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AA Battery Stockiemuir

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Stockiemuir site, 2009, Fox
Stockiemuir site

A postwar anti-aircraft battery was sited to the north of Glasgow, past Milngavie, northwest of the A809. Site number CD14a. Part of the , the site was known as Stockiemuir, possibly also Tamnetherskins, Quinloch Muir, or Finnich.

History

Records describe the battery as a Mark 6 site, equipped with four gun emplacements, and having at least five related support building to provide power, control, and other facilities, together with an accommodation camp. The battery is reported to have been visible on aerial photography taken in 1954 and 1960, but not in RAF aerial photographs taken in 1949, confirming the postwar nature of the battery. Later accounts give the build period as 1950-51, with radar controlled guns being mounted, but reported to have been disposed of as scrap by July 1956.

The site survives in a relatively complete state, with two of the technical support buildings (those nearest the A809) having been converted into private dwellings. The remaining buildings appear to be in reasonable condition, although their use, if any, is unknown. The gun emplacements are flooded. There is no evidence of the accommodation camp.

Detailed description

The 1997 RCAHMS record gives a particularly illustrative and informative description of a postwar battery, and is reproduced with full acknowledgement below, in the hope that it can be permitted to remain complete as a factual, informative record and account of such a facility:

The gun site is clearly visible on a series of large scale vertical air photographs taken by the Ordnance Survey (OS/66/96, 078-080, flown 29 May 1966), which show that most of the structures, with the exception of the accommodation camp, were still standing at this date. The battery and support buildings, except the accommmodation (sic) camp were enclosed within a high fence, most of which still stands and encloses a total area of 6.73 hectares. The four gun-emplacements (NS 50629 82430, NS 50670 82448, NS 50716 82453 and NS 50760 82443) are to a very different design to those built during World War II, taking a Y-shape in plan. The complete installation is visible on a series of vertical air photographs taken in 1966(ibid), which shows that one of the emplacements has been provided with some type of coating on the roof, appearing as 'black' on the image. Two huts situated at the entrance gate (NS 50649 82206 and NS 50653 82228), have both been converted to dwelling houses and are now annotated 'Wayside Cottage' and Queen's View' respectively. Three other buildings/huts still stand, at NS 50661 82281, NS 50679 82274 and NS 50697 82311, all of which provided technical or power support to the battery as cable trenches can be seen on the photogrpahs (sic) leading from the emplacements to that at NS 50697 82311. The larger buildings also have darkened roofs. The accommodation camp, centred NS 5077 8219, consisted of six buildings or huts. Only two other buildings can be seen on the sortie dated to 1949. At NS 50507 82038, on the N bank of the Auchineden Burn is a square structure visible on the air photographs of 1966, but not those taken in 1949 and which is also depicted on the current OS 1:2500 scale digital map. It is likely to be linked to the battery, either for sewage of water extraction purposes. Though all the gun-emplacements and associated workings are full of water, the battery is relatively extant and provides an excellent example of a post-war fully automated gun battery.
Visited by RCAHMS (DE, GS), August 1997

Site visit

A site visit was carried out during August 2009, when the site was found to be much as described in the above RCAHMS report.

The site area has a number of closely mown paths around it.

The second emplacement has been re-roofed with corrugated sheeting, while the fourth emplacement has a large water tank on the roof.

The small building in the valley to the west was examined, but the only internal feature found was a 2-inch pipe stub protruding from the floor. As the building contained several inches of animal dung, it was not possible to determine if any other floor features remained. In the burn adjacent to the west of the building appears to be a water abstraction point which is still in use. This may have been a pumping station for the site and accommodation camp. Northeast of the building, at least two concrete hut bases can be found. Further details of the sewage system were uncovered in the area, with three settlement chambers being found.

External links

Related Canmore/RCAHMS and ScotlandsPlaces (SP) entries:-

 

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Aerial views view


Map

  • ⚠ (:gma-point lat=56.0116621 lon=-4.3964624 link='Stockiemuir Battery' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5062982430 :) link='Emplacement a' :), ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5067082448 :) link='Emplacement b' :), ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5071682453 :) link='Emplacement c' :), ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5076082443 :) link='Emplacement d' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5066182281 :) link='Building tech a' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5067982274 :) link='Building tech b' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5069782311 :) link='Building tech c' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS50778219 :) link='Accommodation camp' :)
  • ⚠ (:gma-point ⚠ (:llVgm NS5050782038 :) link='Sewage/water building' :)

⚠ (:gma-map view=hybrid:)

⚠ [[!Cold War]] ⚠ [[!HAA Battery]] ⚠ [[!Clyde Postwar AA Defences]] ⚠ [[!Cold War Battery]] ⚠ (:WPCategoriesList:)

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