Invergordon (; or ) is a town and

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

Easter Ross Easter Ross () is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scotti ...

, in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

, Scotland. It lies in the parish of

Rosskeen Rosskeen is a parish in Ross and Cromarty on the Cromarty Firth in northern Scotland, containing the settlements of Invergordon, Bridgend and Saltburn, Ross and Cromarty, Saltburn. It lies on the A9 between Inverness and Thurso. Notable Buildi ...

History

The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area became a

police burgh A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975. The 1833 act The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 46 ...

in 1863 and

Invergordon Town Hall Invergordon Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Invergordon in the Highland area of Scotland. The structure, which is used as a community events venue, is a Category B listed building. History Following significant populatio ...

was completed in 1871. The Invergordon Grain Distillery, operated by Philippines-owned whisky giant

Whyte & Mackay Whyte & Mackay Ltd is a company producing alcoholic beverages based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of Alliance Global, Alliance Global Group, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia. History Charle ...

, was established in 1959. Connected to the distillery was the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band which was formed in 1964. In 1971, the British Aluminium Company, which was 47% owned by

Reynolds Metals Reynolds Group Holdings was a New Zealand–based packaging company with roots in the former Reynolds Metals Company, which was the second-largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third-largest in the world. Reynolds Metals was acqu ...

, opened an

aluminium smelter Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an List of alumina refineries, alumina refinery. ...

at Invergordon.

Naval base

The naval institute was designed in 1914 by Edinburgh architect Stewart Kaye in anticipation of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The naval base was the venue for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. Remains of the

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

are evidenced in the tank farm lying behind the town centre; the port used to contain fuel oil and water supplies for naval ships (see

Inchindown oil tanks The Inchindown oil tanks is a disused underground Oil terminal, oil depot in Invergordon, Ross-shire, Scotland. The tanks hold the record for the longest reverberation in any man-made structure, surpassing the Hamilton Mausoleum in 2014. Hist ...

). One German bomb hit one of the tanks during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when a large

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

base occupied much of the northerly coast of the

Cromarty Firth The Cromarty Firth (; ; literally "kyles

traits Trait may refer to: * Phenotypic trait in biology, which involve genes and characteristics of organisms * Genotypic trait, sometimes but not always presenting as a phenotypic trait * Personality, traits that predict an individual's behavior. ** ...

of Cromarty") is an arm of the Moray Firth in Scotland. Geography The entrance to the Cromarty Firth is guarded by two precipitous headlands; the one on the north high and the one on the ...

. The naval base closed in 1956 (though the Oil Fuel Depot was retained in service until 1991). On 27–28 May 1957 the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

held a fleet review in the waters off the town. Since 1978, the former naval base has been used as a deep water port which has been visited by many large

cruise liners Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

and allows disembarkation for

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

tours in the northern

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

. In the summer of 2017, the port was visited by the new

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' during her sea trials. On 19 June 2021 the last of the Batch-2

River-class offshore patrol vessel The River class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built primarily for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. A total of nine were built for the Royal Navy (RN), four Batch 1 and five Batch 2. One Batch 1 (), which was the Falklands guard sh ...

s, HMS ''Spey'', was commissioned at a ceremony at the former naval base. The

Royal Marines Band Service The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five Military band, bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMNB Portsmout ...

was at the ceremony providing musical support.

Culture

Invergordon has a number of painted

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s. There is a mural trail, designed to integrate local community groups, opened by

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

in 2007.

Infrastructure

The town is served by Invergordon railway station which lies on the

Far North Line The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-tra ...

, and is in close proximity to the A9 trunk road. As of 2012, there is a controversial scheme for a waste incinerator at the Cromarty Firth Industrial Park in Invergordon, which the Scottish government are now reviewing following protests by the local community. The £43 million plant would be built by Combined Power and Heat (Highlands) Ltd.

Education

Invergordon has one secondary school, Invergordon Academy, which is fed by four primary schools, Newmore Primary School, Park Primary School, South Lodge Primary School and Milton Primary School. In 2013 the Highland Council announced plans for a new "super school" to serve Ross-shire with the preferred option being that it be built in Invergordon. This has seen much protest by locals and is currently under review. If it went ahead Alness and Tain academies would close and there would also be a change to the local primary schools.

In popular culture

In Season 3 of Amazon Prime motoring series ''

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, for Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the depar ...

'',

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...

and

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...

visited Invergordon as part of their journey along the NC500.

Notable residents

* Jimmy Andrews, footballer *

Robert Brough Robert John Cameron Brough ARSA (20 March 1872 – 21 January 1905) was a Scottish painter born near Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty. Life He was born on 20 March 1872. at Garty Cottage, Kilmuir Easter, near Invergordon. His mother was Helen ...

. painter * John D. Burgess, piper * Allan Cameron, curler *

Bryan Gunn Bryan James Gunn (born 22 December 1963) is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After beginning his career at Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which he ...

, footballer *

James MacBain Sir James MacBain (19 April 1828 – 4 November 1892) was a politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), President of the Victorian Legislative Council. MacBain was the youngest son of Smith MacBain, of Invergordon, Ross-shire, Scotland, an ...

, Australian politician *

Rob MacLean Robin "Rob" MacLean (born 1958 in Invergordon) is a Scottish television presenter, football commentator and sports writer. He currently works for BBC Scotland and TNT_Sports_(United_Kingdom), TNT Sports. MacLean began his career with the Highla ...

, football commentator * Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Julian Robertson Oswald * Cheryl Paul, newsreader * Sir Charles Ross, inventor of the Ross Rifle *

William Ramsay Smith William Ramsay Smith (27 November 1859 – 28 September 1937), frequently referred to as Ramsay Smith, was a Scottish physician, educator, naturalist, anthropologist and civil servant, who worked in South Australia after moving there at the ag ...

, doctor and activist for Indigenous Australian rights * David Sutherland, comic book artist and illustrator best known for illustrating comic strips in

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

such as

The Bash Street Kids ''The Bash Street Kids'' is a comic strip in the British comic magazine '' The Beano''. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as ''When the Bell Rings!'', first appear ...

from 1962 until his death in 2023 and

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher ''Dennis the Menace and Gnasher'' (originally titled ''Dennis the Menace'' and currently titled ''Dennis and Gnasher'') is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic book, comic ''The Beano'', published by DC Thomson, of Dundee. ...

from 1970–1998. *

Luke Stoltman Luke Bernard Stoltman (born 22 November 1984) is a Scottish professional strongman competitor, who won the Scotland’s Strongest Man competition five times, Britain's Strongest Man 2025, Europe's Strongest Man competition two times in 2021 an ...

, five-time winner of Scotland's Strongest Man, 2021 Europe's Strongest Man *

Tom Stoltman Tom Ryan Stoltman (born 30 May 1994) is a British professional strongman competitor, from Invergordon, Scotland. He is a three time winner of the World's Strongest Man in 2021, 2022, and 2024. He also won the national title of Britain's Strongest ...

, brother of

, World's strongest man winner 2021,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...