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The timeline is work-in-progress and we need your help to build it. Do you have any features you’d like to add? Do you have any more information about any of the features already on it? Do you think something on our timeline is wrong? Do you have any old photos that would illustrate any of the features on the timeline? Would you be interested in helping to get the Kilmallie History Group going again? Hugh Muir, who ran it previously, and who is a generous contributor to this timeline, would be very willing to help someone restart it.
Please email the website editor.
We’d love to add more of the social history, the history of the people of Kilmallie in days gone by that would be of interest to our community now…
| 1000,000,000 years ago | Layers of sediment from a sandy sea floor metamorphosed into rock called psammite in the river bed at Fassfern. | |
| 5000 years ago | peat started to form on the Blar | |
| Iron Age | vitrified fort at Torcastle | |
| pre 389 | ??? were the Romans at Banavie ??? | |
| c 389 | ??? was St Patrick born at Banavie ??? | |
| 6th C | St. Columba built a mission-station at Annat | |
| 11th C | Torcastle became the seat of the chiefs of Clan Chattan | |
| 1030s | ??? Banquo believed to have stayed at Torcastle ??? | |
| 14th-15th C | The keep at Torcastle probably built by Alasdair Carrach (1380-1440), progenitor of the Keppoch branch of the Macdonalds, who had come into possession via his father, Lord of the Isles (but was later forfeited). | |
| 1335 – 1550 | Original Camerons on Green Island. | |
| 1439 | Battle of Corpach where the Camerons routed the Macleans of Coll | |
| 15th C | Clan Cameron officially took possession of the Barony of Lochiel, at Banavie | |
| 15th-16th C | Fighting over Torcastle in the long and bloody feud between the Cameron and Chattan (Mackintosh) clans who disputed the lands of Glenloy and Loch Arkaig for 350 years from the 14th century | |
| 16th C | Kilmallie former parish church built at Corpach (later became Cameron burial chamber) | |
| 1528 | The Camerons eventually gained legal possession of Torcastle through a charter of land granted by James V. | |
| c 1530 | Torcastle rebuilt by Ewan MacAllan, 13th Cameron chief | |
| by c1600 | village estabished at Corpach | |
| 1654 | The Battle of Achdalieu took place on the ground between Loch Eil and the site of the present Outward Bound School. Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel bit out the throat of an English officer in the midst of a heated struggle. | |
| betw | 1655 – 1665 | Sir Ewen Cameron, 16th clan chief, abandoned Torcastle for Achnacarry, though his youngest son Ludovick continued to live there till after the ’45. |
| 1670 | Green Island occupied until now | |
| 18th & 19th C | The Highland Clearances | |
| 1733 | First known Kilmallie Manse and Glebe at Torcastle | |
| Aug 19 | 1745 | Raising of the Standard at Glenfinnan |
| Aug 21 | 1745 | The Jacobite army halted at Kinlocheil for the night after leaving Glenfinnan. |
| Aug 23 | 1745 | The Jacobite army stayed overnight at Fassfern House (Bonnie Price Charlie’s bed is now in the West Highland Museum). In the garden he picked the rose that became the White Cockade emblem of the Jacobites. Later they passed along Gleann Laragain on their way to High Bridge. |
| 1746 | Township at Barre in Glenloy burnt by the Hanoverian troops | |
| 1747 | Cameron of Fassfern built a handful of homes at Achnaherry, between Barr and Achnanellan in Glen Loy | |
| 1753 | Charcoal burning may have started in Gleann Suileag, supplying the newly-founded charcoal-fired ironworks at Bonawe in Argyll | |
| c 1764 | Main period of the introduction fo sheep to the area | |
| c 1770 | Fassfern House rebuilt in altered form | |
| 1772 | A survey recorded there were virtually no trees in Banavie or Corpach. | |
| 1773 | First survey for the Caledonian Canal carried out by James Watt | |
| 1781 – 1783 | Kilmallie Parish Church built, by Archibald McPhail | |
| 1784 | Lochiel’s forfeited estate returned | |
| 1795? | Some references mention this as the year when Corpach was one of the first villages reached by the new road built from Fort William to Arisaig. But this seems to conflict with the first survey for the road which didn’t take place till 1796??? Can anyone confirm definitively when the new road reached Corpach??? Or when it reached Kinlocheil for that matter??? | |
| 1796 | First survey of “Lochyferry to Arisaig ” road. Road completed by 1814. Lochy Ferry was about 50yds south of Lochy Bridge, also called Corpach Ferry | |
