Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Rattray Line, pill box 855m south east of Rattray House

A Scheduled Monument in Peterhead North and Rattray, Aberdeenshire

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 57.5901 / 57°35'24"N

Longitude: -1.8354 / 1°50'7"W

OS Eastings: 409941

OS Northings: 855575

OS Grid: NK099555

Mapcode National: GBR P8TN.PTJ

Mapcode Global: WHBPV.SH66

Entry Name: Rattray Line, pill box 855m SE of Rattray House

Scheduled Date: 31 January 2006

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM11312

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: 20th Century Military and Related: Pillbox

Location: St Fergus

County: Aberdeenshire

Electoral Ward: Peterhead North and Rattray

Traditional County: Aberdeenshire

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a well-preserved pill box situated behind the dune system stretching from the Rattray Head lighthouse shore station to the south. The pill box is part of a larger defensive anti-tank stop line of 14 intervisible pill boxes and associated defences erected during World War II to protect against landings on the beach south of Rattray Head.

The pill box is situated on the slope of an escarpment overlooking an area of flat land behind the rear slope of the dune system; this area is now on the edge of the St Fergus Gas Terminal. The monument is a type 24 pill box with concrete firing shelves and without the usual internal ricochet wall, and is located at the foot of the escarpment behind what was an anti-tank ditch but which is now a modern drainage channel.

The area to be protected is limited to the pill box and a small zone around the outer surface of the walls. The area is circular with a diameter of 9m as shown in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The well-preserved pill box which forms this monument is of national importance both as a part of a significant defensive line constructed along the Aberdeenshire coast during the Second World War, and as an illustration of the ways in which individual elements along that line could be adapted to the configuration of the terrain in which they were located. Its importance is accentuated by the extent of the line.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NK15SW 6.06.

The other pill boxes are scheduled as SM Nos 11307, 11308, 11309, 11310, 11311, 11312, 11313, 11314, 11315, 11316, 11317, 11318, 11319.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.