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Neptune's Staircase is a series of eight locks forming part of the Caledonian Canal at Banavie near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1822, the lock flight represents a major feat of early nineteenth-century civil engineering, constructed to allow vessels to navigate the 64-foot change in water level between Loch Lochy and the sea loch of Corpach. The distinctive stepped arrangement of the masonry locks, descending in succession, gives rise to their poetic name, referring to a passage from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The structure remains one of the finest surviving examples of Regency-era canal engineering and continues to function as part of the operational waterway connecting the Atlantic to the North Sea.
Caledonian Canal,Neptune's Staircase,canal locks,Banavie is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3530. View the official record →
Neptune's Staircase is a series of eight locks forming part of the Caledonian Canal at Banavie near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3530.
Caledonian Canal,Neptune's Staircase,canal locks,Banavie is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM3530.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Caledonian Canal,Corpach to Banavie (0.8 km), Inverlochy Castle (1.7 km), Caledonian Canal,Corpach Locks and Basin (1.8 km).
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on scheduled monument data, Domesday records, Roman heritage, PAS finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Caledonian Canal,Neptune's Staircase,canal locks,Banavie