Earthwork record MAB45340 - COWIE LINE

Remains of anti-tank barrier, part of the Cowie Stop Line which utilses the natural high river bank as part of the defences.

Remains of anti-tank barrier, part of the Cowie Stop Line which utilses the natural high river bank as part of the defences. The artificial barrier resumes at NO 8040 8823. It has a vertical face with restraining wire, but no surviving timbers. The defences then are augmented by the concrete blocks and pill-boxes covering the bridge at Haugh Head (see NO88NW0026-7). To the east of the bridge the barrier reappears as again a vertical face to the river using soil scraped up from behind it. This continues for circa 140 m to the Burn of Day, where the burn is blocked by anti-tank blocks (NO88NW0028) and the river bank rises on the east to form an effective barrier. This continues to the site of the eastern pill-box (NO88NW0029) where the river bank height drops and the artificial barrier resumes below the pill-box on the flat ground between the river and the bluff. The bank, 1.3-1.5 m high, and an accompanying ditch run for circa 370 m until the river bank rises again. This section was also possibly protected with wire. After the natural defence of about 220 m, the artificial barrier runs for 175 m. Again it has a vertical face to the river and galvanized wire marks the position of revetting timbers. The natural river bank is again high enough to serve as a barrier, and at NO 8133 8846 a rectangular pit with three picket posts on its northern edge and a further post with galvanized wire at its rear is located. This is a possible weapon pit. Circa 150 m to the east the artificial bank resumes for another 245 m, after which the natural river bank is high enough as an obstacle for about 3 km.

BARCLAY, G J, 2005, THE COWIE LINE (PSAS 135: P119-61), 143-7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2285.

THE COWIE LINE

Jan 1 1987 , AAS/GR/87/CT46-49, AAS/GR/87/CT46-49 (Ground Photograph). SAB33221.

Record last edited

Feb 19 2026 1:35PM