War, and the threat of war, has profoundly affected the physical and social landscape of the Orkney Islands. Despite their narrative significance and enduring impact on the physical and social landscape, the utilitarian, temporary (and often ugly) nature of military installations and the upheavals that led to their construction tend to lead to such sites being overlooked, lost and then forgotten.

Since 2021, Dr Gavin Lindsay and I have been developing self-guided wartime trail leaflets to introduce the non-specialist to representative examples of the rich archaeological record left by the 19th and 20th century military activity in Orkney.

The fireplace and chimney stack of an accommodation hut; an unintended monument to WW2. Hoxa Head, South Ronaldsay. Photo: Ian Collins 2023

The Impact of War in Orkney

The vast, sheltered natural harbour of Scapa Flow was the Royal Navy’s main Fleet base during both World Wars, its strategic importance being largely due the proximity of the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The inadequacy of the existing defences at Scapa Flow was shown in October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of WW2, when HMS Royal Oak was sunk at anchor by the German submarine U47. A series of air raids followed, including one that almost sank the flagship, HMS Iron Duke. Consequently, the islands rapidly became one of the most heavily defended and militarised parts of the UK.

Homes and farmland were requisitioned, curfews and travel restrictions were imposed; the resident population of 22,000 islanders was outnumbered by the presence of up to 40,000 military personnel. The landscape was transformed by thousands of structures including roadblocks, command centres, fuel stores, power stations, railways, accommodation huts, gun emplacements, airfields, piers, barrage balloon sites, radio stations and, most dramatically, by the construction of the four Churchill Barriers.

The blockship SS Carron at the northern end of Churchill Barrier No.4 in 1947, one of five vessels believed to lie buried under the sands that have accumulated here. Photo: © Falkirk Archives Ref: P05692

The cabin and a collapsed mast are still visible in this photo by Elliott Simpson from 1990. Today, there are no visible signs of this ship.

A Lasting Legacy

The islands are remarkable both for the sheer number of sites that were not cleared or re-developed when the military departed. Many of these sites are unique (eg. the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, the Central Communications Building above Lyness and the Churchill Barriers), others are more ephemeral (eg. bomb-craters left by the Luftwaffe at Roan Head on Flotta or the anti-invasion defences of the Inganess-Scapa stop line south of Kirkwall). Some are perhaps the last remaining examples of their type (eg the ‘Z’ rocket battery on the Golta peninsula of Flotta).

There are also the profound effects of the Churchill Barriers on the local geography and ecology, most notably at barrier No.4 where the open stretch of Water Sound has been replaced by a vast accumulation of sand which has slowly buried the hulks of several blockships. The remaining earthworks and concrete structures have become enduring, if accidental, monuments to the military occupation and the cataclysmic events of both World Wars; it is quite possible that traces of these will persist for at least as long as the Neolithic sites for which Orkney is better known. It is interesting to speculate about how the remains of structures such as the isolated pair of air-raid shelters on the north-west headland of Glimps Holm might be interpreted by archaeologists in the distant future (see below).

Two air-raid shelters on the moorland of Glimps Holm at NGR: ND 471 993. The easternmost one, closest to the camera, is built of vaulted brickwork, the other of pre-cast concrete. Photos: Ian Collins 2022

Origins

The original inspiration for this project was the Lyness Wartime Trail, produced by the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme back in 2012. Since 2021, Gavin and I have been working on leaflets to cover the rest of the Orkney archipelago and have also updated the original Lyness Trail. This project has been supported by Orkney Archaeology Society, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Orkney Islands Council, Isle of Hoy Development Trust and the Scapa Flow Museum.

A grant from the The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, along with support from the Orkney Archaeology Society, Northern Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme and the Scapa Flow Museum have made it possible to produce the fourth and last in the series of leaflets, due to be published at the end of 2024. All of the leaflets are available free of charge at museum sites in Orkney and can also be downloaded in a device-friendly format here.

The existing trail leaflets have been supported by the Orkney Archaeology Society, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Orkney Islands Council, Isle of Hoy Development Trust and the Scapa Flow Museum.

Recording and Sharing

Gavin and I identified candidate sites for inclusion in the trails using:

1. Desk-based assessment (existing publications, large scale maps, primary documents held in The National Archives, Kew and the on-line Canmore database held by Historic Environment Scotland).

2. Walk-over (and drive-by!) surveys looking for remains or signs of military activity.

3. Conversation with local residents, many of whom also had interesting photographs which they kindly made available for inclusion in the leaflet.

4. Discussion with Geoffrey Stell and Andrew Hollinrake who are specialists in the military archaeology of Orkney. This process identified a large number of objects or sites that could have been included in the leaflets; these ranged in scale from the Churchill Barriers down to an inconspicuous inscription on a stone pier on Flotta’s Golta peninsula. The key objective was to enable a non-specialist to locate as wide a range of sites as possible and to gain a basic understanding of the purpose or significance of the original structure or installation and perhaps of its impact on the landscape.

Hoxa gun battery, South Ronaldsay c.1915 Photo: Orkney Library and Archive Ref: L9406/02

First-Hand History

One of the joys of undertaking research for these leaflets was meeting with local residents and hearing their childhood memories of the military sites and how they became wonderful playgrounds after the war. Many were able to share photographs; it was frustrating that there was not the space to include more than a few in the leaflets.

A memory shared by several residents was that of playing on the vast trampoline-like gun- laying radar mats. The performance of early radar was badly affected by uneven local terrain, the suspended ‘ground mat’ was designed to provide a flat reference plane to allow accurate calibration of the equipment. It consisted of an octagonal mat of chicken-wire that surrounded a mobile radar set mounted on a concrete platform. It was 120 metres across and suspended 1.5 metres above the ground by hundreds of wooden posts.

The extent of one of these mats can be seen on the aerial photograph of Mossbank heavy anti- aircraft (HAA) battery; extensive use of this technology during WW2 caused a UK wide shortage of chicken-wire. The HAA battery at Howequoy near St. Mary’s (site No.9 on the Scapa Flow-Eastern Defences trail) still has its radar ramp at NGR: HY 464 010 and a scattering of the wooden posts standing nearby (see below).

Perhaps most ephemeral of all are the stories of the people associated with these places. I hope that by encouraging interest in the recent archaeological record these trail leaflets will act as a memorial to them and to all those affected by armed conflict.

The radar ramp and one of the wooden posts at Howequoy HAA battery in September 2022. Photo: Ian Collins

Mossbank HAA gun battery in March 1944 (site No.15 on the Scapa Flow-Eastern Defences trail)
A = dummy emplacement B = gun emplacement. C = radar ground mat posts. Photo: The National Archives Ref. WO199/2710

APPLY FOR A GRANT

“I would like to record my thanks for the kind encouragement and guidance given by the team at the Society during the application for a grant. If you have a project that you wish to develop I’d urge you to discuss this with them. The application process is straightforward and you do not have to be a published academic (or even an archaeologist or historian) to apply.”

Find out more on the Society website and apply before 30 November.

By Ian Collins, a retired medical practitioner with a longstanding interest in photography, architecture and landscape.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this blog represents the views and opinions of the individual authors and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

Header Image: Hoxa gun battery, South Ronaldsay c.1915 Photo: Orkney Library and Archive Ref: L9406/02