Archaeological and building survey at Ness Battery

The planned restoration of Ness Battery is the single biggest undertaking out of all 48 projects in the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme. Over the last three weeks a team of archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) have been carrying out an archaeological building recording survey on the remaining huts as well as doing a walk-over survey of the whole site to find evidence of its former use. A measured survey of all the buildings and earthworks was also completed.

The work started in the snow and bitter conditions at end of January, with the main part of the work being the building recording of the wooden buildings. As well as recording the outside of the huts they surveyed 71 rooms where many of the original internal features have survived. To this end they took detailed descriptions of the structure, fabric and fittings of each room.

  

 

 

 

 

Dan and Gavin use various equipment to take readings and recordings of the buildings and hidden structures on site.

An interesting ‘find’ was the discovery in one of the huts of a Shove Ha’penny board which was carved into the top of a slate counter in a former kitchen larder. Archaeologist Dan Lee said “The board is just out of sight and the cooks may have sneaked a game or two between meals!”

 Dan added “The weather conditions have not been on our side. The ORCA team can fully appreciate how cold the soldiers would have been at this exposed site on a winter watch during the war. It has been interesting to spend such a lengthy time at this important and evocative WWII site and hopefully the results of the survey will help to bring alive this important period in the history of Orkney.”

The building survey will provide a foundation for planning the restoration work. The SFLPS is about to start the procurement process to get the right project team of specialists in place to manage the work. The restoration programme will principally involve repairs and stabilisation of the site's four surviving timber huts, and a more comprehensive restoration of the timberwork of the Mess Hall & Kitchen block, with its wartime mural.

  

Andy and Gavin get little comfort being inside.  It was freezing both inside and out!

The project will also oversee the propping of the gun emplacements – there is serious corrosion to the steelwork frames supporting the roofs of the two emplacements, and urgent work is required to make sure that they do not collapse. Furthermore, the stability of the Battery Observation Post needs considered.

There is a huge amount to do, but the work of ORCA means that our understanding of the site is now sufficient for us to proceed. It is hoped that work on restoring the huts will begin later on this year.

 

The discovery of the Shove Ha Penny board is wonderful. You placed the ha'penny at the front of the board with the edge of the coin just sticking over the front edge of the board. You then shove the coin up using any part of the hand. The aim of the game was to shove ha'pennies and have them land between the lines on the board. If you manage to get one of the ha'pennies in this presice place then you get one point. In a full game you need to get three points in each line of the board.

Once you have some hapennies in play if they are not in the right place you aim at them with your next ha'penny in the hope that you will push them gently into a scoring position.

We must thank Dan, Gavin and Andy of ORCA for working in such difficult conditions and providing us with these images.

 

A visit to the Italian Chapel

I have been doing a bit of research on the Italian Chapel so I can write about it for our big web site. On Saturday I went a run out to take some photos and was rewarded with a lovely day with the sun shining in the windows.

Whenever I take someone out there for the first time I always let them go in first. The outside is interesting, but the inside is stunning and is guaranteed to make the visitor feel humble. For the prisoners to create such a wonderful building with basic materials such as concrete, plasterboard, scrap materials and paint is truely awe inspiring.

I thought I would include some of the photos here and say a little bit about them.

 

George and the Dragon
This was created by Domenico Chiocchetti who carried out the majority of the paintwork within the chapel.  He was given permission to erect a statue of George and the Dragon in the main square of the camp. This he made using a base of barbed wire which was then covered over with cement. It depicts triumph over evil and was one of the first items produced on the site.
 

 

 

 

 

The Italian Chapel was not the only one built by the prisoners. There was also a chapel at the camp in Burray which made use of one end of a Nissen hut. The interior of that one was designed by Sgt Giovanni Pennisi.

He he was invited to come across to assist Chiocchetti in designing the facade to hid the outline of the huts on Lamb Holm.

 

 

Bruttapasta was responsible for the facade which features gothic pinnacles which were cast in clay and then finished in cement. Pinnisi crafted the head of Christ which was made from red clay.

 

The White Dove

Chiocchetti painted the White Dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit on the ceiling. It is featured at the centre of the vault and also includes the symbols of the four Evangelists around it which featured on the prayer card Chiocchetti carried with him.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Nissen huts were joined together with the intention of one end being used as a school while the other would become a chapel.  As the chapel took shape ithe other end looked rather bleak and it soon became apparant that the whole interior should be given over to the chapel and decorated. The corrugated iron of the Nissen hut was lined with plasterboard and was painted over with images and imitation brick work.  An altar with altar-rail was cast in concrete as was the water font.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prisoners made use of all kinds of scrap material.  The lantern on the left was made from Bully Beef tins. Candlesticks were made from reinforcing metal rods used in the concrete blocks used at the barriers.

 

Palumbo, a metalworker, made candelabra and the rood-screen and gates.

