Monument record MHG57015 - WWI Cleaner's Hut - dockyard accommodation area, Invergordon

A WWI Cleaner's Hut at the dockyard accommodation area, Invergordon.

The site was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. A long rectangular building with a small extension to the north is depicted on a WWI Naval plan in private possession, labelled 'Cleaners'. It is not shaded, the convention for indicating Naval use, but its position near a large number of hutments used for dockyard housing suggests it must be military use. The building disappears after WWI, and in the 1930s tank no. 43 with large berms around it was constructed on this site. On an Admiralty plan of 1921 (MPI 1/651/4) dating to 1921, the building is shaded to indicate military use. <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>