Portsoy old harbour

Sir Patrick Ogilvie, the 8th Earl of Boyndie, decided that a harbour should be built at Portsoy on the Moray Coast and it was completed in 1693. The harbour comprised a massive breakwater on the seaward side and a number of quays. The construction uses large stones set vertically, apparently because it was believed that this made them less likely to be washed away by the sea. The theory seems to have worked, because the Old Harbour we see today is largely the harbour that was built in 1693.

Access to the harbour is difficult at low water and it dries out completely at low spring tides. The depth of water in the harbour is indicated clearly in 1 foot intervals on a scale carved into the end of the breakwater. We shall probably never know why it was done in a mixture of Arabic and Roman numerals.