The remains of the former fish-gut processing plant are located on the on the north shore of the Point of Cumley, to the south Whitehall Village, at NGR HY 65525 27679. The remains comprise raised, concrete surfaces, upstanding ironwork structures and concrete walling.
The application to build a plant for processing fish-guts at Hunton was originally submitted in 1924 by James M. Davidson, of Glasgow, who owned a number of such plants across the country. After concerns about the possible contamination of the water supply to Whitehall Village and the likely unpleasant odour and by-products resulting from the plant’s activities had been addressed, the processing plant was built in 1925.
The plant was coal-powered and used fish offal to manufacture products such as fish oil and material suitable for use as manure. The first export from the plant is recorded on October 31, 1925, when the SS Silversprings conveyed 122 barrels of herring oil.
An advert in the Orkney Herald from 1926 shows that the factory was selling herring guano at £5 per ton and notes the composition of the manure as being 24.4 per cent ammonia, 17 per cent phosphates and 31 per cent salt. Though the plant was heavily involved in processing the catches brought ashore during the season, it also processed other fish caught at other times around the shores of Stronsay and the other islands. These were usually sillocks – young coalfish.
The processing plant, however, had been at a time when the herring industry was already in decline. The years immediately following the Second World War saw a significant rise in the catching of whitefish and technological developments that led to fewer, more efficient vessels being employed in the industry. The Stronsay processing plant was put up for sale in May 1947.
The remains of the plant comprise a raised, concrete platform, upstanding ironwork structures and concrete walling. The concrete walling forms a range, which marks the south-west edge of the site, and is sub-divided into four rooms. This measures 44.3m by 6.7m overall with the height of the walls varying from approximately 0.8m to 1.75m. Each of the four rooms can be accessed individually through gaps in the north-east wall, but the rooms are not interconnected in any way.
The raised concrete platform measures approximately 45m by 18m, and 0.8m high. The platform is an uneven L-shape in plan and covers the area north-east of the concrete walling. Photographs at the Stronsay Heritage Centre illustrate the plant in the 1930s and show that the concrete platform formed the base for a large, corrugated iron building. The concrete walling also served as a base for a smaller corrugated iron structure.
There are a number of features standing on the concrete surface, including a concrete tank located close to its north-east edge, measuring 2.9m by 2.3m, and a series of upright iron structures constructed of girders, I-shaped in cross-section. These probably supported machinery rather than being part of the building itself. The remaining surface features comprise concrete machine bases with iron fixing rods; fixing holes in rectangular patterns; and, a small inspection pit.
A number of features were also identified to the south-east of the platform, matching the location of a small, corrugated iron building seen in one of the photographs of the working plant. A discrete area of earth-fast concrete blocks were interpreted as the remains of a chimney. This chimney can be seen in the photographs at the south-west end of the small building. The footprint of the building itself is preserved as a series of concrete linear features forming a rectangular structure which acted as the base for the corrugated iron superstructure.
On the coastal edge approximately 450m south of the plant, below the farm at Hunton, is a concrete, open-topped water tank. This was fed all year round by freshwater springs in the area and the water piped to the factory for use in its processing activities.