| 19 Sep | 1797 | Evan Cameron of Erracht was assessed £0/1s/10½d Clock and Watch Tax for possession of one silver or metal watch Scotland’s Places: Historical Tax Rolls: Clock and Watch Tax 1797-1798 |
| 1803 | Act of Parliament authorised construction of Caledonian Canal (engineer Thomas Telford) | |
| 1803 | Banavie established as a base for the construction of the canal | |
| 1803/4 | Strone’s hump-backed bridge built to carry the Parliamentary Road over the River Loy (Telford) | |
| 1804-1806 | Corpach canal locks built | |
| 1805 | Kilmallie House built, as canal superintendent’s house, using pine from Achnacarry | |
| 1807 – 1811 | Neptune’s Staircase built | |
| 1810 | Road from Banavie to Gairlochy opened. It included 56 bridges and culverts. | |
| early 1800s | Torcastle House built for Lochiel’s factor | |
| c 1815 | Telford House and Canal House built at Banavie, Torcastle aqueduct built | |
| Oct | 1815 | Vessel named Sir John Cameron launched at Corpach. 400 tons burden, belonging to the company that purchased Lochiel’s forest who named the vessel after Col John Cameron (from the Caledonian Mercury, 2/11/1815. The Liverpool Mercury 29/12/1815 says it was 268 tons, coppered and copper fastened, “in every respect a most eligible vessel for the conveyance of dry goods. Three fourths of her cargo being engaged, and ready to go on board, she will positively be dispatched by the 10th Jan” from George’s Dock, Liverpool to New Orleans, with Alexander Steward as Master (thanks to Martin Briscoe for this) |
| 1816 | Obelisk erected at Corpach to commemorate Col John Cameron, who died at Quatre Bras, at the Battle of Waterloo | |
| 1820 | the first inn built at Banavie on orders from Lochiel, known as Neptune’s Inn, and thought possibly to be the building next to the top lock, currently a pair of cottages | |
| 1822 | Caledonian Canal opened (twelve years late) | |
| by 1822 | a ferry service was operating between Corpach and Fort William (when did it finish???) | |
| 1832 | School at Tomonie in building now called Chevalier Cottage | |
| 1834 | Jas Rhodes, a canal construction carpenter who became Banavie Head Lock-keeper and ran Neptune’s Inn, lost his job because he harassed and delayed ships if they did not use the Inn! | |
| 1841 | John Robertson was keeper of Neptune’s Inn at Banavie | |
| 1843 | on the canal, part of Corpach double lock collapsed | |
| 1845 | Corpach Hotel built | |
| 1840s | years of potato famine | |
| 1846 | Maiden voyage of the Glengarry steamer on the canal | |
| 1847 | Depth of canal increased | |
| 1849 | First Lochy Bridge opened, and the last of the Corpach/Lochy ferries to and from Fort William | |
| 1849 | Lochiel Arms Hotel (later the Banavie Hotel) built | |
| mid 1800s | When larger steamers began to use the canal to link Inverness with Glasgow, Corpach started to grow as a popular resort. | |
| 1850s | French gold coins found buried at Badabrie | |
| 1866 –1939 | Paddle steamer Gondolier plied the canal between Inverness and Banavie. Her service finally ended in 1939, when the Admiralty sunk her in Scapa Flow as a blockage to German shipping. | |
| 16 Sep | 1873 | Queen Victoria took a trip along the canal on the Gondolier |
| by | 1875 | township at Achnaherry, Glen Loy, in ruins |
| 1875 | Banavie School opened (its original site was just to the West of the present Masonic Hall) | |
| 1876 | possibly the end of charcoal burning in Gleann Suileag, after Bonawe ironworks in Argyll ceased operating. | |
| early | 1880s | Banavie Hotel enlarged |
| 10 Sep | 1883 | Photo of fishing boats at the top lock, Banavie, by Erskine Beveridge. The boats are presumably from Castletown on the Isle of Man (though the CT registration could also mean Cartagena in Spain or Trouville in France). Note the lack of trees. |
| Photo of Corpach sea lock by Erskine Beveridge, with boats from Inverness. The lock keepers’ cottages seen in the far right background still survive. | ||
| Photo of Corpach sea lock and lock keepers’ cottages by Erskine Beveridge. No sign of Corpach itself! | ||
| 03 Oct | 1883 | Photo of the Corpach entrance to the Caledonian Canal by Erskine Beveridge. Notice the paddle steamer, and the absence of the pepperpot lighthouse. |
| 1885 | Lochiel’s Hunting Lodge built at Achdalieu | |
| 1889 | West Highland Railway line to Fort William authorised by Act of Parliament. (Paul Biggin has plotted his own interesting timeline for the West Highland Railway) | |
