Portkil Battery

The remains of a coastal defence battery, the Portkil Battery can be found at the end of Fort Road, Kilcreggan. Much of the battery remains, and the area is now residential, with houses having been built on some parts of the site, incorporating some parts of the original battery structure into their build. Some of the magazines have also been restored. The battery originally dates from 1900, referred to then as a fort at Kilcreggan.

In the First World War, together with the two 4.7-inch and 6-inch emplacements, the battery was equipped with a battery observation post (BOP), engine room, magazines, and a number of other buildings.
Although the battery did not return to operation during the Second World War, the Rosneath peninsula offers easy deep water access, and this feature made it an ideal location for a service base for escort vessels that accompanied the Atlantic convoys, and the peninsula became the site of the Rosneath Naval Base, a large and significant installation which provided support for vessels taking part in the Atlantic convoys. On the shore to the south, a number of pillboxes including engine rooms and searchlight platforms were provided to support the operation of the battery.

Portkil itself was home to a hospital, classified as a Rest and Recreation Camp, where wounded survivors could rest and recover. Many of its occupants were survivors rescued from vessels attacked while on escort duty in the Atlantic, and it also received many who had survived the D-Day invasion. Troop accommodation was under canvas beside the hospital, while RN personnel were accommodated in the magazines and building of the old battery, and in some local houses.

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