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 just below the crest of the escarpment, so that it is in an elevated position, but has a minimal silhoutte. In this instance the camouflage effect is improved as the pill box is partially excavated into the hillside and retains its turf capping.

The area to be protected is limited to the pillbox 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 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 NK15NW 1.09

The other pill boxes are scheduled as SM Nos 11307, 11308, 11309, 11310, 11311, 11312, 11314, 11315, 11316, 11317, 11318, 11319, 11320.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland