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Summary

Description

Joseph Mitchell, 1829-31. Angled pier and breakwater separated by narrow harbour entrance. Large sandstone ashlar blocks. Pier encloses harbour to N and has broad parapet on sea side accessed by 2 flights of stone steps; flagstone paving; timber and iron bollards; concrete reinforcements at SE end. Relatively low steeply battered breakwater to N, angled towards sea.

Statement of Special Interest

A little-altered harbour by the engineer Joseph Mitchell, set in a particularly picturesque location: Cove was a favourite place of the Glasgow Boys and other artists in the late 19th century.

Two previous attempts at constructing a harbour at Cove had been undertaken in the 18th century, but had been swept away by storms. The present harbour was jointly financed by Sir John Hall, the local landowner, and The Scottish Board of Fisheries. The work included construction of a new road down to the shore; previously access had only been possible through a tunnel (tunnel entrance listed separately).

Joseph Mitchell was born in 1803, the son of John Mitchell, a mason who was appointed Thomas Telford's Chief Inspector and Superintendent of Highland Roads and Bridges. Joseph Mitchell, having decided to become an engineer, gained practical experience as a mason working on the Fort Augustus Locks of Telford's Caledonian Canal. He was then invited by Telford to become his clerk and study engineering. When his father died in 1824, Mitchell succeeded into the post of Chief Inspector at the age of only 21. In 1828 he was appointed engineer to the Scottish Board of Fisheries who were proposing to embark on a scheme of harbour building and improvement around Scotland. Cove, or Dunglass as it was originally called, was one of the first of Mitchell's works for the Board: he was responsible for the construction of 16 harbours in total, including Bournmouth and Caldingham in the Borders. Joseph Mitchell had a particular interest in railway construction, and from the late 1830s was actively engaged in surveying the route of new lines and promoting their execution. He was responsible for engineering the route of a number of the lines that later former the Highland Railway; his line over the Grampians from Dunkeld to Forres is considered by some to be his greatest achievement.

References

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