Scheduled Monument
Cowie Line, pill box & anti-tank blocks 450m W of Ury HouseSM6438
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 28/08/1996
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 24/07/2018
- Type
- 20th Century Military and Related: Pillbox; Pits, trenches (defensive) ; Tank obstacles
- Local Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Parish
- Fetteresso
- NGR
- NO 85440 87831
- Coordinates
- 385440, 787831
Description
The monument comprises the remains of a Type-22 pill box and other wartime defensive structures covering the southern end of the viaduct crossing the gorge of the Cowie Water, south of Ury Home Farm, and the older bridge below it.
The pill box box is 6-sided, made of a mixture of granite, concrete and brick. There is a stanchion to attach a barbed wire entanglement. There are 5 concrete tank blocks: 2 at the S end of the viaduct and 3 blocking the S end of the older bridge below. There are traces of earthworks on the slope between the pill box and the Cowie Water. There are faint traces of further structures to the west of the pill box.
There are two areas to be scheduled. The western contains the pill box and other structures; it measures a maximum of 80m NW to SE by 22m transversely. The eastern area contains the tank blocks and the earthworks; it measures a maximum of 40m N to S by 35 m transversely. Both areas are marked in red on the accompanying map.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved element of the Cowie Line, one of the strategic 'stop-lines' of the anti-invasion defences of the Second World War. The individual features of the monument are well preserved and provide a concrete expression of an important period in British history.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
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