Field Visit

Date 18 February 2020

Event ID 1113552

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1113552

Coastal Batteries of Scotland

This Fire Command Post, which is situated in semi-improved pasture immediately N of the track leading down to Site No.4, formed part of the infrastructure of the battery introduced by the Army in the Second World War. It is terraced into the E-facing slope and although its exterior has been whitewashed, it is also camouflaged with patches of green and brown colour wash. The building exhibits two phases of construction. The earlier phase is represented by what was originally a freestanding observation post, but in the later phase a radar room was added to its WSW side and two offices to its ENE side. The observation post then became a plotting room and herringbone parquet flooring was introduced into all three compartments.

The observation post is rectangular on plan and measures 5.8m from NNW to SSE by 4.5m transversely within cement-skimmed brick walls 0.3m thick and 2.25m high. It has a flat, bitumen-clad concrete roof which extends out over the walls. The canopy, supported by a frame of steel girders suspended from two vertical pillars centred in the NNW and SSE walls, overhangs a narrow, wraparound observation window that faces ENE. Some of the sheet-metal shutter plates by which this window could be closed still rest on a series of external horizontal metal bars jutting out from the wall below. A sheet-metal door situated in the WSW elevation at the NW corner of the building provides access to the interior. Recent graffiti and patches of a brown colour wash cover the walls and ceiling, which were originally whitewashed. Vestiges of two partitions in the NNW part of the compartment define a subdivision that once contained three pillars of the Directional Range Finder. A large rectangular hatch punched through the ENE wall at floor level provides access to the SSE office, while a smaller hatch in the WSW wall and an aperture for a power cable at floor level, connect through to the radar compartment. In addition, a short length of piping for electric lighting is also attached to this wall just below the ceiling and close to the SW corner.

The radar compartment attached to the WSW of the Observation Post is rectangular on plan and measures 4.25m from NNW to SSE by 2.75m transversely within cast concrete walls 0.3m thick and 2.25m high. It has a flat, bitumen-clad concrete roof, which slopes slightly WSW and extends out over the walls except on the ENE where it conjoins with the earlier post. A low concrete plinth positioned off-centred close to the SSE edge supports a metal plate sealing a rectangular aperture linking the radar antenna with the machinery below. Access to the compartment is by a doorway in the NNW elevation adjacent to that providing access to the observation post, but in this instance the door is missing. There is a broad, metal-framed rectangular window to its WSW. A similar window is centred in the SSE elevation, while two small square vents are neatly spaced just below the roof in the WSW elevation. The ceiling and walls within the interior have been whitewashed and are now daubed with recent graffiti. Markings on the walls and floor indicate that a partition originally divided the compartment into a small lobby on the NNW and a larger room to the SSE. A plank with three nails serving as coat-hooks is still attached to the ENE wall of what once the lobby, while a low concrete plinth situated below the window in the radar room was provided for the machinery connected to the antenna on the roof. This descended through the aperture in the ceiling and was supported by two iron braces attached to the SSE wall just below the ceiling. A space at the ENE end of the plinth permitted a power cable to run through the ENE wall to the plotting room in the observation post next door.

The two offices attached to the ENE of the observation post are rectangular on plan and measure about 3.2m from NNW to SSE by 2.75m transversely, within cement-skimmed brick and cast concrete walls 0.3m thick and 2.1m high. They share a flat, bitumen-clad concrete roof, which extends out over the walls except on the WSW where it conjoins with the earlier building below the wraparound window. Doorways in the NNW and ENE elevations provide access to the NNW office, but there is only one window, which is situated adjacent to the door in the NNW elevation. Both doors are missing, but the metal-framed window retains its external sheet metal shutters. A pipe for the chimney of a stove is situated below this window in the NE corner of the room. The ceiling and walls were whitewashed before the lower half was colour-washed brown. Bitumen leaking from the roof at the joint with the earlier post has discoloured the WSW wall. There are traces of a pendant light on the ceiling and a switch by the NNW door. Boltholes by the door in the ENE wall may mark the position of rectangular switchboards. There is no direct link between the NNW and the SSE office. A sheet-metal door in the SSE elevation provides access to the latter, which is lit by a window retaining a single metal shutter adjacent to the door and another window in the centre of the ENE elevation. While the hatch in the ENE of the plotting room is positioned at floor level, it is more than 1m above the floor in this office. The remains of a wooden frame on this side indicate that it could be closed with a sliding shutter. A circular aperture in the ceiling at the SE corner was probably provided for the chimney of a stove. The ceiling and walls are whitewashed, but also bear patches of black wash and a brown colour wash. Again, bitumen from roof has leaked through the joint with the earlier building and discoloured part of the WSW wall. There are traces of a pendant light in the centre of the ceiling, while the pipework for the electrical cabling passes along the top of the WSW wall and into the neighbouring office. Wooden battens for various fittings are also attached to the walls.

The building is annotated ‘F. C. Post’ (Fire Command Post) on a plan of the battery in the Fort Record Book held in the National Archives at Kew (WO78/5192). It is also visible on an RAF aerial photograph (Scot-106G-RAF-0751-6036) flown on 31 August 1945 and on an oblique from the E (USN 218 206-0097) that was also flown in 1945.

Visited by HES, Survey and Recording (ATW, AKK), 18 February 2020.