Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM13421_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014505)

Summary

Description

The monument is a late 19th-century coastal battery. It comprises two roofed rectangular stone-built huts connected by a curving earth bank, which protects two gun emplacement platforms. The huts are built of coursed and finely dressed mortared masonry and roofed with stone slabs, partially covered with turf. The southern hut measures approximately 3.1m by 2.3m and is aligned WNW-ESE. On the W (landward) side is a high lintelled doorway measuring 0.7m wide and 2m high. The interior is sealed with a floor of tightly interlocking stone slabs and the walls are dressed with mortar. The northern hut lies roughly 20m to the NNE. It measures 5.6m by 2.7m and is aligned NW-SE. The entrance is on the NW and measures 0.6m wide by 1.85m high. The interior has a fitted stone-slab floor and smooth walls. The roof is constructed of wooden beams, rafters and cladding, rather than stone slabs. There are horizontal wooden lathes built into each of the four walls. Connecting the two huts on the seaward side is a curving grass-covered earth bank, now measuring up to 8m in width and standing up to 1m high, but reportedly as high as the hut roofs originally. Behind this and between the huts are the levelled platforms of two gun emplacements. The battery is situated on the SE coast of Rousay at about 5m above sea level, overlooking Wyre Sound and Rousay Sound.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a rare survival of a 19th-century fortification, with the potential to provide important information about the design, layout and function of 19th-century defences. It offers an insight into the history of defence and the volunteer forces in Orkney and Scotland during the later 19th century - a time when there was a risk of invasion from France. The huts in particular survive in excellent condition, retaining many original features including roof slates, internal wooden fittings and mortared interior walls. This fine and unusual example of a 19th-century coastal battery built for the Orkney Artillery Volunteer Force is one of the best preserved examples of its class. The site is also significant for its strong associations with the infamous laird of Rousay, Lieutenant-General Frederick William Traill-Burroughs, who played a significant part in the suppression of the Indian mutiny in 1857-8 and, after his retirement from the army, became commander of the Orkney Volunteers. The loss of this monument would diminish our ability to understand the varied forms of coastal defence in the 19th century and the role of volunteer forces in Orkney and further afield.

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About Scheduled Monuments

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.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

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