient settlement. Just as part of modern Culduthel stands on top of the Iron Age settlement, it too was built over the remains of a much earlier Neolithic community from 5000 years ago. These remains will also be investigated to learn more about the earliest inhabitants' lives.
Source: The Inverness Courier (17 October 2006)

Early Historic Period

When the area entered the historical record in Roman times, it was the home of the Picts. Inverness was the capital of the Picts under King Brude when St. Columba arrived about AD 565 to promote Christianity.

Balloch lies in the heart of Pictland close to the Northern stronghold of Inverness and not far from the site of Burghead to the east.

Later Historic Times up to approx 1800

When Scotland was united in subsequent centuries, Inverness-shire formed part of the province of Moray. The county came under the control of a succession of landowning dynasties during the Middle Ages, including the MacIntoshes, the Frasers, the Chisholms, and the Grants.. During the 15th and 16th centuries, however, the Stuart kings used the influence of the chiefs in the growing clan system to exert control over Inverness-shire. What is now Balloch fell into the parishes or areas of Inverness, and Pettie.

Some of the lands (of Pettie) long formed part of the territories erected into the successive earldoms of Moray; other portions seem to have belonged to the Mackintosh and Kilravock families at a very early period, and to have been subsequently held under the earls. In 1281, the Earl of Ross, having plundered the churches of Petyn and Bracholy, expiated his offence by a grant to the see of Elgin, of the lands of Cattepol and Pitkanny.

At the battle of Clachnaharry, the Mackintoshes of Moy Castle levied the men of Pettie to aid them in the pursuit of Munro of Fowlis. In 1368, William, the seventh lord Mackintosh, had his residence here, at Connage; and after the earldom of Moray was annexed to the crown, in 1455, the barony of Pettie appears to have been held by the laird of Findlater for some time under the crown, and subsequently under the Earl of Moray, the title having been revived.

From 1495 the Earl of Huntly possessed Connage till the birth of James V., on which occasion the barony of Pettie was given to Sir William Ogilvie, of Banff, whose wife was the first to announce to James IV. the birth of the prince; and Sir William resided in the castle till it was besieged and burnt by the clan Chattan, who slew his son and eight men who were found in it.

1531 The district of Petty, which had been held of the Earl of Moray in lease, by the Mackintoshes, having been given by him to the Ogilvies, the Mackintoshes attacked Hall Hill, in Petty, the residence of Ogilvy, Laird of Strathern, and killed 24 of his followers. For this outrage, the Earl of Moray quartered the leader of the Mackintoshes, and hanged 200 of his followers in one day.
1592 George, Earl of Huntly, invaded the lands of the Clan Chattan, in consequence of their having joined his rival the Earl of Moray. He also spuilzied the baronry of Petty.

pre-1700
Original cottages on Cherry Park are thought to be 350 years old

1746  Battle of Culloden

Balloch lies adjacent to the site of the Battle of Culloden, fought in 1746. This is a battlefield site of international importance and a major visitor attraction throughout the year.

The current parish of Balloch is right next to the Culloden Battlefield site and must have witnessed the armies and then those fleeing the battle.

Quote…..The next road, diverging to the right, will conduct in a straight line to the west end of the small village of Balloch of Culloden. From the east end of the village it ascends the face of the ridge, passing by and by through a young fir plantation, and at the top through a belt of older planting.
Having surmounted the ascent and proceeded a few hundred yards, the road strikes across the Moor, running through some young fir and larch plantations emerges on the district-road from Inverness after having crossed a track which, it may be observed is the remains of a road made by Lord Lovat from Dalcross Castle to his property in Stratherrick.
This latter was the only roadway at the time of the battle through the Moor, which was then, too, quite bare, though with a number of cottars' huts scattered over it.
from www.queenofscots.co.uk/culloden

1780 Culloden House built on the site of the earlier Culloden House with its Jacobite connections. ‘Doocot’ in Culloden built at a similar period.

1800 to 1900

1821 Northern sketches refers to ‘the celebrated Parks of Culloden’ at Culloden House.

1830 Thomson map

1846  Descriptions of Balloch, and Pettie

Records of 1846, below , show the village to be in the parish of Inverness and to have comprised approx 20 dwellings.

However, although the village then was in Inverness Parish it appears that parts of the present day Balloch would have fallen outside Inverness Parish into the Parish of Petty (or Pettie), the small burn Allt (ault ) na fhiler, the Fiddler’s Burn being the boundary.

Balloch

BALLOCH, a village, in the parish and county of Inverness; containing 104 inhabitants.

See the many books, internet articles and the Inverness Museum for descriptions of the history of Inverness

From: A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846):
 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43421 .

Pettie, or Petty

PETTIE, or PETTY, a parish, partly in the county of Nairn, but chiefly in the mainland district of the county of Inverness, 6½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Inverness; containing, with the villages of Connage and Stuartown, 1749 inhabitants, of whom 88 are in that part of the parish which is within the shire of Nairn.

This place includes the parishes of Petyn and Bracholy, which were united previously to the Reformation under the vicar of Petyn, who held a prebendal stall in the cathedral church of Elgin. The parish of Bracholy is supposed to have derived its name, originally Braichlich, from the Gaelic Eaglais-a-Bhraighe-choille, descriptive of its situation on a wooded hill; but the etymology of the name of Pettie is involved in great obscurity.

Some of the lands long formed part of the territories erected into the successive earldoms of Moray; other portions seem to have belonged to the Mackintosh and Kilravock families at a very early period, and to have been subsequently held under the earls. In 1281, the Earl of Ross, having plundered the churches of Petyn and Bracholy, expiated his offence by a grant to the see of Elgin, of the lands of Cattepol and Pitkanny.

At the battle of Clachnaharry, the Mackintoshes of Moy Castle levied the men of Pettie to aid them in the pursuit of Munro of Fowlis. In 1368, William, the seventh lord Mackintosh, had his residence here, at Connage; and after the earldom of Moray was annexed to the crown, in 1455, the barony of Pettie appears to have been held by the laird of Findlater for some time under the crown, and subsequently under the Earl of Moray, the title having been revived.

The parish is bounded on the north-west by the Moray Frith, along the shore of which it extends for about eight miles; varying from two to three miles in breadth, and comprising 8120 acres, of which 5275 are arable, 1575 woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow, pasture, and waste.

The surface rises from the Frith in undulations more or less abrupt, being in some parts bold and precipitous, and in others gentle, and subsiding into pleasant vales; but, though it increases in elevation towards the south-east, it is no where of mountainous character.

The only streams of any importance are, the burn of Ault-an-fhiler,
(note - Fiddlers Burn, Balloch   Gaelic  Ault  (or Allt )  na Fhiler
(Cameron Avenue/Torris Road; Grid Ref NH 733 468).   )
which separates the parish from that of Inverness on the west; and a small burn flowing between it and the parish of Ardersier on the east, which has been diverted from its course to turn a mill, and empties itself into the Frith.

From some of the higher lands, or braes, descend numerous small brooks, falling over a rocky bed into the chief vale, and which formerly supplied water to the tenants of the lands for the illicit purpose of making whisky; they are now employed to turn threshing-mills on their farms.

The coast is not marked by any indenture deserving the name of a bay, with the exception only of that portion of the Frith inclosed between the headland of Altirlie and the small promontory on which the church is built. On the beach at this place, where a commodious harbour might easily be formed, coal and lime are landed for the supply of the district; and on the beach at Connage, towards Stuartown, the timber which is cut down in the eastern part of the parish is shipped for exportation.

At low water the sea recedes to a great distance from the shore, except at Altirlie, which consequently during the bathing season is much frequented by visiters from Inverness, who find lodgings either in the fishing-villages or in the neighbouring farmhouses. The lakes are Loch Flemington and Loch Andunty, both situated on the ridge near the south-eastern extremity, and in the old parish of Bracholy; but neither of them is of any considerable extent, or distinguished by features of importance.

The soil in the low lands near the sea is generally light and sandy, but on the braes and higher lands, a rich black loam, of stronger and more fertile quality; the principal crops are, oats, barley, wheat, potatoes, and turnips. The system of husbandry, under the stimulus afforded by the Pettie and Ardersier Farmers' Society, established within the last fifty years, has made considerable advances; and the more liberal use of lime, since the enlargement of the farms, has tended much to the improvement of the soil.
The lands have been drained, and subsoil ploughing and trenching are growing daily into more general use: on the Earl of Moray's lands, the main drains are formed and kept in order by the landlord, and the tributary drains by the tenant. The farm-buildings are substantial and well arranged, and are either built and kept in repair by the landlord, or by the tenant, according to the terms of the lease.

The Aberdeen or Buchan polled breed of cows is preferred to the Ayrshire on the dairy-farms; but few cattle are reared in the parish, which is rather an agricultural than a pastoral district; though cattle and sheep purchased at the neighbouring trysts are fed, the former chiefly on turnips. The plantations, of which about 1200 acres are on the lands of the Earl of Moray, have been formed at successive periods; and some have attained more than sixty years' growth.

They are usually oak and fir, at Flemington interspersed with larch and spruce; they are carefully managed, regularly thinned, and all in a thriving state. The principal substrata are of the old red sandstone formation, of which the rocks in the ridge to the south chiefly consist; there are thin seams of limestone and bituminous shale, but little or no conglomerate. The rateable annual value of Pettie is £4700.

Castle-Stuart, one of the seats of the earl, and from which he takes the title of baron, is a spacious and venerable structure erected about the year 1624; but it was not occupied, and consequently fell into a ruinous state. The eastern wing of this once stately castle has, however, within the last few years been put into repair, and is occasionally visited for a few weeks by the family during the shooting season.

The other mansions are the houses of Gollanfield and Flemington, both occupied by their respective proprietors: these, with the lands belonging to them, originally formed one estate. A considerable portion of the village of Campbelton extends into this parish, under the appellation of Stuartown; and there are also the fishing-hamlets of Pettie and Connage, the former containing fifty-eight, and the latter ninety-seven inhabitants.

Salmon are taken by stake-nets along the shore of the Frith, but not in any great numbers, the stations producing to the proprietors scarcely a rental of £60; oyster-beds have also been formed, by bringing oysters from a distance, but they are of very inferior quality. The principal fish taken off the coast are, haddocks, whiting, cod, skate, flounders, and soles; and during the season, twenty-four boats are engaged in the herring-fisheries at Helmsdale, Wick, and Burgh-Head, each boat having a crew of five men and a boy.

The herring season generally commences about the middle of July, and terminates in the early part of September. The produce of the fisheries is usually sent to Inverness, the nearest market-town, whither is also sent the agricultural and dairy produce of the parish. A fair is held annually, at Lammas, in the village of Campbelton, chiefly for hiring servants.

There is no post-office; the inhabitants in the eastern district receive their letters at Ardersier or Fort-George, and those of the western district at Inverness. Facility of communication is maintained by the turnpike-road from Inverness to Aberdeen, which passes through the whole length of the parish till it enters the county of Nairn; by other roads, of recent construction, kept in excellent repair; and by the steamers which ply regularly between Inverness and London.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Inverness and synod of Moray: the minister's stipend is £234. 3. 4., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £5 per annum; patron, the Earl of Moray. The church, rebuilt in 1839, is a handsome and substantial structure with a campanile turret; the interior is well arranged, and contains 600 sittings.

From its situation, however, near the western boundary of the parish, the inhabitants of the district of Bracholy are at an inconvenient distance. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school is attended by about fifty children; the master has a salary of £36, with a house and garden, and the fees average £5 per annum. A school at Gollanfield is supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and is held in a building towards the erection of which the sum of £40 was granted by government.

The schools in several of the adjacent parishes are also available to the children of the eastern district of this parish. Among the relics of antiquity are some Druidical circles, and near Loch Flemington are vestiges of what is thought to have been a Flemish camp: in the loch were found, a few years ago, pistols rudely mounted with silver, and having the initials A. M. P., which are supposed to have lain there since the battle of Culloden.

In digging the foundations for a house near the loch, was discovered an urn of clay, inclosed in slabs of stone rudely formed. Stone coffins, containing urns, have also been found near a moat on the farm of Balmachree; and on the farm of Culblair, the fragment of a battle-axe was discovered in the moss. Near the church are two artificial mounds called Tom-aMhoid, "the Court hill," and Tom-a-Chroich, "the Gallows' hill," in ancient times used for the administration of justice; and in the churchyard is the burying-ground of the chiefs of the clan Mackintosh. Dr. Fraser, of Chelsea, the munificent benefactor of King's College, Aberdeen, was the son of a minister of this parish.

1850 Culloden Brick and Tile Pottery Works was active

1855 Highland Railway: Inverness & Nairn Railway opened in 1855

1867 Balloch Railway Bridge was built

1874 First Edition OS Map. Culloden school (Balloch) and Balloch Smithy both marked on this map.

1897 Duncan Forbes, tenth of Culloden died April 1897. Being unmarried with no heirs Culloden House went up for sale.

1897 The President’s Tree given mention.

1897 ‘St. Mary’s Well – the famous well which attracts so many visitors annually on the first Sunday in May, in spite of pulpit denunciations. Nowadays the mere force of custom and the pleasant walk brings out the pilgrims, but there is no doubt that for many centuries the fountain dedicated to the Virgin was held in great veneration’. (Inverness Scientific Society, 1897).

