Building record MAB40050 - MONTROSE AIRFIELD

Remains of a military airfield.

Remains of a military airfield. Montrose is the oldest military airfield in Scotland, established in 1912, becoming operational on February 26th 1913. It displays the hangar architecture of several periods. The three World War I hangars resembled the Belfast type, but were built entirely of timber with none of the usual brickwork. Known as Major Burke's Sheds (NO75NW0791, NO75NW0792, NO75NW0793), their design was that of an Indian Army Shed, modified for aircraft use, and they were pre-fabricated in Glasgow for assembly on site. They are large, and rectangular in plan. Buildings 46 and 47, (NO75NW0793, NO75NW0791) have original timber framing and corrugated iron cladding, which is now concealed by steel secondary cladding added in 1987-8. The southernmost, Building 48 (NO75NW0792), has a timber lean-to added during World War I. An air raid destroyed two of them and the Bellman replacements still stand today. To the north of the hangers are two other buildings from this period: a single storey timber long timber building (Building 62) with off centre gabled wing, which was built in 1915 and reused as Station HQ in World War II, and a single-storey timber built guard room (Building 142), in use by 1915. The airfield was abandoned after the First World War ended, but was reactivated during the 1935 Expansion Scheme, the land being bought back for £18,600. Being right on the coast, the airfield's vulnerability was obvious and in June 1940 hasty attempts were made to improve the defences - nine Type 27 anti-aircraft pillboxes were erected at strategic points on the boundary, each accommodating ten riflemen and one Lewis gunner. The airfield was also defended by Type 22 pillboxes and at least two Pickett-Hamilton forts ('pop up' pillboxes which could be lowered into the ground when not in use) close to the runways - two of these have been recorded at NO 7265460060. Two Bellman type hangers, designed in 1937, were subsequently added: Building 141 in 1937 and Building 151, now with steel cladding, in 1942. They are large, rectangular in plan and have sliding aircraft doors the full length of each gable. A ruined control tower and machine gun butts also date from World War II. The top storey of the tower has been crudely demolished, probably to remove an obstruction to night helicopter training. A now disused railway runs past the airfield and a bridge over it was fortified with an elaborate pillbox with an AA gun mount on its roof. This was the original Battle HQ, replaced later by a standard building on the eastern perimeter. It has been partially demolished. Wartime runways were of army track and sections of this are now peeping through the grass. Since the RAF vacated the airfield soon after the war, it has been used occasionally by light aircraft, BA helicopters for night training and by RAF Hercules. The original Montrose aerodrome was sited at Upper Dysart, next to the A92, about three miles south-west of the town. Dysart was never more than a tented camp with canvas hangars, and existed for only about 12 months. A better site at Broomefield was found and operations were moved there. A landing ground known as Dysart was used by Montrose aircraft in the 1930s but was, however, on a different site. Montrose is now a centre for microlight flying. Two of the World War I hangars have been dismantled and were to be re-erected at the railway museum at Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth. A watching brief was carried out in 2001 by Headland over a pipeline through the site and the construction of a new waste water plant in the north-west corner of the airfield (NO75NW0190). Many artefacts dating from World War II were uncovered. A building survey of a fuel bunker and associated air raid shelters on the south edge of the airfield (at NO 7919 5913) was carried out by Rathmell Archaeology in 2013 prior to demolition for construction of five houses on the site. The two air-raid shelters were both constructed using the shuttered concrete method, aligned east-west and rectangular in shape with a roof access hatch located at the eastern end which was the opposite end of the main access. There was a large build-up of soil within the main access which meant that it was not possible to record whether there were steps down into or whether it was a level access. The fuel bunker was a single storey structure with a flat roof formed of concrete with areas covered by bitumen to provide waterproofing. The body of the structure was constructed of red brick. Part of the station is now the Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, which contained a number of war memorials. A brass plaque records the station as Britain's First Operational Military Air base and commemorates all personnel, of all nationalities, who served at Montrose and its satellite airfields. A propellor from Wellington Bpmber L7845 which crashed in Glen Esk is mounted on a stone plinth which bears a plaque in memory of those who never returned home. A square grey granite obelisk dedicated in memory of Montrose Airfield and the units and personnel who were based here was unveiled on 19 May 2012. A World War I Roll of Honour lists names against a photographic background of a WWI nurse tending a grave at Sleepyhillock Cemetery. A First World War memorial tablet formerly in Logie Pert Church (NO66SE0163) is now at the Centre. The museum also has the wooden battlefield burial cross of John Ross Robertson, previously in the family's possession, unveiled here in 2009. A walkover survey (NO66SE0225) was carried out by Arcus in October 2019, prior to the development of a solar farm, on a section of the airfield's southwestern corner.

