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Holm Battery is a coastal artillery battery situated 195 metres south-west of East Breckan in Orkney, Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks of Devonian age, typical of Orkney's geological foundation. As a coastal defence installation, the battery would have been positioned to command views over the surrounding seaward approaches, exploiting the elevated terrain characteristic of this part of the Orkney islands.
The battery represents the military engineering response to naval threats during a period when fixed coastal fortifications formed the primary defence against seaborne attack. Such installations were distributed around the Scottish coast to protect harbours, anchorages and vulnerable settlements from enemy vessels. The Orkney islands, lying strategically in the northern approaches to Britain, saw the establishment of multiple such defensive works.
Holm Battery is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13500, recognising its significance as evidence of Orkney's defensive heritage. The monument survives as a tangible record of the strategic concerns and military technology of its period, set within Orkney's distinctive coastal and geological landscape.
Holm Battery, coast artillery battery 195m SW of East Breckan is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13500. View the official record →
Holm Battery is a coastal artillery battery situated 195 metres south-west of East Breckan in Orkney, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13500.
Holm Battery, coast artillery battery 195m SW of East Breckan is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM13500.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Lamb Holm,settlement 450m WSW of Italian Chapel (1.4 km), Loch of Ayre, broch at N end of,St Mary's (2.3 km), Castle Howe, Norse Castle and prehistoric settlement (2.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Holm Battery, coast artillery battery 195m SW of East Breckan's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Holm Battery, coast artillery battery 195m SW of East Breckan stands on Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, bedrock that formed in the Devonian. The rock here is sedimentary rocks.