1897 St. Mary chapel stood near the well, but the ruins had disappeared. At some distance, however, there is a farm called Chapelton, on which the foundations of a chapel were visible until this year…possibly this may have been the chapel’ (Mr Alexander Fraser, Field Club Transactions, First Volume).

1893 –8 Culloden Railway viaduct over the River Nairn was built. Engineers were John Fowler and Murdoch Paterson. Many people moved to the area to work on its construction. Several people died during its construction.

Chapel at Chapelton Farm – It is thought the ruins were cleared in the late 1800s.

1900 - 1929

Chapelton Farm, 1900s

• Stone from Chapelton quarry was used to build Balloch Primary School.
• ‘Water used to fill up in the quarry and we would go there to wash the cart wheels’ – remembers Mr Hugh Callum
• ‘We used to collect seaweed from Alturlie with the horse and cart – all farmers did. From Alturlie we’d walk round to Petty Church’ – remembers Mr Hugh Callum

Culloden Wishing Well, 1919

‘About fifteen hundred young people visited the Wishing Well at Culloden on Sunday. After having a drink from the well, they followed the usual custom of dropping a coin in the well or attaching bits of rag to tree in the vicinity. When the well was cleared in the evening a sum of £9 16s 2d was recovered. The money was handed over to the Highland Orphanage.’(N.Cronicle 07.05.1919)

Water supply, 1920s
‘’All water during the 1920s and 1930s was collected from village water taps outside the school or by shop’’.

1930s

Culloden Wishing Well.

1933 ‘The ancient practice of visiting the ‘Wishing Well’ in the Highlands is apparently growing more popular very year…motors brought crowds from many parts of the Highlands, and from Nairn, Elgin and other places. A large party of motor cyclists journeyed from Dundee to Culloden.’ The amount dropped in the well was £30 7s 11d, and will be divided between the Royal Northern Infirmary and the Highland Orphanage (IC. 9 May 1933).

1938 ‘The peak rush was experienced in the afternoon between the hours of 2pm and 4pm, when queues of people lined up at Bank Street and outside the Railway Station for buses to convey them the few miles journey…..For the first time there also took place in close proximity to the Well on Sunday a public demonstration held under the International Worker’s Day, at which Communist speakers from Aberdeen spoke. There were a few interruptions of a jocular kind but on the whole very little notice was taken of the ‘demonstration’. (IC. 3 May 1938).

1939 ‘Despite the appeal made to the public by the Northern Branch of the Lord’s Day Observance Association of Scotland to refrain from engaging in the annual ‘pilgrimage’ to the Culloden Wishing Well on the first Sunday in May. And thereby lessen the already large volume of Sabbath desecration, several thousands of people from Inverness, Nairn and the surrounding areas journeyed to Culloden on Sunday.’ (IC 9 May 1939).

1937 RAF plane crashed in the field above Chapelton farm.

1939 Refugees arrive at Culloden House. ‘Culloden House has been generously offered by the proprietor Major Greaves, and his wife, Lady Dysart, as a Home for refugees’. (IC. 14 March 1939). ‘The first contingent of refugees arrived…The party consists of three married couples, a father and a little girl of eleven years of age and nine single people. The majority come from the Sudetenland, some from Prague, and most of them speak a little English. Towards the end of the week another larger contingent is expected to arrive.’ (IC 6 June 1939).

1940s

1940s Culloden House occupied by soldiers

POWs included Germans and Italians

Sawmill on the Feaubuie Road was manned by Newfoundlanders and Canadians during the war.

Reserve landing strip for the RAF was at Sunnyside.

Redhill Farm had a big underground shelter. The fields were lit to make a mock decoy landing strip and airport.

There was an Anderson shelter in the upper section of Chapelton woods. Some of the corrugated iron remains today.

Landgirls - the Land Army Hostel was at Tornagrain
– find out more

Culloden Primary School (Balloch) had 2 classrooms with a pot belly heather in each room. Children walked through the fields to school from as far as Smithton and Petty. The Head Teacher was Mr Ferguson, who lived in the school house. There were 2 lady teachers: Miss McGregor, who lived at Howard Cottage and Miss McDonald who lived at the Anderson’s Cottage on the other side of the school. Children were invited to collect apples from Howard Cottage garden on their way home from school.
The Green Road (now lower part of Culloden Road) joined Kerrow Road and linked Balloch to Cullernie.

