Delaware Hall, Station Road, Kyle of Lochalsh, Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh, Highland

Description

The building is a former United States Navy hut, dating probably to around 1917. It is a long, single storey, three-bay, and rectangular plan gabled building, constructed of timber on a concrete base, with corrugated iron cladding on the external walls and roof. There is timber barge-boarding on the eaves of the building. There is a small, gabled porch attached to the east with a two leaf timber entrance door on the north, and another two leaf entrance in the west gable elevation.

The north and south elevations have six-pane glazed timber windows arranged in pairs, however the lower half of the windows are boarded up on the north side of the building. There is a four-pane sash and case window on the east elevation of the porch, as well as to the left of the timber door in the west gable.

The interior was seen in 2017 and consists of one large timber-panelled room, with the timber painted up to the wall head. There are plain timber floor boards throughout. Simple metal trusses support the timber roof structure and there are timber louvered vents in the gabled ends.

Statement of Interest

The hut known as Delaware Hall is the last surviving building of a group of buildings that were put in place to support the United States Navy servicemen stationed in Kyle of Lochalsh during and after the First World War in connection with the creation of the Northern Barrage. Whilst the design is to a standardised form and the building has undergone some alteration, Delaware Hall is a rare survivor of a standard military building type that is associated with nationally important historical events.

Age and Rarity

The hut, known as the Delaware Hall, formed part of a small United States (U.S.) Naval base established at Kyle of Lochalsh in 1917 to support the creation of the Northern Barrage in the North Sea, also known as the North Sea Mine Barrage. Servicemen at the base processed mine components arriving by ship from the U.S.A, with up to 2,000 mines transported weekly by rail for final assembly at the U.S Naval base at Invergordon. A second U.S Naval base at Corpach also processed mine components for onward transport to the U.S Naval base at Inverness.

By 1917 huts were commonly found across most military sites to support the national war effort. Huts were required for large training camps, prisoner of war camps, hospitals, workhouses, factories, and agricultural or forestry work. By the end of the war, huts were so numerous, many were sold or abandoned, and subsequently became reused and relocated.

Four huts were erected for the servicemen working at the Kyle of Lochalsh base (Barclay, 2013). Delaware Hall is probably the north east of four huts depicted on a hand-drawn map by local Lochalsh photographer Duncan Macpherson, dating from the 1920s (Am Baile HCD01178_MAP). The northwestern of these four huts is shown in a photograph of the Kyle U.S Naval detachment dated 1918 (Am Baile HCD00753). A map from the 1950s (Glasgow Herald 2 June 1950) also shows the same plan form and location of buildings in connection with a proposal for a fishing industrial site at the naval camp. The hut is last understood to have been in use as a community hall or scout hut around the early 2000s or thereabouts.

Delaware Hall is unusual because it appears to be the last survivor of the First World War U.S. Navy base at Kyle of Lochalsh. Surviving evidence of the other U.S naval bases in Scotland is also limited. For example, the site of the base at Corpach is unlocated (Canmore ID 332062) and the Albyn distillery buildings associated with the Inverness base were cleared after the war (Canmore ID 332060). Furthermore, few First World War timber-built huts from this period survive in situ: another in-situ example is at Stobs camp in the Scottish Borders although it is of a longer form.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

The interior appears original and is a large open space with exposed metal roof trusses and with no decoration.

Plan form

This is a standardised pre-fabricated hut (60ft by 20ft) of rectangular plan form. However, the porch is thought to be unusual and is likely to be a later addition.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

The prefabricated timber huts of First World War date were developed in 1914 by a team of Royal Engineers led by Major Armstrong. They designed a series of standard huts for new army camps that remained in use for the duration of the war.

The huts were usually made at low cost, were easy to erect, and were flexible so they could be adapted for use for a variety of purposes. Their simple design made them easy to dismantle and re-erect elsewhere if required.

The use of six-pane windows, half-boarded up appears to be a relatively common feature of First World War huts. The pairing of the windows is consistent with contemporary photographs of the camp in use. However, the addition of a porch with sash and case window and cladding in corrugated iron are likely to be later features to enhance the use-ability and durability of the building.

Setting

The building is situated towards the east part of Kyle of Lochalsh, around 250m northeast of the 19th-century railway pier where mine components came ashore for onward transport. Its north elevation faces onto Station Road, one of the principal routes in and out of town.

The mine landing station at Kyle of Lochalsh was protected from attack by sea by a coastal battery built in 1917 on the Skye coast, around 2km to the southwest.

Although these relationships still exist, the immediate surroundings of the building have substantially changed as other buildings associated with the First World War U.S. Naval site appear to have been demolished or replaced with later buildings. However, around 100m to the east on the opposite side of Station Road from the Delaware Hall are two wooden buildings believed to be survivors of a Second World War U.S. Naval camp in the town. One building now houses the "Old Sick Bay" Dental Practice.

Regional variations

There are no known regional variations as the huts are understood to have been built in timber to standard designs.

Close Historical Associations

The building was constructed and used during the First World War and is associated with the U.S Naval camp at Kyle of Lochalsh which played a significant role in the creation of the Northern Barrage. There is therefore historic interest.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.