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MHG52433 - Admiralty signalling station, Dunan Mor, Cape Wrath

Summary

A building used by the Admiralty as a signalling station in the early part of the 20th century, and subsequently as a lookout/observation post during the Second World War.

Type and Period (4)

Protected Status

Full Description

NC27SE 16 c. 2620 7447
NC 26194 74452. Remains of WWII coastguard station and 18th century Lloyds of London logging station. Both buildings although derelict are in a good state of preservation. The logging station (CWHI 27a) is contemporary wth the lighthouse and was built to track shipping around the cape. The coast guard station was built during the 1940's and was abandoned in the post war years. There is evidence of the addition of an observation platform being attached to the original 19th century buildings. This platform served as an observation point. There are several small buildings associated with the logging station. They too show signs of later occupation and reuse. The coast guard station appears to be marked on the OS maps but is not mentioned in the SMR.
R Street 2001, 18.

CWHI 27 World War II Coast Guard station. The building was built during the 1940s and used stone quarried locally for its construction. The position of the building commands an excellent vantage point of the coastline. The stone used in the building appears to have been obtained locally rather than imported and despite the lack of windows and doors the structure is in a good condition. The building immediately to the right of the main station building was used to house the laundry.
CWHI 27A 19th century logging station. This building was erected at the same time as the lighthouse (circa 1850). It was built by Lloyds of London so that they could track shipping around the Cape. There are several smaller buildings, which would have been used to house the observation platform of the day as well as the equipment the station crew would have needed. Interestingly enough the 19th century building was reused by the coastguard for their observation platform (the later addition can be seen on the buildings furthermost right corner). The building would have housed only two people. In contrast the WW II building is much larger and would have housed upwards of 15. Both buildings are marked on the OS maps of the area but this is the first time they have been recorded into the SMR for the area.
R Street 2001, 35-6.

The 2nd edition OS 25-inch map (Sutherland, 1908) depicts an Admiralty Signalling Station at this location. As the map evidence is unclear, it is uncertain whether the single-storey corrugated-steel roofed building which is extant at this location, and which is on the same alignment, is the remains of this station.
Information from RCAHMS (ITMP), January 2008. <1>

Researcher David Hird advises that there are inaccuracies in the above description. He believes that the major surviving building now known as "The Lloyds Signalling Station" was erected c.1903 by Lloyd's of London, Marine and Commercial Insurers, was taken over by the Admiralty by agreement in 1908 and commenced use as an Admiralty signalling station in 1910 (see p100 of A Light in the Wilderness (Hird, D, 2008)). It ceased as a marine signalling station on 31st October 1932 (by which time radio communication was global and these repeater stations were obsolete), though it was used as a lookout and observation station during the Second World War. He believes that the site is a unique survivor of a whole series of similar structures erected around the coast of the British Isles at the inception of the radio age in the early years of the twentieth century. Most or all of the other similar installations were either converted or demolished as time progressed and they became obsolete; the Cape Wrath station survived solely because of its isolated location. Mr Hird contacted the Highland Council with concerns about the future protection of the building, which he believes to be at imminent threat of demolition. <2>

The ruin of the signal station was listed (together with the nearby cottages and outbuilding) by Historic Scotland at Grade B in 2013. <3>

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 2619 7448 (11m by 13m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC27SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DURNESS

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