Fort Augustus

File:Invergarryrailway.jpg

Some historians like G. Mcdonalds -after the finding of a roman coins hoard in 1767 near the city's ancient benedictine abbey- wrote about the possibility that Fort Augustus was built on a roman small fortification built under Diocletian rule"A letter from an officer at Perth, dated May 2, 1767 says: "Last week I was out with a command to Fort Augustus, where some part of the fortifications are repairing. Whilst there, some labourers in digging a trench, found an earthen urn, of a blue colour, with about 300 pieces of coin, of mixed metal, some a little larger than our halfpence, and the others the size of farthings. They appear to me to be all of the Emperor Dioclesian" ([https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG2612])

The Gaelic name for the modern village is {{lang|gd|Cille Chuimein}} ({{IPA|gd|ˈkʲiʎə ˈxumɛɲ|}}) and until the early 18th century the settlement was called Kiliwhimin. It was renamed Fort Augustus after the Jacobite rising of 1715. The accepted etymology is that the settlement was originally named after Saint Cummein of Iona who built a church there.{{Cite web|url=http://ambaile.org/en/item/item_illustration.jsp?item_id=18212|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311123811/http://ambaile.org/en/item/item_illustration.jsp?item_id=18212|url-status=dead|title=am baile – Fort Augustus|archivedate=11 March 2007}} Other suggestions are that it was originally called {{lang|gd|Ku Chuimein}} after one of two abbots of Iona of the Comyn clan, whose badge {{lang|gd|Lus mhic Chuimein}} refers to the cumin plant,{{Cite web|url=https://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/cumming2.html|title=Clan Comyn, Cumming|website=electricscotland.com}} or that it was called {{lang|gd|Cill a' Chuimein}} ("Comyn's Burialplace") after the last Comyn in Lochaber.[http://www.cameron-site.com/Private%20Site/macmillan3.html MacMillan 3] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928164056/http://www.cameron-site.com/Private%20Site/macmillan3.html |date=28 September 2007 }}

In the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1715, General Wade built a fort (taking from 1729 until 1742) which was named after Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Wade had planned to build a town around the new barracks and call it Wadesburgh.Caledonian Mercury 1 August 1727 The settlement grew, and eventually took the name of this fort. In December, 1745, during the Jacobite rising of 1745, a force of 600 men from the recently formed Independent Highland Companies, formed to support the British-Hanoverian government, laid siege and liberated the fort from the Jacobite Clan Fraser of Lovat after a small skirmish.{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Peter |year=1996 |title=The Independent Highland Companies, 1603–1760 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=John Donald Publishers |pages=132–133 |isbn=085976432-X}} From 22 February to 1 March 1746, the Jacobites laid siege to the fort and the government garrison surrendered.{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Duffy |year=2007 |title=The '45, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Untold Story of the Jacobite Rising |page=452 |isbn=978-0-7538-2262-3}}

A hoard of Roman coins was unearthed in 1767 near the ancient Benedictine abbey that are thought to be from Roman to Late Iron Age - 79 AD to 560 AD.{{cite web |url=https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG2612 |title=MHG2612 - Coin Hoard, Fort Augustus |work=Highland Historic Environment Record |publisher=highland.gov.uk |access-date=29 September 2024}}

In 1867, the fort was sold to the Lovat family, and in 1876 they passed the site and land to the Benedictine order. The monks established Fort Augustus Abbey and later a school. The school operated until 1993 when it closed owing to changing educational patterns in Scotland causing a decline in enrollment. The monks employed Tony Harmsworth{{cite web | url=http://www.loch-ness.org/webmaster.html | title=Loch Ness Webmaster, Tony Harmsworth | access-date=11 July 2011 | archive-date=2 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102130648/http://www.loch-ness.org/webmaster.html | url-status=dead }} to devise a rescue package which saw the site converted into the largest private heritage centre in Scotland which operated between 1994 and 1998;[http://www.LochNessNessieAndMe.com Loch Ness, Nessie & Me (2011)] however, the heritage centre failed to generate sufficient profit to maintain the buildings. In 1998 the monks abandoned the site, and it reverted to the Lovat family which in turn sold it to Terry Nutkins. He also owned The Lovat Hotel{{Cite web|url=https://thelovat.com/|title=The Lovat Hotel Loch Ness | 4 Star Luxury Hotel Fort Augustus|website=thelovat.com}} that stands on the site of the old Kilwhimen Barracks, one of four built in 1718. This site houses the west curtain wall of the old Fort, intact with gun embrasures. The Lovat was originally built as the local Station Hotel.

{{see also|Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway}}

The village is served by the A82 road and lies approximately midway between Inverness (56 km) and Fort William (51 km).

The village was served by a rail line from Spean Bridge to a terminus on the banks of Loch Ness from 1903 until 1933, built by the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway in the hope of eventually completing a line to Inverness and latterly operated by the North British Railway and its successor, the London and North Eastern Railway, but initially operated by the Highland Railway. The Caledonian Canal connecting Fort William to Inverness passes through Fort Augustus in a dramatic series of locks stepping down to Loch Ness.

