Portgordon, or sometimes Port Gordon, ( gd, Port Ghòrdain) is a village in Moray, Scotland, south-west of

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the t ...

. It was established in 1797 by Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon as a fishing village. It had a population of 844 at the time of the 2011 census. Currently the Portgordon Community Harbour Group is trying to regenerate the harbour and open a marina.

History

By 1793 Buckie was the principal fishing community in the area. At that time fishing was confined to line fishing for

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

ling Ling may refer to: Fictional characters * Ling, an ally of James Bond's from the film ''You Only Live Twice'' * Ling, a character in the ''Mulan'' franchise * Ling, a playable character from the mobile game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' * Ling ...

and

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas wher ...

, in boats no larger than 14 tons. Development of the industry was limited by the lack of a proper harbour, and disputes amongst the three owners of the various boats. One of these, Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon, decided to establish a new village, just to the west of the tiny community of Gollachy which comprised but a few houses in the area that is now Gordon Street. Work was underway on the harbour in 1795 and stone was shipped from

Lossiemouth Lossiemouth ( gd, Inbhir Losaidh) is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over ...

in 1796. In 1797 houses were built for ten fishermen and their families from Nether Buckie (the western side of Buckie). This was the third new village the Duke had established, but unlike

Fochabers Fochabers (; gd, Fachabair or Fothabair) is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, east of the cathedral city of Elgin and located on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people live in the village, which enjoys a rich musi ...

and

Tomintoul Tomintoul (; from gd, Tom an t-Sabhail, meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire. Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River ...

before, this was a smaller venture and little planning was done with regards to street layout. The land immediately to the west of Portgordon was owned by Patrick Steuart of Tannachy and Auchlunkart, who built there the Seatown of Tannachy (now more commonly Porttannachy) during the 19th century. At this time trade was expanding, not just in fishing and boat building, but in the export of grain, and import of salt, coal and lumber, and the building of granaries. This placed Portgordon at a great advantage over Buckie which was still limited by its natural harbour to fishing alone. By the 1850s a post office had opened and there were many coopers, fish processors and net makers. By 1861 the population had grown to around 630. The opening of a fertiliser factory in

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

lead to traffic in bones through the harbour too. Rail service began in 1886 with the opening of Portgordon railway station on the Moray Firth coast line on the

Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fro ...

. The line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and part of British Railways in 1948. The

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

recommended closure, and it was closed on 6 May 1968. In 1981 a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

and play park were opened on the site of the old station. The

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...

established Banffshire County Council and this led to the establishment of street names throughout the village, and the demise of Seatown of Tannachy and Gollachy as distinct communities. A boat-building industry began, with local yards first constructing

Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...

and from 1903 steam drifters. In 1907 one yard employed fifty men and launched a drifter every month or so but this business in drifters had dried up by 1915, though the yard continued to produce salmon cobles. Street lighting was introduced in the 1920s, and

paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkan ...

was used as there was no mains gas or electricity. Portgordon was one of the last communities to get electricity in 1937, and the village was nicknamed "Paraffin City". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1940, two German spies, Karl Drüeke and Vera Erikson were captured at the railway station and held at the police station.

Portgordon harbour

The original harbour of 1797 was constructed with wooden piers. Both fishing and an import/export trade thrived, and Portgordon became the principal port in the area. The Gordon estates transferred first to

George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon General George Duncan Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon, (2 February 1770 – 28 May 1836), styled Marquess of Huntly until 1827, was a British nobleman, soldier and politician and the last of his line. Early life George was born at Edinburgh on 2 F ...

and thence to his nephew

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, (3 August 179121 October 1860), of Goodwood House near Chichester in West Sussex, was a British peer, soldier and prominent Conservative politician. Origins He was born "Charles Lennox", the son and ...

. In 1859 the Duchess of Gordon presented a barometer for the use of the fishermen and it was installed at the harbour. It was to

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, and 1st Duke of Gordon, (27 February 181827 September 1903), styled Lord Settrington until 1819 and then Earl of March until 1860, was a British Conservative politician. Ba ...

that the Harbour Committee turned in the late 1860s when the condition of the harbour was deteriorating and generally becoming inadequate for the increasing traffic. He agreed to pay for reconstruction if the fishermen would assist with transport of materials from

and

Hopeman Hopeman ( sco, Houpmin, gd, Hudaman) is a seaside village in Moray, Scotland, it is situated on the coast of the Moray Firth, founded in 1805 to house and re-employ people displaced during the Highland clearances. According to the 2011 census ...

