2009

NS4074 : Dumbarton Rock: the Magazine

taken 15 years ago, near to Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Dumbarton Rock: the Magazine
Dumbarton Rock: the Magazine
[This is one of a linked series of articles about Dumbarton Rock. See the end of Link for a list of the reference works that are cited here in abbreviated form.]

This powder magazine was built in 1748; it could hold 150 barrels of gunpowder. It replaced an earlier magazine that stood against a nearby section of the curtain wall of the castle [OSG07, p5]. (The site of the earlier building is shown in the next article in this series.)

The building is surrounded by a blast wall; an information panel located on the inside of that wall shows a plan of the building, and describes the care that was taken to prevent accidental ignition of the gunpowder; for example, to reduce the risk of sparks, those entering the magazine had to exchange their hobnailed boots for wooden clogs.

On the night of May 5-6, 1941, this building received a direct hit from a high-explosive bomb, one of four that hit the Rock, although they were presumably intended for the nearby Blackburn aircraft factory or for Denny's shipyards. The north-east corner of the outer wall of the magazine was demolished by the blast (fortunately, the building had long ago ceased to be used in its original role) [MacPhail, p165-6].

For the entrance of the building, which is on this side, see NS4074 : Dumbarton Castle: Magazine entrance. For a more distant view of the whole building from the other side, see NS4074 : Dumbarton Castle: Magazine and eastern wall.

Previous: NS4074 : Dumbarton Rock: Prince of Wales Battery.
Next: NS4074 : Dumbarton Rock: sentry box and curtain wall.
Dumbarton Rock and Castle

The Rock is a volcanic plug, and it has a long history as a fortified site. For further information, see the Geograph article "Dumbarton Rock and Castle": Link


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NS4074, 243 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Friday, 26 June, 2009   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 2 July, 2009
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4003 7453 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:56.2276N 4:33.7564W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 4005 7452
View Direction
West-northwest (about 292 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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