Monument record MHG56959 - WWI S.C.E. Print Room - Invergordon

A building off the High Street that was used in WWI as the Admiralty Superintending Civil Engineer's Print Room. It has since been demolished.

The site was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. A wartime plan in private collection shows a building in the courtyard labelled S.C.E. (Superintending Civil Engineer) Print Room, located near buildings taken over by the S.C.E. There is no building on the 2nd edition OS map (surveyed 1902) at this location, nor is there one there today. <1>

At least three versions of a WWI Naval plan survive, two in private collection which probably date to wartime, and one in the National Archives (MPI 1/641/4) which dates to 1921. On all three the buildings taken over or built by the Navy are shaded, but there are a few discrepancies between the plans. One of the plans in private collection has enlarged details, but only shows the Admiralty buildings and not others in the town. Valuation Rolls also indicate some buildings not shaded on our plans were taken over by the military. It is clear from contemporary photographs that the army built additional buildings, particularly north of Cromlet Drive. <2>