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

  SM8710_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600013404)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of two pillboxes of the 1939-45 war, situated to the E of the original line of the B974 Cairn o'Mount road. The new line of the B974 now runs between them.

The structures appear to be part of a line designed to block the passes across the Mounth and the hills to the west, to halt any southern-moving invasion force arriving on the beaches of Aberdeenshire. The structures may therefore be considered to be an extension of the stop line along the Cowie Water to the east. However, the firing slits on the boxes seem as much to cover the southern as the northern approaches; indeed their position on the north side of the river suggests they may be designed to stop a north-moving force.

Both pillboxes are built into, and are carefully disguised to look like, the red granite wall surrounding the garden of the farmhouse. The eastern pillbox is rectangular, c. 5m by 3m. The western pillbox is fitted into the the curved NW corner of the wall as it turns to the south.

The area to be protected is limited to the pillboxes themselves and a zone of c. 2m around the outer surface of the walls, as well as the surviving fragments of the granite wall linking them and an area c. 2m from both faces of the wall, the irregular area being as marked in red on the attached map. Road surfaces and the existing crash barriers are specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved pair of Second World war defences, a concrete reminder of a perilous time in British history. The pillboxes are particularly interesting because of the very careful efforts made to disguise them as masonry structures ' a feature not seen elsewhere on the Cowie Line or in the areas immediately to the north and west, where concrete with turf covering was the norm.

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.