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Fearn Airfield
Aircraft Hangar(S) (20th Century), Building(S) (20th Century), Dispersal Bay(S) (20th Century), Nissen Hut(S) (20th Century)
Site Name Fearn Airfield
Classification Aircraft Hangar(S) (20th Century), Building(S) (20th Century), Dispersal Bay(S) (20th Century), Nissen Hut(S) (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Hms Owl; Loans Of Rarichie
Canmore ID 114469
Site Number NH87NW 21.04
NGR NH 8465 7657
NGR Description Centred NH 8465 7657
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/114469
- Council Highland
- Parish Fearn
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Ross And Cromarty
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
NH87NW 21.04 Centred 8465 7657
On the N side of the airfield outside the perimeter track and beyond a modern fence line is a secondary techinical area along with several temporary domestic accommodation buildings. This area reflects the expansion of the airfield after the RN takeover. One Mainhill type 'S' survives being recently repainted and now in use for agricultural purposes. Other buildings of note are a large reinforced concrete and brick 'Stop Butt' (NH 8426 7644) for range testing aircraft cannon and machine guns, the aircraft having their tails raised to fire into the recess and a group of nissen huts with connecting passages (NH 8412 7643) which have been for administration purposes. Many hangar and hut bases a can be discerned in the grass and gorse with several more upstanding brick built buildings (NH 8443 7641) which have been the ablutions and shower blocks.
In addition there is a further two blast pens with air-raid shelters built into them, within the airfield perimeter, both of which have been half-demolished.
Visited by RCAHMS (DE) January and May 1997
Archaeological Evaluation (27 October 2021)
NH 84291 76487 An evaluation was undertaken in advance of a whisky maturation warehouse development near Fearn. The development comprised the erection of whisky maturation warehouses, cask filling and disgorging facility with associated tank farm, tanker filling bay, welfare facilities, car park and associated infrastructure on land 700m NW of Tower View, Fearn. The requirement for archaeological works arose due to the presence of a Second World War airfield on the site, as well as the potential for buried archaeological remains.
The topographic survey was carried out on 27 October 2021 and recorded 34 sites, mainly comprising the remnants of the Second World War airfield structures such as aircraft hangars, bomb shelters, a stop butt structure and nissen huts.
The evaluation was carried out on 1–18 November 2021. Eighty trenches were excavated across the proposed development site, sampling an area totalling 11,306m2 which equates to 6.5% of the total 175,000m2 available for evaluation. The trenches were situated to evaluate upstanding features, former military road surfaces, and greenfield areas identified during the topographic survey. A metal detector survey of 100% of the trenches was completed and resulted in the retrieval of an aircraft hangar light shade, iron pickets, practice bombs, and a tin marmalade lid. These finds provided details of the varied activities that have occurred on the site. No prehistoric archaeological features were identified. However, construction of the airfield as well as intense agricultural activity, as evident by the presence of numerous field drains and animal burial pits, may have destroyed any previously surviving prehistoric archaeology.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Blyth & Blyth
Callum Murray – AOC Archaeology Group
(Source: DES Vol 22)
