Monument record MHG57036 - WWI Cleaner's Quarters - Dockyard Housing, Invergordon

WWI cleaner's quarters in the Dockyard housing in Invergordon.

The site was investigated in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. On a WWI Naval plan in private possession, 22 large H-shaped hutments comprising dockyard housing are depicted, labelled A to V. Photographs of the time show one-storey timber buildings, and some photographs show the interiors. Interspersed in the area are two smaller buildings, basically rectangular with small extensions, labelled 'Cleaner's Quarters'. Like the hutments, they were taken down after WWI. In between the wars another oil tank, Tank 46, was built on the site of this building. <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>