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Latitude: 56.1597 / 56°9'34"N
Longitude: -4.3651 / 4°21'54"W
OS Eastings: 253213
OS Northings: 698851
OS Grid: NS532988
Mapcode National: GBR 0V.HWWV
Mapcode Global: WH3MN.XFKS
Entry Name: Cobleland, pillbox 170m NE of
Scheduled Date: 4 February 2003
Last Amended: 28 January 2020
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM10826
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: 20th Century Military and Related: Pillbox
Location: Port Of Menteith
County: Stirling
Electoral Ward: Trossachs and Teith
Traditional County: Perthshire
The monument comprises a pillbox dating from the Second World War and visible as an upstanding building. The monument stands at about 10m OD above the east bank of the River Forth, immediately west of a dismantled railway and the main A81 trunk road.
This Type 22 brick and concrete pillbox was built in 1940/41 as part of local defences protecting Cobleland Bridge, 100m to the SW, and the site of a former road and rail bridge 20m to the NE. The largest of the seven gun ports face in these directions.
The entrance is on the WNW side. During the war, the nearby Gartmore Station (now Station Cottage) handled munitions; the policies of Gartmore House, 1.4km to the SSW, were utilised as an ammunitions dump; and Gartmore House itself and the village hall (formerly a disused church) were used as barracks and the officers' mess. Few pillboxes were built in this area of West Stirlingshire and Perthshire, as they did not form part of the main coastal anti-invasion defences.
This hexagonal building has measures 4.8m across externally (maximum) and stands 2.8m high with walls 0.6m thick. It survives to its full height and its roof is intact, although some of the upper courses of brickwork are beginning to deteriorate.
The scheduled area is circular with a diameter of 6.8m. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of a single-period World War II building, typical of Britain's defences. It is a rare feature in this locality of West Stirlingshire, as few pillboxes were constructed inland in central Scotland; a comparable example seems to have been demolished in about 1980. Its significance is enhanced given the availability of documentary evidence and oral testimony. The pillbox has the potential to contribute to our understanding of this period.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NS 59 NW 23.
Canmore
https://canmore.org.uk/site/100833/
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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