| 1890 | Construction of branch railway line to Banavie Pier authorised | |
| 1894 | West Highland Railway line to Fort William opened, built by the North British Railway Company | |
| 1894 | extension of West Highland Railway to Mallaig authorised, (with stations at Banavie, Corpach, Locheilside and Kinlocheil) | |
| 1895 | Banavie Pier station opened | |
| 1899 | First ‘modern’ mart opened near Lochybridge | |
| 3 June | 1899 | The original Ben Race was started from the Banavie Hotel, the winner (in 2 hours 41 mins 12 secs) being a man from Torcastle. According to Am Baile, “the winner was Hugh Kennedy, the under keeper at Tor Castle”. |
| 1900 | Banavie Hotel lit by electricity | |
| 1901 | Banavie Railway Swing Bridge, engineers Simpson & Wilson, opened 1901 | |
| 1901 | Extension of West Highland Railway to Mallaig completed; Corpach station opened | |
| 1911 | First Kilmallie Scout Troup formed | |
| 1913 | Lighthouse tower built at Corpach sea lock | |
| 1914 –1918 | First World War. “The US Navy had a base at Corpach as part of the laying of the Northern Barrage. Mines were shipped into Corpach from the USA, and were then sent to the Inverness base along the Caledonian Canal”. (info from Wikipedia). US ships were delivering mines for the NE. Ships transferred mines to barges in the bay before moving through the Canal. The crew often camped, during transfer, in the grounds of Ravensdale House. One US sailor met a local girl and married her in Kimallie Church. About 2006 their daughter visited the Church. Info from Martin Briscoe: it looks as if Ravensdale was the headquarters of US Navy Base 18 (see old photos gallery). There were 65 US Navy men based at Corpach. There was also an American YMCA hut somewhere in Corpach. They shipped 1500 mines a week through Corpach onto the canal which ran around the clock during that period – extra beacons had been fitted. There was a gun battery at Corran to protect Corpach during WWI, one gun mounting is the base of the war memorial there and there is a concrete base by the roadside which looks like where they had the searchlight. |
| 1917 – 1919 | Banavie Hotel became the Lochiel Auxiliary Hospital for convalescent soldiers. They produced a paper called the Banavie Observer. | |
| 30 Nov | 1918 | ‘Corpach News’ in the Oban Times – American sailors left Corpach after being stationed there for ten months (thanks to Martin Briscoe for this link) |
| 1920 | Ownership of canal passed from Caledonian Canal Commissioners to Ministry of Transport | |
| 22 Aug | 1921 | MFV Rosie caught fire and was beached ?near Corpach lighthouse |
| 1924 | Banavie Hotel destroyed by fire | |
| 1927 | Remains from the old Bunloy burial ground were reinterred at Strone (due to river bank erosion) | |
| 1927 | The Glengarry steamer was scrapped, after travelling the canal daily for over 80 years | |
| 1929 | Kilmallie Shinty Club founded. They were given a pitch at Corpach by James Weir of Annat Farm. | |
| 1929 | The Second Lochy Bridge built | |
| 1930s | A830 road bridge over the canal at Banavie realigned from the third lock to its present position at the foot of Neptune’s Staircase | |
| 1939 – 1945 | Second World War. Naval repair base established at Corpach with HMS St Christopher used as a training base for Royal Navy. There was also a large camp at Annat. | |
| Collection of photos (taken 2007) of the various buildings of the naval repair base. | ||
| Collection of photos (taken 2009?) of various military camp structures at Annat (thanks to Martin Briscoe) | ||
| betw | 1939 –1945 | ??? 12 commandos drowned when their boat broke up in the rapids at Eas nan Long on the River Lochy |
| Sept | 1939 | Banavie Pier station closed to regular passengers |
| 1940 | Allt Dogha, Annat Burn was dammed to create a water supply reservoir for the new Annat Camp of about 200 houses | |
| c1940 -1950s | On the short road known as Annat Terrace (where Riddochs sawmill was later built) there were 4 Officers houses. | |
| 1942 – 1945 | 29 Commandos were registered as having died/been killed while training out of Achnacarry | |
| mid 1940s | Locheilside Hall built (east of the station but across the road). It’s believed it was built to provide social activities for the crews of the many ships anchored in the Loch. | |
| Feb | 1947 | The Coast Preventive Man’s office was situated at Corpach Cottage (thanks to Martin Briscoe for this link) |
| 1948 | North British Railway Company became British Rail | |
