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Sanday, Whale Head Chain Home Radar Station, Remote Reserve
Radar Station (20th Century)
Site Name Sanday, Whale Head Chain Home Radar Station, Remote Reserve
Classification Radar Station (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Lettan
Canmore ID 141083
Site Number HY74NE 9
NGR HY 75875 45478
NGR Description HY 75875 45478, HY 75817 45582 and HY 75821 45380
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/141083
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Lady
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY74NE 9 75875 45478, 75817 and 75821 45380
The remote reserve radar station for Whale Head Chain Home Low radar station is situated at Lettan, 1200m to the N, two buildings lie to the W and one to the E of the public road. . The shuttered concrete power station with two entrance-ways has a turf covered roof. Also constructed of shuttered concrete, the transmitter and receiver blocks have turf covered roofs with the mast bases to one side. One block has ventilator shafts protruding from the roof.
Visited by RCAHMS, August 1996.
The remote reserve comprises three elements, a Transmitter (Tx) block, Receiver (Rx) block and and a large electricity generating house (HY 75875 45478). All are constructed of reinforced shuttered concrete and were formerly covered with earth.
Both the Rx and Tx blocks retain their earth covering, whilst the engine house has been almost completely exposed.
All three bunkers are visible on WW II RAF vertical air photographs (WL/10, 1.78-1.79, flown 4 July 1942), which show that during World War II all three has been covered in earth.
Information from RCAHMS (DE), January 2005.
This is a Chain Home radar station, not a Chain Home Low station.
Information from Mr I Brown, Radar Archive, 24 October 2005.
Two mast bases are visible on oblique aerial view taken in 2008 (RCAHMSAP 2008), at HY 75805 45387 and HY 75817 45562. The engine house is also visible on the images.
Information from RCAHMS (DE), March 2009.
