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Burghead
Image © Bob Jones

Burghead

Latitude: 57° 42'N
Longitude: 03° 29'W
Country: Scotland

Ownership: Moray Council
Type: Municipal
Usage: Leisure, Fishing, Commercial
Contact name: Mr John Mackay, Harbour Master
Address: Harbour Office, Burghead, Morayshire
Telephone no: 01343 835337
E-mail: keith.stratton@edp.moray.gov.uk
Website: www.moray.gov.uk/moray_se...41111.html


About Burghead

The quiet fishing village of Burghead was built in 1805-09 on a peninsula on the Moray Firth. It was built over 'The biggest Iron Age fort in Britain' constructed by the Picts in the 4th-7th century AD.

Burghead Harbour, built in its present form in 1818, when the major part of the Old Fort was removed. The harbour was once described as one of the safest, deepest and complete harbours in the North of Scotland. A commentator in the 1840's remarked 'that in spite of the best facilities and a harbour that could be used in any wind, there was still room for more boats than the 43 that were based there'. The harbour was once described as one of the safest, deepest and complete harbours in the North of Scotland. In 1920 there were over a thousand boats gathering in the Moray Firth for the herring season. In 1928 there were 11 motor boats and 23 steam drifters in the harbour, trains originally came to the harbour to load and unload goods.

The Old Warehouse used to be used for storing grain, and there was an area for gutting fish. Today the harbour is peaceful with perhaps no more than a dozen fishing boats. However it is still a working harbour with the occasional large ship calling in to collect stone, wood or grain, and in the summer months a yacht or other small craft will call in to sample the delights of this small corner of Scotland.


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