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

  SM13449_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014509)

Summary

Description

The monument is a coastal artillery battery built in 1915 and in use until 1918. The battery complex covers an area of 1.7 hectares. It comprises four concrete gun emplacements, a magazine with connecting trenches and banks, and the concrete bases of an accommodation camp and engine house or searchlight hut. The battery was sited to protect the western approach to Scapa Flow through Clestrain Sound and has good views to the N, W and S, overlooking Clestrain Sound to the island of Graemsay and Hoy Sound. It is situated 300m inland from the coast at around 15m above OD.

The four gun emplacements face W and are arranged in a line over a distance of about 60m N-S. They each measure 8.7m internally within concrete walls about 0.7m thick. All four emplacements are of open barbette type with chamfered edges to the parapets. The N emplacement has a ready-use ammunition locker, while the other three all have bolt holes to attach the lockers. A double-ended magazine is situated around 24m to the E and was safely accessed from the gun emplacements by two curving trenches which are still visible. The magazine measures 14m by 11.7m and is half-buried, with the entrances visible in the N and S. Associated features include a large rampart-type feature running along the front of the emplacements and, to the rear, the footings of two buildings probably representing the accommodation block and engine house or searchlight hut.

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 it has an inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, specifically, the network of defences constructed in the First World War to protect the key British naval harbour of Scapa Flow. Upper Sower battery is notable for the survival of intact gun emplacements and a magazine in good condition, displaying the smoothly-finished concrete construction characteristic of WW1 coastal batteries. After the sinking of the block ships in Burra Sound in 1915, Upper Sower battery provided important artillery cover over Clestrain Sound, which was by then the only navigable western channel into Scapa Flow. In conjunction with the surviving underwater site of the Clestrain Hurdles, the battery forms a key surviving element of the defensive network for the naval anchorage. Photographs of the coastal battery in use in the archives of the Ministry of Defence add to our understanding. If this monument was to be lost or damaged, it would significantly affect our ability to understand the nature and scale of the efforts made to defend Britain against enemy naval threats in the First World War and diminish the association between Orcadians today and their ancestors who lived and served in the Great War. These monumental concrete structures are a tangible and powerful reminder of one of the defining events of the 20th century.

References

Bibliography

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.