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Field Visit
Date 9 August 2022
Event ID 1148292
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1148292
The gun battery at Braefoot was defended by an inner ring of six pillboxes, referred to as blockhouses on a contemporary plan (Ordnance Survey 1918), linked by a palisade (boundary fence). Blockhouse No. 4 is situated on the highest part of the site in an ideal place for such a structure, but the size and design of the building, with its large, barred windows, high walls and two rounded corners is quite unlike any of the other freestanding pillboxes at Braefoot. The building is irregular on plan, measuring 8.36m along the front (SW) side which contains an entrance close to its SE end and two windows. The SE end of the building meets the front at a right angle but its NE end is rounded on to the rear (NE) face of the building which, in turn, is rounded onto the W face.
It seems likely, then, that its role as a pillbox was secondary to its principal function. Unfortunately, neither the 1912 War Office plan (National Archives WO 78/5169) nor the OS plan referred to above provides any clue as to its main function. All of the openings have been blocked but the partial removal of one of these blockings at the W end of the S side allows the interior to be viewed. An obvious feature to note is the false ceiling that has been suspended below a framework of timber attached to the three steel beams that support the concrete roof. The purpose of this false ceiling, which was not an original design feature, is not known. The floor of the building, though littered with rubble and rubbish on the date of visit, appears to be featureless. Specifically, there is no evidence for concrete plinths that would have been present if the main function of the building was an engine-house, a building whose location has yet to be determined. The purpose of a vertical steel beam on the roof is not known.
Visited by HES Archaeological Survey (J. Sherriff, A. McCaig), 9 August 2022.
Ordnance Survey 1918. 1:360 scale plan of Special Survey War Department Site at Braefoot Point, Fifeshire - NLS: MapArea.C18:13(05).
War Office 1912 Plan, elevations and other details of the proposed gun battery at Braefoot Point. The National Archives, WO 78/5169.
