View from S.

Description View from S.

Date 29/5/1996

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number C 73168 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 369842

Scope and Content World War II pillbox, Quarry Cottage, Hatston, Kirkwall, Mainland, Orkney Islands In World War II there were four main military airfields in Orkney, two of which were originally operated by the Royal Navy (Twatt and Hatston) and two by the Royal Air Force (Skeabrae and Grimsetter), Grimsetter, now Kirkwall Airport, being transferred to the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945. Hatston, operational at the outbreak of war in September 1939 and shortly afterwards commissioned as HMS Sparrowhawk, had the distinction of being the first purpose-built Royal Naval Air Station in Britain and the first aerodrome in Scotland to have runways with hard tarmacadam surfaces. Commanding a good vantage point above Hatston Farm, this pillbox formed part of the perimeter defences of the former naval airfield at Hatston. It is of the commonest six-sided type of pillbox (known as Type 22 or FW 3/22) with a gun embrasure in each wall and the entrance, seen here partly infilled, facing the expected direction of attack. This one owes its distinctive appearance to the fact that, apart from the roof canopy and the surrounds of the openings, it is constructed entirely of solidified bags of concrete. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Medium Colour negative

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