AA Battery Foxbar

A World War II anti-aircraft battery was sited to the southwest of Paisley. Part of the Clyde AA Defences, the site was known as Foxbar, or Gleniffer Braes.

The battery was equipped with four emplacements and does not appear on the 1941 aerial photograph. The date of construction is unknown.

Other than the holdfasts, all the visible structures relating to the battery have been removed from the site, which can be found along the remaining access road, west of the B775 Gleniffer Road near an electrical substation.

Site Visit

A site visit was carried out in March 2009 following on completion of the new section of the substation. Only 3 of the holdfasts are extant. The 4th, (labelled as "a" on the map below) has been swallowed up either in the development or the earth banking round it. One large concrete hut base was also identified along with the WWII access road for much of its length. There were no further remains and the site shows no signs of anything else having ever existed. It has to be said that the single hut base and the 4 holdfasts are apparently identical to those found at the Craigmaddie Muir Decoy Site.

Starfish decoy site

The same area has also been recorded as the site of the Gleniffer Braes Decoy, which was a World War II Starfish decoy. Most of this site is now under the sub station and, although the more north easterly areas are clear, there are no visible remains.

The electrical substation near the site was upgraded in 2005, when some excavations were carried out. The reported findings included "a gun emplacement, nine concrete plinths and a length of trackway".