Period Notes
The airfield was established in 1912, with various additions and alterations during World War I and II. The hangers were listed on 15/06/1988. Amended 10/10/2018.

A/57287, A/57287 (Photograph). SAB27712.

A/57288, A/57288 (Photograph). SAB28267.

A/57289, A/57289 (Photograph). SAB28268.

A/57290, A/57290 (Photograph). SAB27713.

A/57291, A/57291 (Photograph). SAB28270.

A/57292, A/57292 (Photograph). SAB28269.

A/57293, A/57293 (Photograph). SAB27716.

A/57294, A/57294 (Photograph). SAB28275.

A/57295, A/57295 (Photograph). SAB28274.

A/57296, A/57296 (Photograph). SAB27715.

A/57297, A/57297 (Photograph). SAB28273.

A/57298, A/57298 (Photograph). SAB28272.

A/57299, A/57299 (Photograph). SAB27714.

A/57300, A/57300 (Photograph). SAB28271.

AN/4391, AN/4391 (Photograph). SAB27706.

AN/4392, AN/4392 (Photograph). SAB27707.

AN/4393, AN/4393 (Photograph). SAB27708.

AN/4394, AN/4394 (Photograph). SAB27709.

AN/4395, AN/4395 (Photograph). SAB27710.

C/47661, C/47661 (Photograph). SAB27711.

C/47661/S, C/47661/S (Photograph). SAB27967.

BBC NEWS WEBSITE, , BBC NEWS WEBSITE, 02/08/14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3784.

Smith, D J, 1983, [Untitled], 152-8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10978.

WILLS, H, 1985, PILLBOXES: A STUDY OF UK DEFENCES 1940 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2117.

Hay and Stell, G D and, 1986, [Untitled], 201, 230-2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10859.

Quarrie, B (ed), 1987, [Untitled], 78 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11471.

Smith, D J, 1989, [Untitled], 100, 109, 149 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11481.

Francis, P, 1996, [Untitled], 81, 89, 166 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11497.

NORTH OF SCOTLAND WATER AUTHORITY, 1999, MONTROSE WASTEWATER PROJECT, APPENDIX 4 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1301.

AIRFIELD

WHITE, H, 2012, MONTROSE BASIN SURVEY 1999-2012 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2127.

RATHMELL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2013, BROOMFIELD ROAD, MONTROSE, ANGUS, ARCHAEOLOGICAL MITIGATION: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB3067.

RATHMELL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2013, BROOMFIELD ROAD, MONTROSE, ANGUS: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MITIGATION WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB3066.

BARCLAY, G, 2013, IF HITLER COMES. PREPARING FOR INVASION: SCOTLAND 1940, pp220-227 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3792.

ARCUS, 2020, BALLOCHY SOLAR PV, BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM AND PRIVATE WIRE GIRD CONNECTION DEVELOPMENT, MIL OF DUN, ANGUS, DBA and Walkover Survey, Site 132 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8801.

CFA ARCHAEOLOGY, 2025, MONTROSE ZERO 4 PROGRAMME OF WORK WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8960.

Jun 21 2013 , AAS-GR-13-06-590 - 595, AAS-GR-13-06-590 - 595 (Ground Photograph). SAB35287.

Mar 15 2004 , PUB-GR-21-03-011 - 013, PUB-GR-21-03-011 - 013 (Ground Photograph). SAB35083.

Sep 23 1997 , AAS/97/11/CT10, AAS/97/11/CT10 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB22470.

Record last edited

Dec 17 2025 3:39PM