Description

The monument comprises the remains of a flame trap, or fougasse, dating to the Second World War. It is visible as a small group of structural remains, including a small brick building, a square trench and the remains of the concrete and steel oil storage tanks. It is located on top of a small roadside scarp, on the inside of a blind corner on the B6355 road.

The most visible remaining element of the site is a small brick and concrete building, roughly square in plan and measuring around 1m in width, and which may be the former control building for the trap. Around 5m to the north of this building is the remains of the oil storage tanks for the trap, which comprised multiple steel barrels encased within concrete. This part of the trap was partially demolished, but the remains have been left in situ and both the structural concrete and the oil barrels themselves are clearly visible. The final visible feature is a small rectilinear pit slightly east of the brick and concrete control building, similar in size to the control building itself. 

The scheduled area is irregular. 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 shown in red on the accompanying map. To the south west it extends up to, but does not include, the road verge. 

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17): a.  The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past, or has the potential to do so, in particular as an example of the wide range of defences that were developed on the home front in the Second World War. b.   The monument retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. The major elements of the site all appear to remain in situ, and there is also significant potential for additional buried archaeological deposits relating to the site's construction, use and demolition to survive.c.   The monument is a rare example of a Second World War flame trap surviving. Although many thousands were built, the vast majority were demolished or removed during or after the conflict, and very few are known to exist today.  e.   The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past, in particular the wide variety of designs and approaches used in the home front defences during the Second World War. g.  The monument has significant associations with historical, traditional, social or artistic figures, events or movements, in particular the Second World War, one of the defining events of the 20th century.

Assessment of Cultural Significance

This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:

Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)The monument is the remains of a Second World War flame trap, or fougasse. It is located on top of a small scarp overlooking a bend in the modern B6355 road. The site comprises three main elements. The first is the small brick and concrete structure, likely to be a control building or observation post for the flame trap. The second is the remains of the trap itself, comprising the steel barrels to hold the fuel and the remains of the concrete mountings for the barrels. This section of the site has been demolished at some point, although the material remains in situ and recognisable. Because of the demolition, the precise design and layout of this trap is unclear, but it appears to be of the demigasse type, with the fuel flowing directly from the barrels onto the roadway to block the route. The third feature is a small rectilinear pit to the east of the control building. It is not definitively what this feature is, or how it relates to the trap, but it is similar in size and appearance to rifle pits found on other home front defensive sites and may represent such a feature.

Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)The flame trap, or fougasse, was a Second World War defensive structure, designed to act as an obstruction to enemy movement in the event of an invasion of the British Isles. They functioned by igniting a liquid fuel source, usually a mix of oil and petrol, which would be used to cover a transportation route in a substantial area of flame (around 40 sq. m per barrel of fuel), killing any enemy personnel and disabling vehicles caught in the fire itself, and obstructing the route for any forces attempting to move along it. They were usually constructed at sites where the terrain formed a natural choke point, such as where roads passed through deep cuttings or along steep slopes. In this example, the trap lies on the inside of a blind bend in the B6355 road. The trap itself is built on top of a steep scarp on the north side of the road, while on the opposite side the road is bounded by a bank at the top of a steep southwards slope, preventing vehicles from manoeuvring around the area affected by the trap once activated. Another flame trap, at Carfrae, lies around 1.3km north of Danskine Brae, and together they would have helped restrict enemy access to the modern B6355. This road is the most significant routeway across the Lammermuir Hills in the roughly 30km wide gap between what is now the A1 on the east coast and the A68 to the west, and so of high strategic value. Flame traps of various designs were installed at several thousand locations across Britain as part of the creation of the home defence network in the early part of the Second World War, although there are no precise numbers available for the total number that were ultimately constructed, either within Scotland or elsewhere. The designs ranged from very simple examples created by burying oil barrels adjacent to a road, to complex machinery intended to project flaming fuel over significant distances. The majority appear to have been simpler designs, reflecting both the need to rapidly create a home defence network, but also the limited availability of some construction materials in the early part of the conflict, as a basic trap required very little material other than the fuel barrels themselves and could be created in a matter of hours. As the war progressed and the requirements and resources of home defence changed, the network of flame traps began to be dismantled, with the majority of examples cleared during the war. It is not clear when the Danskine Brae example was constructed, but in War Office records from September 1943 (WO 199/2679) it is included on a list of flame traps set to be dismantled, and the partial demolition of the site may have taken place around this time.

Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)

The flame trap, as part of the nationwide network of anti-invasion defences constructed in the early years of the Second World War, is a visible reminder of the scale and variety of this network and of the war itself, one of the defining events of the 20th century.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 320088 (accessed on 04/12/2024).

Local Authority HER/SMR Reference MEL10380 (accessed on 04/12/2024).

The National Archives (TNA): WO 199/2679, Emergency defence measures; anti-tank flame traps

Hemmings, J. (2019). Flame Fougasse The Highly Effective Anti-Tank & Anti-Everything Device. [online] War History Online. Available at: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/flame-fougasse-wwii-era-britain.html (accessed on 11/12/2024).

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/320088/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland