Uisaed, Machrihanish Radio Station

A radio station was constructed in late 1905 as part of an experimental transatlantic radio system. It operated until December 1906 when the mast fell over during a storm.

The Wireless Station was never used again, but it was depicted on the OS 25-inch map (Argyllshire 1921, sheet cclvi 12 & 8) revised in 1915, and annotated as 'Wireless Telegraph Station (disused)'. As mapped it comprised a large building and three smaller buildings, the mast base and the anchor points for the guy lines.

Modern aerial photography shows many the concrete base of the main building, the mast base and anchor points.

Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 30 September 2015

NR 62835 20673 A desk-based assessment and archaeological walkover survey was carried out in advance of a new fish hatchery development at Lossit Point (Uisaed), Machrihanish, on the Kintyre Peninsula. The archaeological input had been requested due to the development being located in a landscape with high archaeological potential. In particular, the construction of the fish hatchery will impact on the site of the Wireless Radio Station at Lossit Point, which was constructed between 1905 and 1906. The station, along with a similar facility built at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, in the United States, took part in the first wireless communication transmissions across the Atlantic. The work was the brainchild of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, who has been named ‘The Father of Radio Broadcasting’.

A full inspection of the development area was conducted and all upstanding remains relating to the former wireless station were surveyed and recorded. These included concrete foundations relating to buildings, the concrete base of the mast/antenna which dominated this site when it was in use, and concrete anchor points for the antenna stays. In the time available during the survey, some features were recorded in more detail including the mounting blocks for the boiler and steam engine that powered the station, and a section of the antenna base that included ceramic insulators. Within the footprint of one concrete structure at the site, a water tank, disturbance by rabbits had revealed fuel waste (most likely from the boiler) and artefacts including industrial period ceramic and glass sherds.

One additional feature was recorded in close proximity to the development area. This comprised the remains of a Royal Observer Corp monitoring post, dating to the Second World War, and remained in use until 1960.

Although the Fessenden wireless station has been reduced to its concrete foundations, the site retains a number of significant features relating to its design and layout. The sister station at Brant Rock has been almost completely removed, with just the base for the antenna remaining, along with one of the concrete anchor blocks. Therefore, additional archaeological input has been recommended at the site, especially with regards to any elements of the site infrastructure that will be removed or destroyed by the development. The wireless station sites located at Machrihanish and Brant Rock contributed to some of the earliest trans-Atlantic transmissions and although the Machrihanish station only remained in operation for less than a year (due to the antenna being destroyed in a storm), it is important that the maximum amount of information is recovered before the new development takes place. The additional archaeological input recommended at the site, including targeted excavations and a watching brief, will also be supplemented by targeted research of all available records, to complement the information already gathered for this report. This will include data retained in the Fessenden Archive, held at the National State Archives of North Carolina in the USA.

Archive: WoSAS HER and NRHE – (intended)

Funder: MOWI (Marine Harvest Scotland Ltd)

Steven Birch – West Coast Archaeology Services

(Source: DES Vol 21)

NR 62835 20673 An evaluation was carried out prior to the building of a new fish hatchery complex at Lossit Point, Machrihanish (Canmore ID: 348773) which lies in a landscape of high archaeological potential. A desk-based assessment and walkover survey had previously been completed (DES Volume 21, 21–2). The construction of the fish hatchery will affect the site of the Wireless Radio Station at Lossit Point, which was constructed between 1905 and 1906. The station, along with a similar facility built at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, USA, took part in the first wireless communication transmissions across the Atlantic. The work was the brainchild of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, who has been named ‘The Father of Radio Broadcasting’.

The evaluation was carried out in July to September 2021 and included excavation and detailed recording of the remains of the engine house, along with an initial trial trench evaluation within the backfilled water tank, and a watching brief during ground stripping for the site of the proposed bell mouth access to the fish hatchery complex. The evaluation of the concrete structures forming the engine house revealed a significant number of features including the mountings and associated structures for the boiler, steam engine, and complex sending equipment. Some areas of the site revealed deep, backfilled features associated with water management and drainage at the site including a stone- lined soakaway that received wastewater from the boiler, steam engine, and general drainage for the engine house. The backfill of these features produced sherds of ceramic and glass that were probably used at the station, while the backfill of the soakaway produced a fragment of one of the wire braided stays for the main antenna/mast at the site, a coupling/fixing for one of the wire stays, fragments of ceramic isolators, and fragments of the steel mast itself.

A trial trench excavated within one corner of the water tank

on site, located to the SW of the engine house, produced a significant number of finds including glass bottles, ceramic sherds, fragments of ceramic isolators, capacitors, and a wide array of metal objects including tin food cans, buckets, fragments of farm machinery, and a steel bath. These objects were embedded in coal fuel waste from the boiler located in the engine house. While it is obvious that some of the objects recovered from the water tank are contemporary with the use of the wireless radio station, it is also clear that the water tank has been used for the wider deposition of materials from the surrounding farms and settlements.

Although the Fessenden wireless station has been reduced to its concrete foundations, the site retains a number of significant features relating to its design and layout. The only blueprints relating to the use of the site are for the main antenna/mast and the more delicate equipment associated with the wireless operations at the site. The evaluation of the engine house and water tank have therefore provided valuable information relating to the construction of the station and materials relating to its use. Archive: West of Scotland Archaeology Service HER and NRHE

Funder: MOWI (Scotland) Ltd

Steven Birch – West Coast Archaeological Services

(Source: DES Vol 22)