We are so fortunate to have this wonderful building which has been left to the people of Orkney.  Next time you are wondering how to pass the time or you have visitors, take a trip across the barriers and visit the chapel built by the Italian Prisoners of War during the second World War.

 

The period of Duck and Cover is almost over!

At last, I finally feel it is safe to come out from under my desk. Last week we had the difficult task of choosing the companies we are going to ask to provide a full quote for the job of setting up and running our main website, which will host all the information about Scapa Flow’s varied heritage.

There were over fifty applications from interested companies who submitted a Pre-qualifying Questionnaire. It was our job to whittle this down to no more than six or eight who would then be invited to submit a costed proposal for the job. With so many very good companies applying, it was an extremely difficult decision for us to make. It took a lot of discussion and head scratching to reach a decision, but we were lucky to have lots of submissions from companies who had lots of relevant experience and who clearly understood our needs. It was such a difficult decision that it took us much longer than we had hope but we will be issuing the revised website brief and this week.

 

St Lawrence Kirk, Burray

Whether you are a believer or not, there is something very special about a church.  To take the time, trouble and effort to erect a building that is not a necessity is quite a testament to human nature.  After reading about St Lawrence Kirk I was keen to get down to see it and  finally managed to get down there yesterday (20th January 2010).  The kirk, which was built in 1621, lies close to the shore at the Bu Sands in Burray.   It lies on a much earlier site and this is very obvious when you walk up to it as you can see it lies on a definite rise. 

 

In a report dated the 17th June 1627 we are told that there were around one hundred people who attended this kirk.  This is quite remarkable as it is quite out of the way so the worshippers would have had to travel quite a distance to say their prayers! 

Records show that on the 3rd of March 1661 there was no service as the minister had contracted sciatica after a trip to Swona the previous week and how he preached to just a couple of people on the 6th of December 1668 when wild weather kept them from `a diet of worship’. 

The first recorded marriage took place on the 26th November 1657 between Robert Scottry and Marrione Aschen.  I found this interesting as these are not typical Orcadian surnames. The gravestones showed names such as Thomson, Park, Laird, Budge and Annal - typical names for this area.

On the 26th of December 1658 twins, Margaret and Annas, children of John Maile were baptised here.  As was so often the case in those days a woman give birth to a child almost every year during her fertile years.  James Stewart, the Laird of Burray saw his first son Archibald baptised on the 14th of October 1663.    In October 1664 William was baptised followed by James in February 1665.  In 1667 a fourth child died and the following October Anna was born.

You can find out such a lot from gravestones and I spent a while reading them.  How sad to see the many children who died in infancy and those lost to accidents at sea.

Having spent some time admiring this old building I then followed the path along the shore and admired the wildlife for a time.   There were many different types of birds on the sea and I was annoyed with myself for having left my binoculars in the car.   There was no sign of seals however and I  think was because the sea was too rough.  I'm fascinated by the power of the sea (unless I'm on a boat and its rough). and after the stormy conditions of  Saturday the sea was wicked and the waves came crashing into the beach stones making a very impressive noise.  How different to the times I have watched the annual beach race when the Orkney Motocross Club have come thundering along the beach during their annual race here.

Along the path you can see this piece of machinery.   I believe it is for helping to winch boats to shore.  You often see them close to the shore - there is one down at Hoxa and another one at the third barrier.  These don't appear to be used any more.  A sign of the times.

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning and I will have to come back again but this time I will remember to take the binoculars out of the car!

 

 

A walk through Olav's Wood

 Olav's Wood

On the road to Windwick, South Ronaldsay is Olav's Wood, a 4.5 acres site of woodland that runs alongside the Oback Burn.  A few weeks ago (before we all became snowed in) my son Dean and I went a walk through it. 

The first planning of trees took place i n the late 1970's with the majority of the planting taking place in the late 1980s.  There is a small passing place on the road in which we parked and then walked a short distance to climb over the gate.  Here open grassland greets you with a number of paths leading off in different directions.  Feeling a little like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road I followed one path, while Dean took another.  We met up just at the mouth of the woodland.

Following the path we made our way into the heart of the woodland.  Here it was dense and rather dark with the canopy of trees above  but it was well worth the visit.  When inside the wood you can hear the call of several different species of bird which are perched in the branches above.  There is a great variety of trees and shrubs as well as flowers and plants that only grow near burns.  I'm afraid I know nothing about plants so can't give the names of any of them but for the enthusiast I suggest you look up the lovely website for Olav's Wood which you can find at http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/~david/orkney/olavswood.html

We spent quite a while here just exploring the different winding paths and when we thought we might not find out way out again simply made out way to the outside of the wood which took us out next to open farmland.  Getting our bearings again we dived back in!  There are lots of different types of trees and shrubs and we had a lovely time exploring.

The earth was very wet (being November) so if you decide to visit take a pair of wellies or walking boots with you and a good pair of bincoulars for bird watching. 