| 1951 | Torcastle House Hotel burned down. The proprietor was W Bremnar, who subsequently in 1952 ran the hotel at Achdalieu. | |
| Aug | 1951 | Banavie Pier station ceased to provide rail connection to canal steamers |
| 1952 | Achdalieu became a hotel | |
| 1959 – 1960 | Lochaber High School built, by Arnott McLeod, designed by the Inverness County Architects’ Office, at a cost of approx £270,000. The present site is about 2 miles from the old building. | |
| Aug | 1959 | Lochaber High School opened. The first head teacher was Dr Honeyman. |
| 22 Jul | 1960 | Lochaber High School officially opened by Under-secretary of State, Scottish Office. |
| 1962 | Ownership of canal passed to British Waterways | |
| 1962 | Locheilside Hall demolished | |
| 25 Oct | 1963 | Photo of dumper truck preparing site for Corpach pulp mill |
| 20 Nov | 1963 | Photo of construction labour camp at Corpach pulp mill |
| 1964 | Kilmallie Shinty Club won the Camanachd Cup against Inveraray | |
| betw | 1964-1969 | British Waterways mechanised the canal’s lock gates |
| 1964 | The Dulverton Trust purchased Achdalieu to run an outdoor centre | |
| 1965 | Pulp and paper mills opened at Corpach | |
| 1965 | The third Lochy Bridge built | |
| 1965 | Loch Eil Centre opened at Achdalieu | |
| 1965 | Banavie School’s present building was opened | |
| 1966 | Picture of dolphin cranes at pulp mill | |
| 1967 | Four storey extension built to Lochaber High School | |
| late 1960s | Last shop in Banavie, run by the Dohertys, closed and was subsequently converted to apartments by John Doherty. The Post Office was in a shed in the garden of the house next door (thanks to Christine Falconer for this – it was her grandparents’ house). Thanks too to Andy Goodwin for this photo. | |
| 1968 | Engine house at Corpach Sea Lock demolished. The pump was said to have been moved to the Science Museum in Kensington, London. | |
| 1969 | Kilmallie Hall was built (by Modern Builders, local Messrs Beecham and Mount) | |
| 1970s | A830 road bridge over the canal replaced, and A830 realigned across the Blar Mhor | |
| 1970s | Corpach pulp mill at its peak, employing over 900 people, providing 1000s more forestry jobs across the West Highlands, and consuming over 10,000 trees per day. See photo | |
| 1976 | further extension to Lochaber High School | |
| 1976 | Loch Eil Centre at Achdalieu became an Outward Bound Centre when the Moray Sea School at Burghead closed | |
| 1980 | Pulp mill at Corpach closed | |
| early 1980s? | Kilmallie Sawmill opened at Annat Farm – as Riddochs. (The access road to the farm had previously gone through the middle of the site. | |
| 1984 | reintroduction of steam train to the railway | |
| 12 Aug | 1991 | Queen Elizabeth II, from the Royal Yacht, arrived by tender at the mouth of the canal |
| 1993 | cairn erected at Erracht to commemorate the bicentenary of the raising of the 79th Cameron Highlanders in 1793 | |
| 1995 – 2005 | Major repairs to Caledonian Canal | |
| 1996 – 2010 | lifespan of Kilmallie History Group (are you interested in helping to get it going again?) | |
| 12 May | 1999 | Inaugural meeting of the new Scottish Parliament |
| 2002 | Great Glen Way officially opened | |
| 2005 | Corpach paper mill finally closed. Corpach pulp mill history | |
| Jan | 2005 | Big storm with tidal surge |
| May | 2007 | New Fort William Health Centre opens at Camaghael |
| 2008 | Corpach paper mill demolished |
| 2010 | Canal control box at A830 road bridge rebuilt | |
| 2010 | Tiller Girl Betty Locke and her husband Donald, now living in Corpach, celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary | |
| 2010 | Great Glen Shipping Co started trials to transport timber on the barge MV Kanutta from Loch Etive to Inverness, using the canal for freight transportation for the first time since WW1 | |
| 2010-2015 | Lochaber High School major refurbishment | |
| 2011 | Annat signal box removed | |
| 31 Aug | 2011 | Bothy at Gleann Dubh Lighe destroyed by fire |
| Nov | 2011 | Kilmallie Community Council website launched! |
| late | 2012 | new roundabout built on A830 at Blar Mor |
| 27 Jan | 2013 | 22:25h – The first normal operation of the new safety barriers at Corpach level crossing after the addition of barriers. (info from Martin Briscoe) |
| 01 Apr | 2013 | Massive wildfire threatened Badabrie, Banavie and Corpach |
| 07 Mar | 2015 | MV Fri Sea grounded at Corpach |
A Chronology of Fort William also gives some interesting historical information in a broader context.
(c) Kilmallie Community Council – Web site by magicscotland.co.uk
