General view from SE.
SC 656651
Description General view from SE.
Date 22/5/1996
Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu
Catalogue Number SC 656651
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of C 73123 CN
Scope and Content Front block, World War II Garrison Theatre, North Ness, Longhope, Hoy, Orkney Islands During both World Wars the influx of tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel into Orkney meant the creation or adaptation of buildings for residential and communal use on a massive scale. Purpose-built accommodation huts and service buildings were generally of the mass-produced and pre-fabricated types which prevailed elsewhere in wartime Britain, and military sites throughout Orkney had a greater or lesser complement of such structures, the greatest concentrations being around the naval base at Lyness on Hoy and the airfields on Mainland. As well as catering for religious worship, the major camps boasted cinemas, concert halls and gymnasia, and shore-based recreation facilities, particularly on Flotta and Hoy, were provided for those whose accommodation was on board ship. Forming part of the main Service Headquarters at North Ness, Longhope, the most stylish of these surviving wartime buildings designed for entertainment is the former Garrison Theatre which dates from 1942. This view shows the surviving front block of the former Garrison Theatre. A distinctive structure of Art Deco style it is built of black rendered brickwork with white banded window bays, its appearance giving rise to its local nickname as the 'liquorice allsort'. Behind it in World War II stood a pair of Nissen huts, side by side, one housing a cinema, the other a dance hall, both entered through the wide porch at the front, later converted to a house doorway. 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.
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