AA Battery Rosneath

The area of Parkhead, located on the south east corner of the Rosneath peninsula, was the site of two anti-aircraft batteries.

World War II

The first was a World War II battery, known as Dark Wood, constructed a short way to the northwest, but now demolished and the site cleared with no surviving remains evident.

Postwar

Buildings to southeast, looking to west, 2008

Buildings to southeast
� Lynn M Reid

The second was a postwar battery, part of the country's Cold War defences, and equipped with with four gun emplacements mounting radar controlled 5.25-inch guns, a computer room to the south, and an engine room with accommodation to the southeast. Officers' accommodation was provided in buildings at Culwatty Bay to the east.

The remains of the emplacements lie hidden with a wooded area to the west of Culwatty Bay, and southeast of Parkhead House. The four postwar emplacements are now completely obscured by the overgrown trees, originally planted to hide them from view, while the computer and engine rooms lie to the south, on open ground. Records indicate that guns were probably installed during 1951 and mounted in 1952, but were removed by 1956. RAF aerial photography taken in 1954 showed site to be inactive and apparently abandoned. Records show that twenty 5.25-inch guns were disposed of as scrap to McConnel of Coatbridge on July 16, 1956.

A photograph of the two surviving buildings to the southeast shows that the more easterly of the two was the engine room, characterised by a row of rectangular vents visible just below the roof line, and of a large metal double-door for access. This building has been reused by Rosneath Home Farm. The second building, further to the west, was the computer room, also built to a standard design, and is appears to be unused and in substantially original condition.

Postwar development

The officers' accommodation in the bay is reported to have been converted for use as private accommodation, and this probably applies to the two cottages to the north, named Culwatty and Appin. The third cottage, Greensisle, serves as the offices and control room for a degaussing range operated in the waters to the east by defence contractor QinetiQ, which gives the address of the facility as DG Range, Greenisle, Rosneath.

Site vist 2008

The four emplacements still survive in an area of woodland to the north of the site. They appear to be Type S, but are buried in the ground within a heavily overgrown area which has had considerable amounts tree roots and concrete rubble dumped on it, hampering positive exploration and identification. Only one emplacement still appears to have the full structure of the building surrounding the circumference of the holdfast. All of the entrances and holdfast areas have been backfilled with soil and rubble, and the buildings also appear to be flooded to a considerable depth. Surviving artefacts include a stanchion, one of a line evident on only one emplacement roof, and some upright steel pipes and galvanised steel air vents, some of which have survived remarkably good condition, and stand near the standard rectangular concrete roof vents seen on similar emplacements.

The computer room to the south is is typical of the type, complete with two small rooms attached to an annex on its southern side. The building is very well preserved and includes a section of square steel ducting between the main room and the small room to the right of the annexe. This small room had mountings on the floor which suggests some sort of forced ventilation may have been provided through the duct. The purpose of the other room in the annexe is not known. Unusually, two brick built alcoves still exist in the smaller room, but no indication as to purpose. The main room still has traces of fibreboard cladding which appeared to cover all the internal walls and the ceiling. Two heavy electrical cables with sealed and terminated ends rise from the floor of the main room, near the unidentified annexe room to the left.

Two further buildings lie along the track to the east. The first is an engine room, which follows the standard pattern of similar buildings found on other postwar battery sites. Inside the building the electrical isolators are still mounted on the wall, complete with cables rising from the ground. A rectangular annexe to the east of the engine room is an unusual addition, not been seen on other postwar sites. The building has two external doors located in the northern wall, but there is no communicating doorway or other access to the adjacent engine room.

Both buildings are in good condition with no signs of vandalism, although they have been reused by the farm.

A section of tarmac road lies outside the building, currently used to store cowshed waste.

Photographs

Photo gallery, 2008

As noted in the text above, the four emplacements have not only been heavily overgrown by the woods, but have also been subject to dumping of various debris, possibly from the farm, which has obscured much of the emplacement detail.

Computer room