Records of Danish attacks on nearby islands, particularly
Inchcolm as well as Fife and Lothian may mean that it was used in some capacity by them. The island was licensed by
King James IV to John Dundas of
Dundas with the power to build a fort on 20 March 1491. John Dundas did not build the castle, and James IV himself ordered a strong tower to be built in 1513. From 23 December 1514, Charles Dennison, Captain of Inchgarvie managed and fed a large royal construction team. The master mason was John of Cumbernauld, with his "servitor" John Strathauchin, who directed eight other masons and ten labourers. Margaret, Lady of Dundas gave them two boats. Two 'serpentine' guns and guns from Colstone were placed on the island after a visit by artillery experts in July 1515, and the island was equipped with a "blawing horne." There was also a chapel. The
Duke of Albany installed a French garrison in November 1521. The Laird of Dundas was paid £33 for repairing the fortress in March 1533. The fort was captured by
Richard Brooke in the
Galley Subtile on 6 May 1544 during an
attack on Edinburgh and demolished a week later. The English commander
Lord Hertford wrote that it would have been useful to garrison Inchgarvie, but his orders from
Henry VIII would not allow it. In 1547, after the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Inchcolm and
Inchkeith were fortified by the English, and held for two years; it is possible that Inchgarvie was fortified at this period too.
Prison Between 1519 and 1671, the castle was used as a prison, and in 1580 Inchkeith and Inchgarvie were made a place of exile for the plague-stricken by order of the Privy Council. On 6 September 1627, the Laird of Dundas was invited to meet the Privy Council at South Queensferry and discuss building a modern fort on the island. Like Inchkeith, Inchgarvie had a quarantine hospital, and a prison.
Oliver Cromwell had this demolished. During the reign of
Charles II as
King of Scots, the island was subject to continued maintenance for defensive purposes. The island was inspected by Charles in 1651 before falling into disrepair after his army was defeated by
Oliver Cromwell at the
Battle of Worcester. In 1707 the island is known to have been rented to
Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery. In 1779, however, the island's fortifications were renewed once more, in response to the threat posed by
John Paul Jones, American Naval Commander, who harassed British ships from a base in the Forth. These fortifications were never used in anger. During the Napoleonic period, the threat from the sea meant gun batteries were created in 1806.
Forth Bridge In 1878 the foundations for
Thomas Bouch's Forth Bridge were laid on Inchgarvie (and their bricks remain), but after the
Tay Bridge Disaster, these plans were abandoned, and the island languished until the west end of the island was extended with a pier, and used as the foundation for one of the
Forth Bridge's cantilevers. The island, due to its proximity to the bridge, was also used as a construction office for the bridge, as well as accommodation for its workers within the re-roofed castle buildings. Some of the stone from the former castle was used to help build the
caissons of the Forth Bridge.
Defence operations The island became of renewed importance to the security of the
Firth of Forth at the beginning of the 20th century. It was armed with two 12-pdr guns in 1901, in conjunction with gun emplacements on the mainland to the north (at
North Queensferry) and to the south (at
Dalmeny). Although the island's guns were removed from the approved armament in 1906, they were re-instated in 1908. The number of guns was increased to four in the early months of the
First World War. The island's guns were removed from the approved armament of the Forth in the early 1930s. The guns may have survived for drill and practice until the beginning of the
Second World War, during which the island was armed only with machine guns. The island's defences were intended (until 1905) to cover the controlled
minefield laid across the river and later to tackle fast-moving torpedo boats attempting to enter the naval anchorage above the
Forth Bridge or to damage the lock gates of the
Rosyth Dockyard. ==Geology==