Invergordon

History

The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area became a police burgh in 1863 and Invergordon Town Hall was completed in 1871.

The Invergordon Grain Distillery, operated by Philippines-owned whisky giant Whyte & Mackay, was established in 1959. Connected to the distillery was the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band which was formed in 1964.

In 1971, the British Aluminium Company, which was 47% owned by Reynolds Metals, opened an aluminium smelter at Invergordon.

Naval base

The naval institute was designed in 1914 by Edinburgh architect Stewart Kaye in anticipation of the First World War. The naval base was the venue for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. Remains of the naval base are evidenced in the tank farm lying behind the town centre; the port used to contain fuel oil and water supplies for naval ships (see Inchindown oil tanks).

One German bomb hit one of the tanks during the Second World War when a large flying boat base occupied much of the northerly coast of the Cromarty Firth. The naval base closed in 1956 (though the Oil Fuel Depot was retained in service until 1991). On 27–28 May 1957 the Royal Navy held a fleet review in the waters off the town.

Since 1978, the former naval base has been used as a deep water port which has been visited by many large cruise liners and allows disembarkation for coach tours in the northern Highlands. In the summer of 2017, the port was visited by the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during her sea trials. On 19 June 2021 the last of the Batch-2 River-class offshore patrol vessels, HMS Spey, was commissioned at a ceremony at the former naval base. The Royal Marines Band Service was at the ceremony providing musical support.

Culture

Invergordon has a number of painted murals. There is a mural trail, designed to integrate local community groups, opened by Anne, Princess Royal in 2007.

Infrastructure

The town is served by Invergordon railway station which lies on the Far North Line, and is in close proximity to the A9 trunk road.

As of 2012, there is a controversial scheme for a waste incinerator at the Cromarty Firth Industrial Park in Invergordon, which the Scottish government are now reviewing following protests by the local community. The £43 million plant would be built by Combined Power and Heat (Highlands) Ltd.

Education

Invergordon has one secondary school, Invergordon Academy, which is fed by four primary schools, Newmore Primary School, Park Primary School, South Lodge Primary School and Milton Primary School.

In 2013 the Highland Council announced plans for a new "super school" to serve Ross-shire with the preferred option being that it be built in Invergordon. This has seen much protest by locals and is currently under review. If it went ahead Alness and Tain academies would close and there would also be a change to the local primary schools.

In popular culture

In Season 3 of Amazon Prime motoring series The Grand Tour, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond visited Invergordon as part of their journey along the NC500.

Notable residents

• Jimmy Andrews, footballer
• Robert Brough. painter
• John D. Burgess, piper
• Allan Cameron, curler
• Bryan Gunn, footballer
• James MacBain, Australian politician
• William Mackenzie, Scottish poet
• Rob MacLean, football commentator
• Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Julian Robertson Oswald
• Cheryl Paul, newsreader
• Sir Charles Ross, inventor of the Ross Rifle
• William Ramsay Smith, doctor and activist for Indigenous Australian rights
• David Sutherland, comic book artist and illustrator best known for illustrating comic strips in The Beano such as The Bash Street Kids from 1962 until his death in 2023 and Dennis the Menace and Gnasher from 1970–1998.
• Luke Stoltman, five-time winner of Scotland's Strongest Man, 2021 Europe's Strongest Man, 2024 Europe's Strongest Man and 2025 Britain's Strongest Man
• Tom Stoltman, brother of Luke Stoltman, World's strongest man winner 2021, 2022 and 2024

References

References

1. {{Scottish settlement population citation
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3. {{Historic Environment Scotland
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5. {{Historic Environment Scotland
6. "Invergordan Distillers". Scotch Whisky.
7. "44 Years Ago". ross-shirejournal.co.uk.
8. (29 May 1971). "British Aluminum Debut Faces World Glut". The New York Times Company.
9. "Stewart Kaye". Dictionary of Scottish Architects.
10. "The Invergordon Mutiny of 1931". Sea Your History.
11. McKenzie, Steven. (8 August 2011). "Return to Highlands' Inchindown secret tunnels". [[British Broadcasting Corporation]].
12. (16 April 2017). "Memories of Invergordon in World War II".
13. "Invergordon". Undiscovered Scotland.
14. {{Hansard. 1991/jul/16/naval-support-infrastructure
15. "Queen And Duke Visit Home Fleet 1957". British Pathe.
16. "Welcome to Invergordon: Gateway to the Highlands". Port of Cromarty Firth.
17. Allison, George. (15 January 2017). "MoD deny rumours that a new aircraft carrier will be mothballed". UK Defence Journal.
18. "HMS SPEY Commissioned Into ROYAL NAVY 🌊 🚢".
19. (30 September 2015). "Invergordon Murals".
20. [http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/i-ll-be-just-like-robert-the-bruce-says-mohamed-al-fayed-as-controversial-waste-incinerator-gets-go-ahead-1-2668947 Scotsman article by Frank Urquart, 1 December 2012]
21. (24 February 2019). "Jeremy Clarkson and Grand Tour co-hosts ridicule Scots town during NC500 road trip".
22. (2023-01-19). "Beano's Bash Street Kids artist David Sutherland dies". BBC News.