The village is served by the Cill Chuimein Medical Centre.[http://www.streetwise-highland.org/list.asp?subject=5 ICSH – Home] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312081011/http://www.streetwise-highland.org/list.asp?subject=5 |date=12 March 2007 }}

The village has both a primary school and a secondary school – Kilchuimen Primary School and Kilchuimen Academy – which share a campus.

As with most of the British Isles and Scotland, Fort Augustus has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with cool summers and mild winters. Like a lot of the surrounding area, sunshine levels are low at around 1,000 hours per annum and temperatures are unpredictable – Fort Augustus holds the UK's joint lowest May temperature record of {{convert|-9.4|C|F}}.{{Cite web | publisher = TORRO | url = http://www.torro.org.uk/site/mintemps.php | title = May Temperature | access-date = 2 November 2011 | archive-date = 5 February 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150205110642/http://www.torro.org.uk/site/mintemps.php | url-status = dead }} This is the latest point in the run-up to summer that such a low temperature has been recorded, suggesting it can become a frost trap on calm clear nights due to its valley location. That same low-lying topography can also give rise to some high temperatures on occasion – Fort Augustus held the UK daily high temperature record for 16 December for almost 80 years.{{Cite web | publisher = TORRO | url = http://www.torro.org.uk/site/hightempsyear.php | title = 1893 Temperature | access-date = 2 November 2011 | archive-date = 24 August 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150824032720/http://www.torro.org.uk/site/hightempsyear.php | url-status = dead }}

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Fort Augustus ({{convert|23|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} asl, averages 1991–2020)

| Jan high C = 6.3

| Feb high C = 6.9

| Mar high C = 8.8

| Apr high C = 11.9

| May high C = 14.9

| Jun high C = 16.8

| Jul high C = 18.6

| Aug high C = 18.5

| Sep high C = 16.2

| Oct high C = 12.1

| Nov high C = 8.8

| Dec high C = 6.5

| year high C =

| Jan low C = 1.0

| Feb low C = 1.1

| Mar low C = 2.2

| Apr low C = 3.7

| May low C = 6.0

| Jun low C = 9.1

| Jul low C = 10.9

| Aug low C = 10.6

| Sep low C = 8.8

| Oct low C = 5.7

| Nov low C = 2.8

| Dec low C = 0.8

| year low C =

| Jan rain mm = 190.6

| Feb rain mm = 132.5

| Mar rain mm = 112.2

| Apr rain mm = 66.8

| May rain mm = 68.4

| Jun rain mm = 67.4

| Jul rain mm = 71.3

| Aug rain mm = 93.2

| Sep rain mm = 104.9

| Oct rain mm = 140.3

| Nov rain mm = 136.1

| Dec rain mm = 175.8

| year rain mm =

| unit rain days = 1 mm

| Jan rain days = 18.5

| Feb rain days = 16.6

| Mar rain days = 16.6

| Apr rain days = 13.7

| May rain days = 13.4

| Jun rain days = 13.0

| Jul rain days = 14.3

| Aug rain days = 14.8

| Sep rain days = 14.3

| Oct rain days = 18.4

| Nov rain days = 17.4

| Dec rain days = 18.6

| year rain days =

| Jan sun = 26.2

| Feb sun = 54.5

| Mar sun = 82.4

| Apr sun = 128.3

| May sun = 162.5

| Jun sun = 129.5

| Jul sun = 115.4

| Aug sun = 113.0

| Sep sun = 91.1

| Oct sun = 56.4

| Nov sun = 27.1

| Dec sun = 18.5

| year sun =

| source = Met Office{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages/gfhtjdb28 |title=Fort Augustus UK climate averages |publisher=Met Office |access-date=11 September 2019}}

}}

• Guy Prendergast (1905–1986), explorer and soldier. Buried in Strathoich cemetery.

• Glen Urquhart

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Fort Augustus}}

{{EB1911 poster|Fort Augustus}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050211093403/http://www.fortaugustus.org/ Fort Augustus]
• [http://www.fortaugustusabbey.com/ Fort Augustus Abbey]
• [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Invergarry_and_Fort_Augustus_Railway/frame.htm Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309054319/http://www.railscot.co.uk/Invergarry_and_Fort_Augustus_Railway/frame.htm |date=9 March 2005 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20021208211830/http://www.kilchuimenacademy.highland.sch.uk/ Kilchuimen Academy]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QDkSIiVKHM Video of lock operations on the Caledonian Canal at Fort Augustus]

{{Authority control}}

Category:1742 establishments in Scotland

Category:Populated places established in 1742

Category:Populated places in Inverness committee area

Category:Forts in Scotland

Category:Loch Ness

Category:Prince William, Duke of Cumberland