Stranraer 19th Century Harbour

Stranraer's first harbour, the West Pier, was built in 1820. Before then ships had anchored offshore or made use of a series of unofficial wooden jetties to the west of the town at The Clayhole. The construction of the West Pier provided good berths - it also allowed the Burgh Council to collect harbour duties - and by the 1830's there were regular steam-packets sailing to Girvan, Glasgow and Belfast. The original pier survives although the ground reclamation to the west has given it a slightly truncated appearance. it is still used by a small number of fishing boats and pleasure craft.

The official Irish ferry service began in 1862 with the construction of the East Pier and the completion of the railway to Stranraer. The first sailings were to Belfast with the Stranraer-Larne service being introduced in 18712.

Contact

The Curator

Stranraer
Dumfries & Galloway
DG9
Scotland

Tel: +44 (1776) 705088