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Portmahomack
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Portmahomack
Portmahomack (Scottish Gaelic: Port Mo Chalmaig; 'Haven of My [i.e. 'Saint'] Colmóc') is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of Tarbat.
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is about three miles (five kilometres) from the village at the end of the Tarbat Peninsula. Ballone Castle lies about one mile (1.5 kilometres) from the village.
There is evidence of early settlement, and the area seems to have been the site of significant activity during the time of the Picts, the Romans (possible Roman foundations of the lighthouse that were later identified in the Middle Ages as a "Roman landmark" near Port a' Chait that is now called "Port a Chaistell".), early Christianity and the Vikings. The village is situated on a sandy bay and has a small harbour designed by Thomas Telford: it shares with Hunstanton the unusual distinction of being on the east coast but facing west. Portmahomack lies inside the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation with the associated dolphin and whale watching activity.
The village has a primary school, golf course, hotel, a number of places to eat and a shop with a sub-post office. The nearest rail access is at Fearn railway station and the nearest commercial airport is at Inverness Airport. The nearest town with full services is Tain lying approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) west. Tain also has rail access. The hamlet of Rockfield is nearby and is accessed via the village of Portmahomack.
Situated nine miles (fourteen kilometres) east of Tain on the northern coast of the Tarbat Peninsula, Portmahomack has long been known to be on the site of early settlements. The earliest evidence of habitation is provided by shell middens pointing to settlement as early as one or two thousand years BCE.
There are the remains of an Iron Age broch a little to the west of the village. Finds of elaborate early Christian carved stones dating to the 8th–9th centuries (including one with an inscription), in and around the churchyard, had long suggested that Portmahomack was the site of an important early church in the sixth-seventh century.
After the description by a minister in 1822 of a structure, near Port a' Chaistell, as "a beautiful square fortification of about 100 paces of a side," the archaeologist O. G. S. Crawford speculated in 1949 that the site might have been a Roman camp, although he did not ever visit the site and no trace of a Roman settlement was found during a later visit.
It had apparently been defaced by 1872 during land reclamation, but in Crawford's opinion there may be some traces of the Roman camp still visible or to be discovered.
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Portmahomack AI simulator
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Portmahomack
Portmahomack (Scottish Gaelic: Port Mo Chalmaig; 'Haven of My [i.e. 'Saint'] Colmóc') is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is situated in the Tarbat Peninsula in the parish of Tarbat.
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse is about three miles (five kilometres) from the village at the end of the Tarbat Peninsula. Ballone Castle lies about one mile (1.5 kilometres) from the village.
There is evidence of early settlement, and the area seems to have been the site of significant activity during the time of the Picts, the Romans (possible Roman foundations of the lighthouse that were later identified in the Middle Ages as a "Roman landmark" near Port a' Chait that is now called "Port a Chaistell".), early Christianity and the Vikings. The village is situated on a sandy bay and has a small harbour designed by Thomas Telford: it shares with Hunstanton the unusual distinction of being on the east coast but facing west. Portmahomack lies inside the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation with the associated dolphin and whale watching activity.
The village has a primary school, golf course, hotel, a number of places to eat and a shop with a sub-post office. The nearest rail access is at Fearn railway station and the nearest commercial airport is at Inverness Airport. The nearest town with full services is Tain lying approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) west. Tain also has rail access. The hamlet of Rockfield is nearby and is accessed via the village of Portmahomack.
Situated nine miles (fourteen kilometres) east of Tain on the northern coast of the Tarbat Peninsula, Portmahomack has long been known to be on the site of early settlements. The earliest evidence of habitation is provided by shell middens pointing to settlement as early as one or two thousand years BCE.
There are the remains of an Iron Age broch a little to the west of the village. Finds of elaborate early Christian carved stones dating to the 8th–9th centuries (including one with an inscription), in and around the churchyard, had long suggested that Portmahomack was the site of an important early church in the sixth-seventh century.
After the description by a minister in 1822 of a structure, near Port a' Chaistell, as "a beautiful square fortification of about 100 paces of a side," the archaeologist O. G. S. Crawford speculated in 1949 that the site might have been a Roman camp, although he did not ever visit the site and no trace of a Roman settlement was found during a later visit.
It had apparently been defaced by 1872 during land reclamation, but in Crawford's opinion there may be some traces of the Roman camp still visible or to be discovered.