Orcadian landscapes

In the mid nineteenth century Britain still thought a French invasion possible, and in 1862 the Stromness Artillery Volunteers were formed. Some time between the 1880 25" and 1903 6" maps they built a battery and firing range at the Point of Ness. The remains of this are the first thing you see after leaving the caravan park. Try to find anything on the internet and you will find yourself passed onto the Ness Batteries of the two world wars, Hoy batteries 1,2 & 3 (and even then the concentration is mostly on WWII). It seems to me they are in danger of being lost between the Martello Towers and the Great War, which is a shame. Another Volunteers Coastal Battery and Firing Range survives on the Point of Snusan behind Birsay village, the rifle range lying between the battery and Saevar Howe (the target having been by the far side of a small tumulus). The "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)" tells us that "The 1st Orkney Artillery Volunteer Corps ...headquarters at Kirkwall ...[had] batteries at Kirkwall, Sanday, Shapinsay, Stromness, Stronsay, Holm, Evie, Rousay, and Birsay." Perhaps Stromness led the way ? On Skaildaquoy Point by St Mary's in Holm there are two buildings and a probable third. Would be nice to know where the other volunteer batteries were exactly and what survives.

Labels: 1st Orkney Artillery Volunteer Corps, coastal battery, firing range, Point of Ness, Point of Skaildaquoy, Point of Snusan, Stromness Artillery Volunteers