Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

EAST FORTUNE HOSPITAL, LOADING BAY AND STORES (FORMER GARAGE, ROYAL NAVAL AIRSHIP STATION)LB6340

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019 - See Notes
Date Added
19/06/1991
Local Authority
East Lothian
Planning Authority
East Lothian
Parish
Athelstaneford
NGR
NT 55244 79417
Coordinates
355244, 679417

Description

Circa 1916. Tall single storey, 3-gabled by 5-bay vehicle loading bay and stores; taller and wider central gable; component of former Royal Naval Airship Station. Concrete plinth with integral drainage channel, brick base course; white-painted corrugated iron; painted timber eaves course and bargeboards. Large, corrugated iron 2-leaf sliding doors to centre of N and S elevation. Single storey, 2-bay lean-to to flanking bays of N (principal) elevation.

Metal-framed, 9-pane windows with top hung hopper. White-painted corrugated iron roof; large rooflights to pitched roof at centre; ridge ventilators.

INTERIOR (seen 2010): steel roof truss supported on steel I-beams and columns; painted vertical timber-boarded lining to lean-tos.

Statement of Special Interest

A-Group consisting of East Fortune Hospital Welfare Office; East Fortune Hospital Offices; East Fortune Hospital Nursing Administration Block; East Fortune Hospital Stores; East Fortune Hospital Driver's Office; East Fortune Hospital Loading Bay; and Stores and East Fortune Hospital Recreation Hall (see separate listings).

This former garage is one of the few remaining original buildings of this significant former WWI airship base and the starting location of the first East-West trans-Atlantic flight. East Fortune is the most complete example of a former purpose built WWI airship base known to exist in the UK. The building is largely-unaltered and a rare surviving example of a corrugated iron military building of this period. A 1945 site plan records the building as a gym, but returned to its original function following WW2 (Derek Carter Associates et al, 2001).

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Admiralty established a series of home defence airfields along the North Sea coastline to protect the east coast shipping sea-lane from the threat of German submarines and the Zepplin. Scotland, in particular, played a pivotal role in coastal defence and developed a network of sites strategically concentrated along its east coast. In September 1915 the Director of Naval Air Services gave approval for an air station to be established at East Fortune. Its position was ideal for coastal patrols of the east coast and the Firth of Forth. The Royal Naval Air Station was officially commissioned on 23 August 1916, when the first airship arrived. It is understood that at least one of two coastal airsheds must have been completed at the point, along with the necessary ancillary buildings. In the winter of 1916/1917 the rigid airship shed was constructed after which the station was expanded. This included more airship hangers and the replacement of wooden barracks in brick. East Fortune was one of five airship stations in Scotland, and with Longside, Aberdeenshire was one of the two principal stations in Scotland designed to accommodate the larger 'Coastal' and 'North Sea' types of non-rigid airships as well as rigid airships.

Following World War 1 the airfield was used to launch the pioneering HMA R.34. This airship made the first East-West trans-Atlantic flight and the first return crossing by air. The airship station was closed on 4 February 1920 and in 1922 the large airship sheds were dismantled. The preceding year a portion of the airship station was sold and operated as a sanatorium until 1997, although it was temporarily requisitioned during WW2 and operated as part of the RAF and WAAF major training base. The brick barracks were converted into hospital wards and additional buildings constructed in brick, such as a large boiler house and laundry and canteen and meeting hall. The WWI barracks and the interwar sanatorium buildings still exist on the site.

The site is situated to the north of the disused East Fortune airfield, a scheduled monument (SM Index Number 4804). Since 1975 the airfield and associated structures have operated as the National Museum of Flight.

List description updated 2012.

References

Bibliography

D J Smith, Action Stations 7: Military Airfields of Scotland, The North-East And Northern Ireland (1983) p92. G D Hay and G P Stell, Monuments of Industry (1986), pp201, 235-7. B Quarrie (ed) Action Stations 10: Supplement And Index (1987), p45. P Francis, British Military Airfield Architecture: From Airships to the Jet Age (1996), p73. Derek Carter Associates, D Lee & J Renshaw, East Fortune Airfield Conservation Plan: Document 1 (2001). M Fife, Scottish Aerodromes of the First World War (2007), pp51-58, 60. RCAHMS, Canmore ID 56276 at http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/ (accessed 24th February 2011). History of East Fortune, www.nms.ac.uk (accessed 24 February 2011).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 13/05/2024 05:10