Firing Range at 34 Glasgort Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tall red brick firing range, erected c.1942, as part of the nearby RAF Mullaghmore airfield. Set on a northwest to southeast axis on the west side of Glasgort Road as part of a collection of red brick structures (HB03/03/045A & C).

Machine-made red brick walls laid in Dutch bond with cement pointing, standing approximately four metres tall and supported to both side by three-stage brick buttresses with cement offsets.

Setting:
Set on a northwest to southeast axis on the west side of Glasgort Road as part of a collection of red brick structures (HB03/03/045A & C). Located in a rural
setting close to an airfield in use as a driving circuit.

Roof None
RWG None
Walling Red brick
Windows None

Historical information

The machine gun and cannon butts (identified as such on NIEA mapviewer), first shown on the OS map edition dating from the 1960s/70s, dates from the Second World War and was erected by the RAF in 1944 as one of a number of structures built in association with the nearby RAF Mullaghmore airfield.

The aerodrome first opened in August 1942 and was initially used by the US 8th Airforce Composite Command who ran a ‘Parachute Maintenance Company’ at the site before it was taken over by the RAF in May 1944 for training purposes. (http://ww2ni.webs.com/countylderryairfields.htm) RAF Coastal Command used Mullaghmore airfield from September 1944 to March 1945 to accommodate Fleet Air Arm Squadrons 825, 850 and 815. These squadrons carried out anti-U-boat sorties close to the coast, amid concerns that German submarines were coming into shallower waters. Also accommodated was the air-sea rescue unit, 281 squadron. (www.ulsteraviationsociety.org) An inspection by valuers in October 1944 found a number of wooden and asbestos huts as well as the current brickwork ‘butts’ in the townland of Glasgort, beside the aerodrome. (Valuation records)

It is unclear whether the structure at Mullaghmore airfield was used as a machine gun and cannon butts for aircraft (either for target practice or to check the ammunition feeding mechanism of fighter planes) or as a 25 yard firing range for personnel use. There is very little hard standing near the structure which would have been a requirement for bringing aircraft from the runway and it appears, therefore, more likely that the firing range was for personnel use. (www.airfieldinformationexchange.org)

References:

Primary Sources

1. OS Map Coleraine District – 1960s/70s
2. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/1 – First General Revaluation 1933-57
3. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/3/B/2 – First General Revaluation 1933-57

Secondary Sources

1. NIEA mapviewer online
2. www.airfieldinformationexchange.org
3. www.ulsteraviationsociety.org
4. http://ww2ni.webs.com/countylderryairfields.htm

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Tall red brick firing range, erected c.1942, as part of the nearby RAF Mullaghmore airfield. Set on a northwest to southeast axis on the west side of Glasgort Road as part of a collection of red brick structures (HB03/03/045A & C). A utilitarian military structure that commands a strong presence in the landscape and stands as a reminder of the role that Northern Ireland played in the Second World War.