The Magazine and Gun Emplacement, St Kilda A Conservation Statement George Geddes BSc MA AIFA LAAIS FSA Scot The National Trust for Scotland 22nd December 2008 St Kilda - The Magazine and Gun Emplacement, A Conservation Statement 2 1. ABSTRACT This document is intended to support and inform the future management of the Gun Emplacement and Magazine at Village Bay, St Kilda. It describes the World War 1 activity on St Kilda, and similar sites in Scotland in order to provide a background for understanding. The features are described in detail, phase by phase, using a combination of primary archival material, secondary sources and an historic building survey. An assessment of significance is presented to clarify what is important and valuable about the features, and a short section is included describing potential vulnerabilities and issues with the management of the features, followed by a summary of the vision for gun and magazine. The document was produced internally by the National Trust for Scotland, with particular recourse to guidance produced by the Heritage Lottery Fund (2004). George Geddes Page 2 St Kilda - The Magazine and Gun Emplacement, A Conservation Statement 3 2. CONTENTS 1. ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................... 2 2. CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. 3 3. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4 4. UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE, THE BROAD CONTEXT...................................................... 7 4.1. Previous discussions ...................................................................................................... 7 4.2. Magazines and gun emplacements.......................................................................10 Introduction ........................................................................................................10 The national context.........................................................................................10 4.3. Historical development..............................................................................................14 Military activity before 1914.............................................................................14 The Daily Mail and the first Radio Set.............................................................14 The First World War ............................................................................................14 The U-boat Attack .............................................................................................18 5. UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE, THE SPECIFIC FEATURES .................................................21 5.1. Phase 1 - 1918..............................................................................................................21 5.2. Phase 2 - 1919 to 1957................................................................................................23 5.3. Phase 3 – 1957 to 2008 ...............................................................................................24 6. ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE........................................................................................26 6.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................26 6.2. General statement of significance..........................................................................26 6.3. Key elements of value of the gun emplacement and magazine.....................27 6.4. Detailed assessment of significance by historical phase ....................................29 Phase 1 – 1918....................................................................................................29 Phase 2 – 1919 to 1957......................................................................................30 Phase 3 – 1957 to present ................................................................................30 7. ISSUES AND VULNERABILITIES .............................................................................................32 7.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................32 7.2. Physical Issues affecting the fabric of the features ..............................................32 7.3. Broader concerns .......................................................................................................32 8. VISION...................................................................................................................................34 8.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................34 8.2. The gun emplacement and magazine ..................................................................34 8.3. Specific elements .......................................................................................................34 Gun ......................................................................................................................34 Holdfast ...............................................................................................................34 Parapet ...............................................................................................................34 Access trench and magazine trench............................................................35 Magazine............................................................................................................35 9. SUGGESTIONS FOR A WAY FORWARD ............................................................................35 9.1. Solutions to physical issues ........................................................................................35 9.2. Solutions to broader concerns .................................................................................36 10. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES ....................................................................................39 10.1. Published references..................................................................................................39 10.2. Unpublished references.............................................................................................39 11. APPENDIX 1..........................................................................................................................41 George Geddes Page 3 St Kilda - The Magazine and Gun Emplacement, A Conservation Statement 4 3. INTRODUCTION The magazine and gun emplacement on Hirta are situated close to the sea overlooking a glacial till cliff at the south-west extremity of Village Bay (NF 1042 9902). They were built between August and October 1918 by a combination of military staff, contractors and St Kildans, and acted as an adjunct to the existing Royal Navy W/T (wireless telegraph) and Signal Station and as a response to the German U-boat attack of 15th May 1918. The group of features is uniquely significant in St Kilda’s built heritage, as the first surviving indication of military activity and a stark example of external influence on the island group. The features consist of a concrete gun emplacement (a holdfast and parapet), with an 1896 4” Mark III QF1 naval gun on a PI2 mounting and, immediately to the north, a revetted access trench to a small sunken magazine for storing ammunition. They are recorded in the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) as NF19NW 61; a gun emplacement and magazine. The magazine is often referred to as the munitions store, but the original contractor’s descriptions are of a magazine and this is the normal parlance in the NMRS. The features lie within the Scheduled Ancient Monument of Village Bay which encompasses much of the historic landscape below the skyline from Oiseval in the north to Ruaival in the south. They are sited within a National Nature Reserve (NNR), a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Geological Conservation Review Site, a National Scenic Area, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area - St Kilda’s natural heritage designations applying to the whole archipelago. St Kilda was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its cultural and natural heritage in 2005, one of only 25 sites with dual status in the world. It is worth noting that this accolade was awarded with reference to the completeness of the fossilised 19th century settlement and agricultural remains, the spectacular landscape setting adapted by people through millennia, the perceived remoteness of the islands, the vivid human story, and the wealth of documentary evidence (UK 2003, 12). The Village Bay of St Kilda looking North West with the military base in the middle ground and the crescent shaped street of the 1830s behind. The gun and magazine are the first features by the shore. Photo © David Geddes 1 QF stands for ‘quick firing’ 2 P stands for pedestal mounted, I is a numeral denoting type George Geddes Page 4 St Kilda - The Magazine and Gun Emplacement, A Conservation Statement 5 The main scheduled area on Hirta with the position of the gun emplacement and magazine highlighted as ‘Site’ The archipelago was gifted by the Marquis of Bute to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957. Immediately thereafter a lease was agreed with the Ministry of Defence for the establishment of a military radar station on Hirta as part of the Hebrides Missile