1945 Culloden Wishing Well ‘Many proceeded on bicycles, and amongst the gathering were many soldiers in khaki, and not a few Italians, who were at work in the neighbourhood of the town.’ (IC. 8 May 1945).

1948-9 The shop was run out of 2 buses, owned and run by Appleyard.

1950s

1950s Balloch shop was located up at the vets of today.

Culloden School had a pupil (Izzie McKay, daughter of the Head Gardener to Culloden House) who rode to and from school by horse, bare foot in the summer and with wellies in the winter.

Culloden House. It is believed that the tunnel between Culloden House and the ice house got bricked up during this decade.

Chapelton ‘Top Wood’ also known as Lime Kiln Wood.

Balloch Farm owned by Mr McCallum and let to Mr Chisms.

early 1950s Alan Fearn Station closed

Alan Fearn Farm had prize sheep cut into square shapes.

1953 Cherry Park courtyard built

1960s

1960s -Business’ along Cherry Park included (see map):
-Saddlers (Mr Barbour) at 27 Cherry Park
-Carpenters at first cottage on Balloch Farm road
-Swingletree, sold candles?

early 1960s Cherry Park widened and the road level raised.

1964(Jan) RAF plane (Shackelton aircraft) crashed in a field 200 yards from Culloden Dance Hall. ‘The ten crew ran for their lives just before 4000 gallons of fuel exploded and woke half of Inverness!’ (Highland News 17 Jan 1964)

1963 Annual ‘Clootie well’ Sunday took place on the first Sunday in May. Special bus service from Farraline Park Inverness to the Culloden Wishing Well (also known as St. Mary’s Well), laid on by the Highland Omnibus Company. Single fare was 1s. (Inverness Courier, 3 May 1963)

1968 Chapelton Farm sold, with land bought by Balloch Farm.

1970s

1970s Balloch Primary is the new name for Culloden School. The renaming coincided with the opening of Smithton Primary.

Mr MacClean, head teacher, from Skye, lived in the school house.

Mr Lachie, head master, lived in the school house. His wife taught P1 (and played the piano badly! ).

1970 Braeside Park built

1970 Community Association set up August 1970. …’and pledged itself to secure a community centre for the fast growing village which, with a population of 700, is already the largest village in the county’ (HN. 23 March 1971).

1970 Balloch shop turned self service, run by Mr and Mrs Snape.

1970 Culloden Road named

1971 Balloch pub plan for Edgemoor Cottage is turned down by Scottish Secretary Gordon Campbell. He upheld the findings of a court of inquiry, held on October 1970. (HN 27 May 1971)

1971 Culloden House up for sale at a price in excess of £30,000. ‘It’s owner Mr Ian Fraser, a London Merchant Banker who only recently acquired the house has now regretfully decided to sell it because of incr4easing business commitments’ (IC 29 July 1971).

1971 Hawker Homes for sale at £6,500 (Braeside?)

1972 First ever gala day at Balloch was held by the Balloch Community Association. The village children were in fancy dress and they were led through the village to the school by the Pipe Band of Inverness Battalion, The Boy’s Brigade….. There were sports for all ages, including a race for mothers and one for fathers. The final event of the afternoon was a football game between the youths and old men of the village. The ‘Old Yins’ won 2 – 0. (HN. 29 June 1972).

1974 Play Areas ‘jungle’ at Balloch. ‘Untended and overgrown play areas have become an eyesore to residents in Braeside Park, Balloch. And until it is decided who is responsible fro looking after the areas the Balloch Resident’s Association are appealing for volunteers to carry out a clean-up. In parts of the six separate designated play areas, prickly whins have grown over 4 feet high.’ (HN. 7 Feb. 1974).

1976 Cameron Avenue built by Salveson

1977 Barn Church Road built.

1977 Culloden Road, formerly known as The Brae extended down the Green Lane to the new Barn Church Road. The Hedges closed to road traffic.

1977 The Smithy closed

1980s

1980 Petrol pump closed

1982 Balloch gala week, organised by the Balloch Community Association, raises £2400, less expenses towards the funds of the Community Hall. The gala opened with a fancy dress parade and attracted over 500 people (IC?, 1982)

1985 Edgemoor housing built

• ‘over the best bit of the woods – it was a carpet of bluebells in Spring’ remembers many residents

1990s

Wellside built

Little Cullernie built

2000s

Forest Drive area

Culloden Road Houses – various

Viewhill