A Plan of the point of land at Arderseer [i.e. Ardersier] : with the design'd fort as trac'd thereon [copy] /
Skinner, William,1700-1780.
Heath, Joseph,active 1750-1759.
cartographic

[1749]
This and the plans at shelfmarks MS.1647.Z.02/57b and MS.1647.Z.02/57c are all probably copies of a missing original, which appears to have been William Skinner's initial design for Fort George, Ardersier, before anything was actually built. The "Board of Ordnance Register of Plans 1700-1800" only lists 6 copies and no original, dates them to 1749 and gives the draughtsman as "Mr. Heath". Joseph Heath was a draughtsman in the Tower of London Drawing Room from 1750 to 1759.
The original Fort George was founded on a site at Inverness Castle in August 1727, but was almost entirely destroyed by mines laid by the army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, in 1746, on their return north, just before Culloden.  As a result of the destruction, the decision was taken not to attempt to repair that site, but to build a completely new Fort George. The initial proposals by Lewis Marcell (see plan at shelfmark MS.1647.Z.02/83a, and associated sections) and William Skinner were for the site of the old Cromwellian fort, known as Oliver's Fort (see Louis Petit's map at shelfmark MS.1647.Z.02/78a), but eventually Skinner's second proposals for the site at Ardersier Point were accepted.
In top right hand corner: library shelfmark written in ink.
In bottom right hand corner: in box, title, "By William Skinner Director of Engneers", code letters and features on the plan to which they refer, signature "W. Skinner", and below "Bo.5 Fo.62".
At bottom of plan: ornate cartouche decorated with grasses and flowers, containing scale statement "Scale is One hundred Feet to An Inch", with 152.4 mm. scale bar graded [0]-100-[150]-600, and above "B.O" with upwards arrow, stamped in red.
In bottom left hand corner: written in ink "(24)".
Has watermarks.
Board of Ordnance. Register of Plans 1700-1800,
Marshall, Douglas W., "Military Maps of the Eighteenth Century and the Tower of London Drawing Room", Imago Mundi,
Shows Fort George, Ardersier Point, and aprt of Moray Firth, Invernesshire.
Board of Ordnance Plans,
Maps, Military