. The new harbour would enclose 3 acres, and cranes were to be installed for the first time at Portgordon. Construction took place between 1870 and 1874 and subsequently over a 100 boats were registered in the harbour. Success was short lived though, and the number of boats was in decline by 1881 due to competition from new harbours in Buckie and Buckpool. By 1904 the harbour was beginning to silt up and boats were having to wait for the tide to be able to enter harbour.

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond and Lennox, 2nd Duke of Gordon, (27 December 1845 – 18 January 1928), 7th Duke of Aubigny ( French peerage in the French nobility), styled Lord Settrington until 1860 and Earl of March between ...

was asked to build an extension to the eastern pier to stop the beach from washing into the harbour, but only dredging was carried out in 1906 and 1907. In 1908 the Duke offered to give the harbour to the community along with £2,000 to pay for the extension, but this offer was turned down in 1909 with many villagers fearing the maintenance costs. In 1935 ownership of the harbour transferred from the Gordon-Lennox family to the Crown Estate Commissioners when

Frederick Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond Frederick Charles Gordon Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond, 9th Duke of Lennox, 9th Duke of Aubigny, 4th Duke of Gordon (5 February 1904 – 2 November 1989) was a British peer, engineer, racing driver, and motor racing promoter. Biography Freddi ...

sold his Scottish estates to pay crippling death duties. By 1945 there were only fourteen in the harbour and there was little commercial activity. Crown Estates Commissioners closed the harbour in 1947 and it was thereafter used by only a few pleasure craft. The structures were further damaged in the North Sea flood of 1953. By the late 1970s the north-west corner was breached and the mouth of the harbour was seriously silted up. Funded by various grants, the 69th Gurkha Independent Field Squadron rebuilt the harbour between 1985 and 1989.

Churches

In the early part of the village's history the populace was served by churches in other communities nearby. Roman Catholics in the area had first been using the

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...

of St Ninian's Church, Tynet, which was supplanted in 1788 by

St Gregory's Church, Preshome St. Gregory's Church is a Roman Catholic church at Preshome near Buckie in north-east Scotland. It is protected as a category A listed building. Built in 1788, St. Gregory's was the first church building to be openly built by Catholics in Scotl ...

. St. Gregory's was the first church building to be openly built by Catholics in Scotland since the Reformation of 1560. The United Free Church had a church at Enzie crossroads a mile to the south of the village. In 1860 a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

minister, James Turner, preached a series of sermons which resulted in an interest in Methodism and the closure of six of the ten pubs in the village. A Methodist congregation was formed and the present church was built in 1874. In 1902 the United Free Church opened a new church hall in Portgordon.

Landmarks

A memorial to those who had lost their lives during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was unveiled on 9 June 1921. It is a Celtic cross of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, situated in East High Street. It records the names of 28 killed during World War I and a further 28 from

. Gollachy ice house is somewhat unusual, being sited on the shore, and excavated rather than being built into side of a hill. It is of

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

construction, built in the early 19th century, with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

. It was restored in the 1970s and is a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Transport

Portgordon on the Speyside way - geograph

Portgordon is on the A990 road. The

Speyside Way The Speyside Way (Doric: '; gd, Slighe Shrath Spe) is a long-distance path in the Scottish Highlands. The route begins in Buckie and ends at Newtonmore, away. There is an optional spur leading off the main route to Tomintoul, adding and of as ...

, Moray Coast trail and

National Cycle Route 1 The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal , Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. Leaves Dover passing Dover Castle. S ...

pass through the village. The nearest railway stations are at Elgin and

Education

Portgordon Primary School had a pupil enrollment of 60 as at 23 September 2014. In 2014, Moray Council's Sustainable Education Review recommended merging the school into Cluny Primary School in Buckie, but following petitions council voted to give it a five-year reprieve.

References

External links / Further reading

* Portgordon Community Harbour Group Lt

* Port Gordon, The Life and Times of a Village, Peter H. Rei

* The Moray Coast: From Cullen to Culbin Through Time, Jenny Main, Amberley Publishing Limited, Oct 16, 201

*

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

maps 25 inch, Banff Sheet I.12 (Rathven), Survey date: 1870, Published: 187

http://maps.nls.uk/view/75067263] * Ordnance Survey maps 25 inch, Banffshire 001.16 & 15 (includes: Bellie; Rathven), Published: 1905 Revised: 190

http://maps.nls.uk/view/82869900] {{Authority control Villages in Moray Populated places established in 1797