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

  SM5371_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011273)

Summary

Description

The monument consists of two guns with their emplacements and magazines, together with a command post, all dating to the First World War.

The two 6-inch naval guns on Swarbacks Head were landed from HMS Gibraltar in 1918 to protect the entrance to the deep water anchorage of Swarbacks Minn, which was used as a forward anchorage by cruiser squadrons. The guns survive in excellent condition, with their protective shields intact. They are set within individual circular concrete emplacements, each provided with two ready use lockers. Adjacent to each emplacement is a sunken concrete magazine. On the highest point of the headland, some 100m E of the guns, is a stone- built observation post, circular in plan, with a concrete roof.

The area to be scheduled is an irregular oval, with a maximum length of 250m ESE-WNW by a maximum of 60m N-S, to iclude the guns in their emplacements, their respective magazines and the observation post, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a very rare survival, a First World War coastal defence battery with its original guns in situ. The importance of the monument is enhanced by the good preservation of all main elements of the battery. Its location in this remote site, followed by its subsequent survival largely by virtue of its remoteness, serve to illustrate the contrast between the vital strategic role played by Shetland during both World Wars and its intervening and subsequent relative isolation.

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.