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MHG60259 - Former WWI US naval base hut - Delaware Hall, Kyle of Lochalsh

Summary

A former WWI US naval base hut at Kyle of Lochalsh.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A former WWI US naval base hut at Kyle of Lochalsh. For the naval base see MHG59431.

A small base was established at Kyle of Lochalsh where mines in ‘kit form’ were landed and loaded onto railway waggons for the journey to Invergordon. Four huts were erected for the men. One building may survive, however, part of a later Second World War camp site occupied the site of the US naval base, and therefore the building may belong to the later camp. The mine landing station was protected from attack by sea by a coast defence battery on Skye (see MHG30231). Recorded as part of HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project, 2013. <1> <2>

The single surviving building was proposed for listing by Historic Environment Scotland in 2018. The hut, known as the Delaware Hall, formed part of a small United States (U.S.) Naval base established at Kyle of Lochalsh in 1917 to support the creation of the Northern Barrage in the North Sea, also known as the North Sea Mine Barrage. Four huts were erected for the servicemen working at the Kyle of Lochalsh base. Delaware Hall is probably the north east of four huts depicted on a hand-drawn map by local Lochalsh photographer Duncan Macpherson, dating from the 1920s. The northwestern of these four huts is shown in a photograph of the Kyle U.S Naval detachment dated 1918. A map from the 1950s (Glasgow Herald 2 June 1950) also shows the same plan form and location of buildings in connection with a proposal for a fishing industrial site at the naval camp. The hut is last understood to have been in use as a community hall or scout hut around the early 2000s or thereabouts. Delaware Hall is unusual because it appears to be the last survivor of the First World War U.S. Navy base at Kyle of Lochalsh. Surviving evidence of the other U.S naval bases in Scotland is also limited. <3>

The building was listed at Category C by Historic Environment Scotland with effect from 13/03/2018. <4>

GIS spatial data created in 2019 from modern OS mapping. <5>

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 7643 2725 (22m by 9m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG72NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	LOCHALSH

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (0)

External Links (2)