 

 

Gavin's Discoveries at Kew

As mentioned earlier World War 2 expert, Gavin Lindsay, was spending time in London, researching the history of Ness Battery at the National Archive, Kew. He has been studying the Fortress Book, which is held in the Archive, along with maps and regimental records. The Fortress Book was the Commanding Officer’s main record book, and it will provide day to day details of the operations, down to inventories of the stores, at Ness Battery throughout the period when it was active.

 Gavin is now writing up his findings, which we shall make available through this website. We are very excited by what will come from this. Many insights into Ness Battery will come from this important piece of research. This will add to the body of knowledge about Orkney’s importance in WW2, and provide the crucial context for the renovation work which our Scheme will be undertaking at Ness Battery over the next two and a half years.

Gavin has been working for the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) throughout 2009, closing the year with researching the wartime heritage at over 20 sites of interest where the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme want to provide interpretation. His work on behalf of the Scheme at the National Archive is additional to this, however it will link very well with a contract for archaeological building survey and recording at the Ness Battery, which has just been won by ORCA.

 

Concert Party held at Ness Battery, Stromness

 Copryight: SCRAN

 

Duck and Cover in the Scapa Flow Landscape Office

This cartoon expresses totally the way I am feeling at the moment!

In addition to the site you are reading now we are going to have a much bigger website which will look at our projects in more detail and will include a compendium of heritage information about the Scapa Flow area as well as historical information, maps and news pages. Although the content is being put together by the team here the consultant will be responsible for creating the site.

We had asked for costed submissions to come to us by the 15th of January 2010 but we have had such an enormous number of companies interested in the project that we have had to change our plans. Instead of inviting them to send in their full proposals, we are asking that they fill in a PQQ from instead. This is a Pre Qualification Questionnaire which will enable us to select companies and individuals who we think qualify and meet our needs. We will then select just six or eight to quote for the job.

We don’t want to mess people around but since the advert was posted on the Procurement Website we have had almost 200 expressions of interest and my phone has been red hot at times with people wanting the brief sent to them or just asking questions. At times I have felt the need to ‘Duck and Cover’ as emails have come in at such a rate I have wanted to hide under my desk! As so many are interested we needed a way of reducing the applications to a manageable level.

The closing date for companies and individuals to submit their Pre Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) is the 15th of this month (January). We will then sit down and begin the process of appointing a web consultant.
 

Making a Splash in Scapa Flow

Julian was speaking with Kevin Heath of A.R.G.O.S. (Aviation Research Group for Orkney and Shetland) and they were discussing the work done by the ARGOS group in Orkney.  Kevin told how they had found a 1000lb German magnetic mine on the sea bed on Scapa Flow in 1999 or 2000.  It was subsequently blown up by  the Bomb disposal unit.  The picture below shows the splash created by the disposal.

 

This clearly shows that Scapa Flow still has many war time reminders lying on the sea bed. 

If you want to read more about the work being undertaken by the A.R.G.O.S. team they have a very good website.  You can find out more by logging on to http://crashsiteorkney.com/

Just before we broke up for the festive season Julian and I went to Ness to pick up some lanterns which had been used the previous Saturday during the guided tour.  We took the opportunity to have a look through the hatch in the Mess Room.

For many years there have been rumours that the mural carries on beyond the false ceiling in this room.  There was also rumours that there was a curtain up `in the loft'  that was once used when the staff here held concerts.

With torch in hand Julian entered the hatch and found ....... Nothing, nothing at all.  I was sorely dissapointed as I had hoped the mural would continue the full height of the wall and it would give us an indication of the colours in the mural before cigarette smoke and light had done its damage.  Again there was no curtain and the are above the ceiling is clean with nothing of interest.

However, now we know so we can dispell the rumours. 

At the moment we have Gavin Lindsay doing some research for us.  He is visiting the National Archive at Kew in London and will be looking up the Fortress Book to see what information he can get for us on Ness Battery.  I am hoping he will find information on the A R Woods who painted the mural at the Battery and might find out more about the personnel who served there.

 

 

A trip to the island of Cava

Last Friday (11th December 09) Anne and Julian visited the island of Cava. In the past this island was heavily populated but today it is uninhabited and the only people able to visit the island are ones fortunate enough to have access to a boat which can land on this isle's beaches.

One of the projects in the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme is to enable children to find out about what life was like on the islands which are now uninhabitated, and let them learn about the story of depopulation. In April 2010, the Scheme is intending to run a number of trips to Cava with school children from three primary schools in the area.

If you have any knowledge, pictures or stories from Cava - or indeed any of the other uninhabited islands around the Scapa Flow area, such as Swona, Switha, Fara or Rysa Little, we would love to hear from you.

 

Above left: arriving on Cava, and right: the remains of a sperm whale's skull on Cava

Below left: the only house left with the roof intact, and right: the organ which has been left behind

Our thanks go to Philip Weiss, South Isles Ranger, for the use of these photos.