Monument record MHG56999 - WWI Canteen - behind site of Royal Hotel, Invergordon

A WWI Canteen was situated behind the site of the Royal Hotel, Invergordon.

The site was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. A WWI Naval plan in private collection shows a 'Canteen' located behind the Royal Hotel. A WWI aerial photograph shows a building oriented east-west, with another beside it along Joss Street, also running east-west. This second building does not appear on the wartime plans, however. By the time of the 1930 aerial photo, there are three buildings oriented east-west between the Royal Hotel and Joss Street, each with curved roofs. These buildings are also on the 1947 aerial photograph. Valuation rolls for 1944-1945 list Canteen stores and quarters in Joss Street, owned by the NAAFI; these may be the buildings referred to. They are remembered by some as the SMD buildings. <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>