By Dr Julia Cussans
Last Friday, June 12, UHI Archaeology Institute staff took a morning fieldtrip to HMS Tern in Birsay, also known as Royal Naval Air Station Twatt.
The site was commissioned in 1941 and remained in service until 1957, when many of the buildings were dismantled and much of the airfield returned to farming. The airbase, where the majority of the buildings stood, is now part of a 12-acre site owned by Orkney Islands Council and managed by the Birsay Heritage Trust.
As part of the tour, from Lindsay Bailey, we were able to see a number of standing remains including air-raid shelters, the control tower, fire station and part of the old cinema and concert hall. In addition, many building footprints were visible, including the cook house and some of the classrooms used for training – one of the main purposes of the base.
After the site tour we had a lovely time getting out of the wind and into the old fire station, where there was a wide array of artefacts on display, some of which had been curated and displayed by UHI Archaeology students who regularly volunteer at the site.
It really was a fascinating trip, and we are extremely grateful to Lindsay for showing us all around. For many of us this was very much a departure from the usual – much older – archaeology that we are used to, but we were fascinated to see that despite the site being less than a century old and the availability of a selection of maps and photographs, there are still many things that are unknown about the site and how it operated on a day to day basis.
The site is open to the public for regular tours throughout April-September and occasionally over the winter months. We all really enjoyed our tour and would thoroughly recommend a visit!
