Monument record MHG57006 - WWI Naval Institute (Y.M.C.A.) - Invergordon

The site of the WWI Naval Institute (Y.M.C.A.) in Invergordon.

The site was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. A large Y.M.C.A. was built during WWI between Outram and Clyde Streets and fronting MacKay Street on the east. It opened in 1915, and could hold 2500 men. According to memories and research gathered by Park Primary in the 1990s, the ground floor housed a large dining hall and billiard room with two tables, a concert hall, a kitchen and sculleries, while the top floors were divided into more than 50 cubicles. Aerial photos show that the building had two internal courtyards. The front, facing the shore, had a balcony, and, in the 1930 aerial photo, the letters Y.M.C.A. appear on the roof above. It later became a private boarding house called 'The Grange'. It burnt down in 1978. <1> <2>

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>