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Wick Airfield bomb stores is a dispersed complex of three reinforced concrete storage structures located on the exposed moorland of Caithness, south-east of Upper Ackergill. Built during the Second World War, these heavily built magazines represent the RAF's operational infrastructure developed to protect high explosive ordnance and other volatile munitions from enemy air attack. The structures were positioned at intervals across the landscape to minimise the consequences of accidental detonation whilst remaining within reasonable supply distance of the airfield operations. Such bomb stores were characteristic features of active military airfields throughout Britain during the war years.
The site sits upon the weathered conglomerate, sandstone and mudstone bedrock of the Middle Old Red Sandstone, which forms the undulating moorland terrain of this part of Caithness. This ancient foundation offered adequate bearing for the substantial concrete construction required to withstand both explosive force and the extreme weather conditions of the Scottish north coast. The remote location and hard geology combined to make this a practical choice for secure ordnance storage.
Today the three magazines remain as physical testimony to Wick Airfield's operational history and the extensive military infrastructure that supported RAF operations in the far north during wartime. The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13668. View the official record →
Wick Airfield bomb stores is a dispersed complex of three reinforced concrete storage structures located on the exposed moorland of Caithness, south-east of Upper Ackergill. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13668.
Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill 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 SM13668.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Barns of Hempriggs, chambered cairn 550m SSE of (6.4 km), Thrumster Little,broch,Thrumster (7.8 km), Thrumster House, broch 210m S of (8.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill'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.
Wick Airfield bomb stores, 315m and 400m SSE and 470m SE of Upper Ackergill stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.