Aberdeenshire HER - NO99NW0040 - SCHOOLHILL

Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO99NW0040
NameSCHOOLHILL
NMRS Card No.NO99NW41
NMRS Numlink81491
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of a World War II Radar station, now largely demolished. RAF Schoolhill opened in 1940 as an East Coast Chain Home Radar Station (no. 46), part of a network established from 1938, and was in use throughout the war. It had steel radar towers which were 350ft high. Two of these were taken down in 1942 and replaced by two masts which were guyed. After the war it was put on care and maintenance until it was selected to be used as a 'readiness chain home' when it was re-equipped with Type 1 radar. It became redundant in 1955. It was again used in 1964 when the Home Office acquired the transmitter block for temporary use for the UK early warning and monitoring organisation (UKWMO) Caledonian Sector Control until 1976. Internally it was completely rebuilt. It was taken over by the Fire Brigade in 1978 as a training centre. Part is used as poultry houses and eastern part used as Fire Brigade Training Centre. The concrete bases of some of the masts still remain as does the central control bunker or transmitter block. There are also the remains of two unusual lozenge shaped pill-boxes on the field boundary. The stand-by set house was demolished in 2003, but a number of aerial mast bases remain. The domestic camp lay south of the transmitter block, alongside the modern Grampian Fire Brigade building which stands on the site of the combined living accommodation huts. The warden married quarters stands alongside the short drive, and at the end of the drive is the Seco guard house. The receiver block stood to the southeast on the opposite side of the road (centred NO 91134 97891), now removed, the site later occupied by warehouses. The receiver site also included a watch house and another pair of wardens' cottages all of which have been removed. A pillbox stands to the rear of the warehouses. Two buried equipment reserves lay in farmland to the east of the transmitter block, accessed through concrete covers mounted on steel rollers and rails. Close to the covers are rendered brick ventilators (three for each reserve) and close to each reserve are four concrete bases for the 120ft high reserve masts. One of these underground reserve bunkers was later filled with water and used by the Police as a diving training centre (NO9120 9817). Access was not possible during a site visit in 2007, (see NO99NW0077). A trial trenching evaluation was carried out by CFA in December 2018 on the receiver site prior to development. Three trenches targeted three structures, but although very fragmentary remains of the watch house and receiver station were recorded there was no trace of the receiver mast building.
Last Update07/05/2021

National Grid Reference: NO 9093 9814


Easting: 335200, Northing: 795100

CompilerJG
Date of Compilation05/12/2000

Event Details

Event DateEvent Type
1905 Field Observation
1905 Evaluation

Excavations and Surveys

Date MDate YTypeDurationDirector / OrganisationAuspicesFundExtent
71992 1J GUYHSHS100
122018 Excavation  CFADEV  

Artefact and Ecofact


Ecofact

Samples 
Palynology 
Ecofact Notes 

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
HUTSGUARDSITE OF G100
RESERVES UNDERGROUNDH100
CAMPSACCOMMODATIONSITE OFI100
MASTS SITE OFJ100
STATIONSCHAINREMAINS OFC100
TOWERS REMAINS OFD100
BUNKERS  E100
STATIONSEARLY-WARNINGREMAINS OFF100
RADAR-STATIONSWORLD WAR IIREMAINS OFA100
PILL-BOXESWORLD WAR II B100

Google Map for NO99NW0040


National Status

Regional Status


Photo Details

SourceReferencePhoto TypeFilm TypeDate
GUY10-28-7-92 Ground Colour Negative 28/07/1992
AASNZ1-37 Ground Black & White 05/12/2000
AASGR/00/CT548-71 Ground Colour Transparency 05/12/2000
AASGR/07/CT4-19 Ground Colour Transparency 09/11/2007
DEVMP58-72 Ground Digital  
DEVMP112-24 Ground Digital  
AASYZ 1-37 Ground Black & White 05/12/2000

Bibliographic Detail

Bib Ref NoTitleAuthorDateOthersEditorPublishedDetailsDate MDate Y
00792WORLD WAR I & II DEFENCESJA GUY1992  EDINBURGH10-28-7-92 1992
19924SCHOOLHILL, PORTLETHEN, ABERDEENSHIRE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION 2018  Report No 3823Evaluation report 2018
19955SCHOOLHILL, PORTLETHEN, ABERDEENSHIRE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION  2018   WSI 2018

Location

Historic Administrative Area Name Banchory Devenick
Positional Accuracy Centred at
Buffer Zone 15-20m
Buffer Type Bespoke
Capture Scale Unknown
Spatial Feature Type Polygon: Known Site Extent

Environment

Constraints Privately owned, access by arrangement - difficult access.
Altitude120
Geology 
Topography Shelf
Aspect 1E
Aspect 2 Open
Current Land Use Telecommunications
Vegetation
Soil Type 
Hydrology 

Measurements

Plan 
Shape 1
Shape 2
Diameter 
Length 
Width 
Thickness 
Depth 
Area 
Height 

Historic Land Use


Period Details

PeriodOrderProbabilityRadiocarbon DatesDate BuiltDate of DestructionDate of Loss
World War 2 (1939 - 1945) A100 1905  
Modern (1900 - 2050) B100    
20th Century C100    

Period Notes

Period Notes

Architect Details

Architect Details

Maritime Archaeology

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