Clyde Defences, Portkil Battery Land Defence, No 2 Position
Blockhouse(S) (First World War), Latrine (First World War)
Site Name Clyde Defences, Portkil Battery Land Defence, No 2 Position
Classification Blockhouse(S) (First World War), Latrine (First World War)
Canmore ID 331750
Site Number NS28SE 39.15
NGR NS 23678 81510
NGR Description Centred on NS 23678 81510
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/331750
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Rosneath
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Dumbarton
- Former County Dunbartonshire
War Office maps of 1916 (The National Archives WO 78/4396) show the outer defences of the Portkil Battery. In this area west of Londown reservoir, "No2 Position" is marked, comprising three 'blockhouses' (what would later be called pillboxes), at (No.3) NS 23632 81595, (No. 4) NS 23724 81583 and (No.4 original) NS 23719 81618. The first of these is shown as having been linked by telephone to the battery; the last pillbox is annotated on one map has having been destroyed by a storm and replaced by new pillbox.
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 15 July 2013.
Project (March 2013 - September 2013)
A project to characterise the quantity and quality of the Scottish resource of known surviving remains of the First World War. Carried out in partnership between Historic Scotland and RCAHMS.
Field Visit (26 September 2016)
The First World War defences at the NE end of the summit of Aiden Hill form part (No.2 Position) of a larger infrastructure designed to protect the Portkil Coastal Battery (NS28SE 39) from its landward side (see also NS28SW 5, NS28SW 30, NS28SE 39.16 and 17). Aiden Hill is a low ridge given over to both improved and rough pasture, and it originally supported two ‘Positions’ – No. 1 (NS28SW 5) at its SW end and No. 2 some 340m to the NE.
No.2 Position comprises the remains of two blockhouses (No.3 and No.4), the latter having been built a short distance to the south of its original location after the first structure was destroyed in a storm (annotated map - National Archives: WO78/4396). Suboval on plan, blockhouse No. 3 (NS 23644 81583) measures 5.6m across from NE to SW by 5m transversely within a grass-grown bank spread up to 3m in thickness and 0.4m in external height on the NW but only 0.1m internally. A shallow external ditch, which probably served both as a drain and a source of material for the bank, measures up to 2.5m in breadth but is not present on an arc running clockwise from W to NNW. Two short lengths of shallow ditch extend ENE and SW from the main ditch for distances of at least 8.5m and 5m respectively. The original entrance into the blockhouse appears to have been on the SE, where there is a pronounced dip in the bank; a large bite out of the bank on the west has probably been caused by erosion.
Blockhouse No. 4 originally stood 80m ENE of Blockhouse 2 at NS 23730 81606, but all that now marks its location is a grass-grown stony mound, oval on plan and measuring about 8m from NW to SE by 7m transversely and 0.3m in height. What appears to be a narrow causeway links this mound to a rectangular stance cut into the slope 22m to the WSW. Rectangular on plan, this grass-grown stance, which measures 2.8m from NW to SE by 2.1m transversely, probably marks the site of an earth-closet, though no structure is depicted here on the War Office map.
The original site of the blockhouse is linked to the rebuilt blockhouse (NS 23736 81573) 28m to the south by a shallow dog-legged trench. All that remains of the rebuilt structure is a waterlogged hollow cut into the natural NE-facing slope and drained on the east by a 5m length of trench. D-shaped on plan, with the chord of the D on the NW, where it is joined by the aforementioned trench, the hollow measures about 5.7m from NW to SE by 5.6m transversely.
Visited by HES, Survey and Recording (JRS, AK, AM) 26 September 2016.
