Description

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

The pill box is situated on Rattray Head, looking down and covering an area of flat land behind the rear slope of the dune system. It is a type 24 pill box with concrete firing shelves but without the usual internal ricochet wall.

The area to be protected is limited to the pillbox itself and a zone of 2m around the outer surface of the walls as shown in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The 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 a unique illustration of one 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 and completeness of the line, which includes 14 pill boxes in total.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NK05NE 17.01.

The other pill boxes are scheduled as SAM Nos 11307, 11308, 11309, 11310, 11311, 11312, 11313, 11314, 11315, 11317, 11318, 11319, 11320.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland