Description

Circa 1917, incorporating fabric of circa 1882 (see Notes). East and West Breakwaters extending into River Forth. Both faces of each breakwater protected with rock armour of boulders and concrete blocks. E breakwater has slightly angled tip. Raised roadway to end of W breakwater with battered sandstone or concrete block retaining walls.

Statement of Interest

B-Group with Power Station, West Pier and Capstan.

These breakwaters define the seaboard boundaries of Port Edgar, which has considerable historical interest for its former use as a Royal Naval base for the servicing of Torpedo Boat Destroyers in the 1st World War and as a Minesweeping base in the 2nd World War (see below).

Port Edgar has long been used as a crossing point to Rosyth, and a harbour pier was built here in about 1810, roughly in the location of the present E pier and slipway. In the 1860s the South Queensferry Branch of the North British Railway was opened to Port Edgar, and the port was used as the crossing place for railway passengers. In the 1880s both breakwaters were constructed; Cmdr Jenkins notes that the E breakwater was constructed first. The W breakwater was built as the Southern terminus for the railway ferry and originally had a landing stage at the end. Port Edgar was of considerable importance to the building of Forth Bridge, as it handled most of the materials used for the construction of the bridge. The ferry crossing was no longer used after the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890, but the NBR used the port as a depot for creosoting railway sleepers until 1914.

In 1916 Port Edgar was acquired by the Royal Navy, and was commissioned as HMS Columbine in 1917 for use as a Destroyer Base for the Grand Fleet. Unlike most ships, Destroyers were not self-supporting and required special servicing facilities that were provided at Port Edgar. During the 2nd World War Port Edgar was commissioned as HMS Lochinvar and became the main minesweeping base in Scotland. It continued in use as the Royal Navy's training base for minesweeping until it closed in 1975.

The Navy carried out a considerable amount of work at Port Edgar in 1916-18. Both the breakwaters were strengthened and the E one was extended slightly. The Railway landing stage at the end of the W. breakwater was demolished, and a new pontoon landing stage was built on the inner side of it for Grand Fleet Drifters and Libertymen. An aerial photograph taken in about 1918 shows that the breakwaters have not been significantly altered since then, with the exception of the removal of the pontoon landing stage on the W breakwater.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780099

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas