Nigg

By 300 AD local tribes had come together to create the kingdom of the northern Picts and the cultural importance of the Fearn Peninsula, within the kingdom, is shown by its magnificent early Christian monuments. Great cross-slabs were erected at Nigg, Shandwick, Hilton and Tarbat, all carved in the late eighth or early ninth centuries. For over 1200 years visitors to Nigg have been drawn to its magnificent cross-slab, now housed in Nigg Old Church. This is not only an important relic of the Pictish period but a major work of European art.

The entrance to the deep waters of the Cromarty Firth has been of strategic importance for centuries. In 1179 the Scots king William (later known as ‘William the Lion’) established a castle overlooking the firth, as part of his campaign to control the north. This was Dunskaith (Gaelic Dun Skàth – the Fort of Dread). A few traces remain.

The ferry crossing between Nigg and Cromarty was also important as the most direct route north and south. Two Scottish kings – Robert the Bruce and James IV – crossed here, both travelling to the medieval shrine of St Duthac at Tain.

The Cromarty Firth was a major naval base during the First World War and, to a lesser extent, in the Second World War. There are extensive remains of the fortification of the firth from these periods, including a mine store near here and gun emplacements on the North Sutor.

The headlands at the mouth of the firth were originally known as the East and West Sutors – but the Admirality, unable to adapt to the local sense of direction, changed this to the North and South Sutors in 1913, when the firth became a naval base.

The prosperity of the parish of Nigg has been based on both agriculture and industry. An eighteenth-century girnal (grain store) with crow-stepped gables is now part of the Nigg Ferry Inn. Grain was stored here before being shipped south to the markets in Edinburgh.

In the 1970s Nigg became a major centre for the construction of drilling platforms for the North Sea oil industry. A pipeline was laid to bring oil onshore from the Beatrice Field to storage tanks, from where it could be transferred to tankers berthed at the long pier to the west of here.

Here modern industry coexists with a rich natural environment. Nigg Bay is an internationally important habitat for waders and wildfowl – and a school of over 100 bottle-nosed dolphins swim here and in the wider waters of the Moray Firth.

Local History
		Click to download historical information about this area: NIGG - A Changing Parish by Anne Gordon. Document 01 (approx 500k PDF file) Document 02 (approx 500k PDF file) Document 03 (approx 600k PDF file) Document 04 (approx 500k PDF file) Document 05 (approx 600k PDF file) Document 06 (approx 50k PDF file) Get the latest version of  Adobe Acrobat Reader©. The Statistical Accounts for Nigg

Visitor Information
		Fearn Peninsula Partnership Representative: Helen Campbell Telelephone: 01862 863230
Accommodation
Nigg Ferry Hotel			01862 851440	Norman Kimber
Lower Pitcalnie Bed & Breakfast			01862 851445	Richard and Sabine Cross
Pitcalzean House			07793 457854 or 01862 851388	Janet Campbell
Places of Interest
Nigg Old Church & Pictish Cross-slab			01862 832214	Mrs E. Budge
Nigg Bay RSPB Reserve			01463 715000
Nigg Beach
Local Amenities
Nigg Village Hall			01862 851246	Thelma Weaver
Cromarty Ferry			01381 610269 07768 653674 or 07879 401659
Dolphin Ecosse Cruises			01381 600323
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