Building record MAB28842 - ROSEHEARTY WAR MEMORIAL

The Rosehearty war memorial stands on a hill to the south of the village.

The Rosehearty war memorial stands on a hill to the south of the village. It commemorates the dead of both World War I and II. It is a tall, square battered 3-stage tower of tooled granite rubble with bull-faced dressings. There is a round-headed blocked entrance on the north face with date stone above it and which is approached by flight of steps. There are small square windows in the 1st stage, in the east and west elevations and in all upper stage elevations. There is a corniced wallhead with waterspout in the centre of each side, and it is topped with a very shallow pyramidal roof. The frontage is enclosed by low coped concrete walls and the entrance is flanked by concrete gatepiers with pyramidal caps, the letter B on the left pier and L on the right. The memorial plaques are on either side of the doorway, with World War I on the left and World War II on the right. Added to the bottom of the World War I memorial plaque is a small additional memorial to the local people who were killed in a Mine Disaster on 10 January 1918, when a drifting sea mine washed ashore and hit the harbour wall. Two men (Charles Watt and John Duthie) had tried to get a rope round the object to tow it out to sea away from the harbour, but were unsuccessful in their attempts. It exploded, killing eight people who had come to see it. The explosion was heard up to 5 miles away, stripped tiles from nearby roofs and smashed windows. Also commemorated are civilians who were killed in German air raids carried out over Rosehearty and Fraserburgh during World War II. The memorial, which was unveiled on August 7 1921 by Major R. Dingwall-Fordyce, stands on prominent rise above the Rosehearty and was intended as a landmark for shipping, carrying on a local tradition already established at Mounthooly (the holy mount) where the dovecot tower is a landmark (NJ96NW0012). The blocked doorway led to a ground floor 'shrine' in which inscribed marble plaques recorded the names of those killed in the 1914-1919 war. These original plaques were removed to Rosehearty church and all openings sealed. Full transcription of memorial held in AAS Digital Archive.

GR/02/AG/021/30-5, GR/02/AG/021/30-5 (Ground Photograph). SAB17507.

Aug 31 1999 , AAS/GR/99/CT122/WW-127/WW, AAS/GR/99/CT122/WW-127/WW (Ground Photograph). SAB33148.

Author unknown, n.d., ABERDEEN DAILY JOURNAL, August 8, 1921 (Bibliographic reference). SAB23.

Record last edited

Mar 4 2025 9:53AM